Difficult Cleat Engagement - No "Float"
938408
After thousands of cycling miles using Shimano, Speedplay, and Bebop clipless pedals, I ordered these as a less costly option for my secondary bike. They were returned after about 150 miles use.

Evident almost immediately is that these pedals have absolutely no "float" at all, even less than Shimano SPD's. If you're not familiar with pedal "float", it refers to a clipless pedal's ability to let your foot (and knee) rotate somewhat before the cleat disengages. This allows your feet/knees to find their natural rotational angle on the pedal.

If you need float, look somewhere else.

Cleat engagement with these pedals is also relatively clumsy, usually requiring looking down at the pedals to get the shoe cleats properly engaged.

Your results may vary, but I'll stick to other brands. More expensive, but less hassle.
106561
I've rode Atac's for many years now so I thought I'd give these a try.  They seem to work well, but don't appear to be built quite as solid as my older ATACs are.  It also depends on your shoes how well they work.  If your shoes have deep treads they may interfere with the pedal body making it hard to clip in/out and limiting the rotational movement.  That is the trade off though for having a large platform.  I decided to go back to my normal ATAC's.  For me my shoes interfered with them so there was no float, I didn't notice the larger platform when pedaling, and they still don't allow riding with non-clipless shoes so I didn't gain much.
925451
I do pro / elite OCR. and usually finish in the top 50 overall. These are worth a look. downsides - the rubber sole is softer than the average shoe, but it is not like icebug, inov-8, or solomon, where the soft rubber and traction is ideal. Seems to only be good for a few races, in time it loses traction. The shoe is slightly loose at first, but once you put them in the wash / dryer they will shrink by about a full size. The wide toe box made climbing the wire fence at savage impossible, the harder rubber traction / design makes some lateral wall climbing obstacles slightly more difficult in comparison to the softer rubber in the manufacturers named. The tongue inside the shoe is frayed along the outside edges, it is hardly noticeable, but I am a very picky person when it comes to OCR and shoes. I suggest changing the laces out for the stretchy type and buy the gaiters if you don't like getting crap in your shoes. their gaiters are EXTREMELY lightweight, don't hold water, and they work!

I've used icebug, the arch section of the sole on ice bug shoes suck. they slide on everything! and they do not help at all when climbing a rope. however, the solid center form of that sole (if they fit your feet)  allow you to move downhill at a higher rate of speed. Their traction is the best, except for that center b.s. part. inov - 8 and solomon in my opinion have the best overall rubber soles. inov-8 has a wider toebox and a minimal lift. but this altra shoe? nothing is like altra when it comes to the toe box nor the flat design / zero lift. this effect reduces the strain and pain on joints such as knee and back pain. for some, this alone will be the reason to go with altra.

The upper on these shoes is a fine material that is subject to wear. however, the fabric is exceptional. sand, mud, and all the gritty mess that other shoes allow to pass through into the shoe.... this one keeps it all out. the fabric is so lightweight and thin that water can exit the shoe unlike inov-8 and icebug where the water is retained and can not pass through the walls of the shoe once it gets in.

