Review on ALTRA AL0A4VQL Rivera Athletic Running Shoes for Men in Black by Jacob Sriubas

I've been running exclusively in Zero Fall shoes for a number of years. I broke my zero-drop teeth on a pair of Altra Escalante 1.5s and immediately became a fan of the responsiveness and cushioning level of the Altra EGO foam. Since then, I've also run in the Altra Kayentas, which raised the bar for running shoes for me. Unfortunately the Kayenta is discontinued (*sigh*) and my current pair is running out, so I was looking for a replacement, ideally still with zero drop. I heard a lot of good things about Rivera 1.0 so I decided to start with it. From the start the fit was very familiar compared to my venerable old Escalante 1.5. I know there have been some complaints lately from people used to old-school ultra-wide Altrams who thought the Rivera was too narrow and somehow marked the end of an era for Altrams, but I had no problems with it at all. The upper is very breathable and feels great from midfoot and my toes had plenty of room to do their thing. The padding on the upper was a little more than I prefer, but nothing I couldn't handle. Unfortunately, I noticed a few not-so-great things: 1) Heel lockup: I don't know if it's due to the slippery material Altra chose for the heel collar area, or if it's too much padding that reaches the middle of the collar , but no matter how tight I laced the shoe (even with the runner knots), I couldn't get a firm heel hold. My left heel was constantly moving up and down in the collar which is a recipe for chafing/blistering. 2) "Pillows": What happened to the original Altra EGO foam that they used in the Escalante 1.5? This new generation "EGO" feels much more robust, almost like an Escalante Racer. My Kayentas have a few millimeters less stack height, but they're much more cushioned and also significantly lighter and more responsive thanks to the Max LT foam they're built on. I was excited to try other shoes with EGO foam but this new version doesn't work for me. Who are these shoes good for? Well, if you're looking for a fast, zero-drop shoe and don't typically have a problem with a good heel lock, I'd suggest you try the Rivera. It has many positive qualities that I usually associate with Altra shoes. These are just not the shoes I expected and I will be returning this pair hoping to find something that suits my feet and preferences a little better.