Altra Mens Escalante 3 Shoes Runners Sneakers Road Running in Black

I used to love the Escalante but continued design changes have gone too far. Most recently the padded tongue has made the shoe too tight for my normal size. Also the "half toe cap" was a terrible idea. Please turn back the clock more toward the original Escalante design.

So I have used Altra for a long time now. Escalante are my go to, but it seems like with every year they are trying to be more like Hoka. If I wanted Hoka then I would buy Hoka. I loved the old lower stack height, the thin and lightweight tongue, and just the feel of the older shoes. I'd still be running in my Escalante 2.5 if I could, but 700 miles wears down the tread. The best thing about the 3 is that the tread is not worn down since they're new! I have about 300 miles on them now and the wear seems to be the same as past models. The tongue is so bulky and forces you to tie super tight to feel secure, when in reality it just puts pressure on specific points of your foot causing the tongue to bulk out between the laces and cause pinpoint pain. This not only looks bad, but is super uncomfortable. The old thin tongue of shoes past was lightweight, breathable, and allowed you to tie the laces evenly, not too tight, but feel secure. My biggest gripe is the stack height. Why does it increas every year? Hoka sells well because they're comfy, but not great for foot muscle usage. I want a low cushion, low stack shoe that allows my foot to do the work. My foot needs the workout, not a shoe. Just because something sells well doesn't mean that it is good for you. Quit following trends and do what Altra did before they sold out to a bigger company. I will be forced to choose a different brand since there is no stack heights less than 25mm other than speed shoes (which are now even getting the stack height increase, smh). Please be yourself, Altra. Don't try to copy other brands. There was so much potential it's origination, but it seems to be a sellout company. Hopefully my mind can be changed in the future. Seems half-size big only because of nice wide toe box.