these altra shoes are also the lightest weight of the superior line and they have a rock plate! the rockplate keeps you from easily recognizing and feeling the tread / rocks you will obviously encounter in OCR. this is also something that these shoes dominate in. icebug is the worst next to the toe shoes you might consider using. foot pain will slow you down. solomon are exceptionally comfortable, and the rubber sole is amazing, but they feel a bit heavy, don't have a wide toe box, they have a high lift that will cause joint pain, and they don't have a way to keep crap out of the shoe. they are incredible with speed and grip, lacing is awesome, but it isn't a shoe that I could recommend if you want to keep your joints healthy for the long haul.
3013968
Really like these and they work great as long as you know the spacing on the cleats you're using. We use these on our dock where I could adjust the cleats for tension. If you were using these at a public dock, they might not work as well because you want them to stretch enough to add tension but not too much or too little so spacing of the cleats is essential.
120646
Bought this last year and just now got around to being able to use them ice fishing.  The "cleats" on the bottom in the yellow discs are round metal points.  Well, round metal on ice is slick, if not slicker, than just boots on ice.  If you step hard on them and put a lot of pressure, they do dig into the ice and provide some stoppage.  However, just casual walking across bare ice is a dicey proposition.  I would not recommend buying these at all.
587887
I do have a major issue with these cleats.. It has nothing to do with this brand!!!! I was always reluctant to clip into my bike. The reason is falling!!!! I have never fell off my bike before. Now my fears came true... I understand that you gain 40% efficiency by wearing these but ask yourself is it worth breaking an Arm???? I have fallen five times so far and always at a STOP. The first time some guy started speeding up just as I was crossing the road,meanwhile the car to my left was stop. I thought the other guy was not stopping so I did and then could not get my foot out and the rest is history. Laying on your Back with your feet up in the air and your bike up there too between your Legs!!! Really FUNNY!!!!! It really is but not when it happens to you!!! I know someone will comment on this and tell me it never happened to them??? Well that is great!!!! What can I say? All I have to say is....if you have been riding for years or days with out being locked into your peddals and you are happy and never fell, then stay happy.  They do not release like Ski's when you fall. When you fall it will be because you forgot to take a foot out or you took one out and stopped but leaned towards the opposite side and then you are a sack of cement hitting the cement. Came close to a broken Elbow two weeks ago. The rest is history.
718777
The higher heel takes some getting used to...  if you put weight on an outside edge the shoe becomes suddenly very unstable...it seems this is something of a design flaw that can result in potentially serious falls if you're not expecting this.
3797904
No way to tighten bottom ball segments - it doesn't stand on its own
585865
I purchased a pair of the heavy-duty StabilIcers to take with me to Stockholm, Sweden, for the winter. I'm overweight, and have a knee problem that limits my stability quite severely on ice and slick surfaces. I have, in the past, used stretched-rubber oversoles with carbide tipped spikes (available for ~150 SKr in most Stockholm shoe shops). These have worked poorly; tough to get on and off while standing (basically, you really need to take off your shoes!), and tended to slip out of position on shoes.

The Stabilicers work like a charm! I feel fully confident striding around town, crossing ice / slushy snow with ease.  They are much easier to put on and retain; it helps to have a bench to  hike a leg up on, but it's not strictly necessary.  They stay in position fairly well, and feel like an extension of my feet.  As I've only been using them for a week, I have no verdict yet on the lifetime of the screws underneath. I suspect, however, if you use them as I do (mixed snow / ice / slushy streets and sidewalks) you will wear the screws down within a few months.  Rest assured, replacing the cleats is a trivial process, and their replacement cost is fairly minor.

The drawbacks:

These things are NOT quiet.  Locals (especially Swedes!) who know how to walk on ice and snow and don't have knee problems, will stare at you like you are a freak. Even the old people. Just grin and bear it.

These things do not fold up. The rubber is fairly rigid, and you really can't bend them in two to stuff them in a pocket when you go into a store. I usually carry a plastic bag in a pocket to shove them into when I go into and out of a store. Or stick them in my backpack.

These things cannot be worn indoors, at all. They will instantly put divots into linoleum (oops).

Improvements:

The only improvements I could suggest would be:

1) The toe strap; it only sinches across the foot. It would be nice if the piece that runs along the foot, from the front to the toe band, could also be cinched down and tightned. Since the StabilIcers are designed to fit multiple shoe sizes, this would be a really good feature.

2) The toe strap. Perhaps make it a bifurcated piece of fabric, instead of a single strip. More like a bicycle toe clip? It would make it easier to get them on and off.

Overall, these are a wonderful device that I'm getting a lot of use out of. They make it so that I can spend time in the outdoors during the rare days of sun during the Swedish winter. If you have knee problems, get yourself a pair of these!
2172065
My favorite shoes are a pair of vintage Frye boots (from 1980 to be exact!).  However, they are not always the most comfortable for long wearing periods.  The sole, being leather, is a bit on the hard side and provides no cushioning or support.  I have tried a few inserts through the years and was generally unimpressed.

