Altra Superior: Thoughts on Tread Performance?

I wouldn't worry about it much. I used Inov8 Flite 230s for a couple of years without an issue for everything from SE trails to off-trail and snowshoeing in Montana , and those are essentially a road shoe with little to no tread.

That said, my most recent pair of Altras (they were bought out and moved production) is showing very poor durability, so despite the great fit I don't plan on buying another pair.

Thanks for the thoughts. What are you looking at as alternatives to your Altras?

For road, I'll probably go back to the Flite. I have some Trailroc 235s to try for trail.

LOVE THIS SHOE! I used to hike in inov8 roclite's but now am hiking exclusively in the superior and like it much more. The one area I feel the shoe is lacking is the tread pattern, works really well uphill and on hardpack, but could use a little work because of poor performance in sloppy/muddy conditions. I definetely felt it after a rocky hike but thats to be expected for a minimal shoe. Toe box is perfect, flex is perfect, ground feel, and overall i'd say the tread performance is a 3.5 out of 5 points.

I have a pair of these and even though I have only worn them on one long weekend trip, I love them. I was worried that the tread wouldn't be aggressive enough and I have not tried them in wet conditions yet. However, IMO no other shoe on the market gives you a roomy toe box, zero drop, protection that barefoot/minimal shoes don't offer, and trail tread. The tread may be lacking a little but I'd encourage you to give them a try for other reasons. I'm about to try mine on a mid-feb. trip in the Joyce Kilmer area. Could be ice and snow so I bought microspikes for them.

Thanks for the feedback everyone. I really appreciate it.

I have looked at the Trailroc 235s before as well. I may give those a look if the Superiors don't fit me well for some reason. It seems like the options for zero drop trail shoes keep getting better and better.

Dale, let me know how the February trip goes. I do like that the Superiors offer a bit more protection than a lot of minimal shoes that are out there.