These though, dang!  When I put my foot in my boot with these I could tell that this was something special.  I need a little metatarsel support in the form of a bit of lifted arch support on the inner side of my food.  I have custom inserts but they never quite work with these boots.  These work in the way that I wish my $200 custom orthotics did with these boots.

The boots in question have a 1 3/4 inch heel.  While my orthotics work sublimely in flat shoes but just not in my coveted Frye boots.  This worked with my heeled Frye boots and I could not be any more pleased with them.
3653375
Big improvement over standard pedals on my hybrid Specialized, but still allows some slipping. Anyone know of reasonable priced standard pedals that truly grip tennis style shoes.?
2916797
This is the second time I have tried this brand, oddly with the same issue. The shoe seems unusually hard with little give or padding and the shoe laces are not long enough to tie a bow! I am sending these back the same as the other pair, which was a Walking Shoe. I am keeping the Reebok Yourflex 8.0 Cross Trainers I ordered instead. Half the price.. cushy and so comfortable.
2111235
Beautiful shoe but the height is painful after walking in them for 10 minutes. I didn't find the shoe to run too narrow. But the shoes are low cut and the ball of your foot will sink in, leaving the arch loose. This is common as I found out with my pair of black Steve Madden pumps. This can be corrected by inserting heel grips/gel inserts.

I gave it three because the height and platform ratio is not a joke! You will definitely need practice walking in these. Overall, I'm glad I got it on sale and didn't pay full price.
2200833
I don't know if my issue is due to a defective shoe, or bad design - There is a cleft or seam or something under the foot bed of each shoe, that results in a ridge running from one side to the other, directly under the ball of my foot. It makes the shoe impossible to wear.

OTHERWISE I was impressed with the flexibility of the shoe, even for being new. Toe cap didn't detract too much from the usual roominess of the Keen toe box. Looked like it would be a good warm-weather safety shoe.
322095
Great shoe-- love the low-profile, light-weight, and rock-plate.  Great traction.  Note that there is zero cushion, these are pretty hard (which is fine if they fit well).

Unfortunately, the right shoe feels like it is sloped excessively (high on the outside).  I've never been able to go more than about 4 miles before getting serious blistering on the outside ball of the right foot.  I would give these shoes high praise if I could run in them consistently without blistering.  Of course, it's possible that the problem is with me, and not the shoe; however, I have yet to experience this with any other shoe.  (Also possible I received a defective shoe).
3990043
These shoes are comfortable for casual use, but NOT for heavy outdoor/Adventure Travel use.

I took these shoes to the Virgin Islands while I was doing marine biology field work there, I was living in the mangrove swamps for a month and thought these would be a good light weight alternative to flip flops that would be rugged enough to withstand some wear and tear. I was sadly mistaken and will make sure to buy heavier duty sandals next time as I experienced many problems with this product.

The first problem I have with these shoes is that I have narrow long feet and these shoes don't tighten up enough to fit me comfortably width-wise.  Furthermore the strap loosens frequently and doesn't hold when tightened. This especially occurred in the water, if I tried to wade through even ankle high water the whole thing would come undone and fall off.

Secondly I continuously got blisters on my pinky toe from the buckle area at the top of the shoe, when this buckle area got wet it chafed terribly on my toe, which was no fun as i had to wear rubber fins everyday.

Also the bottom of the shoe is not sturdy enough in my opinion; walking over rough rocks etc was painful in these shoes they were obviously not made for rough terrain.

Finally these shoes even with all of their problems getting loose were not the easiest things to get on and off which would have been nice.

I still own these shoes and wear them casually. Although I had many problems with them they did hold up very well, for my next trip I think I'll look for sturdier sandals from Teva because I am impressed with the quality.

These are probably fine sandals for someone who is looking for a casual sandal but were just not what I was looking for.
1395657
Great ball control and traction with cleat pattern. The rubber insole is awesome and stops feet from sliding in shoe. Well worth the money. I definitely handle the ball better with these cleats.