Hey Dude Sirocco Alta Hype review

The Hey Dude Sirocco Alta Hype should totally be on your wish list if you're looking for:

• A flexible and lightweight companion to walk around town, go for a drink, and rock any casual fit.
• A sporty-looking and very comfortable pair of sneakers.
• A pair of shoes that you can put on and off in no time.

When we took it to our lab, the Sirocco showed us one of the worst scores we've ever seen on our outsole durability test. Among all the sneakers we have tested, it's the one with the weakest rubber! Consequently, we can't recommend this pair for constant or daily use, as it won't last as long as you'd like it to. If you want a daily beater to wear non-stop but don't feel like spending all your life savings, the New Balance 997H might be a good alternative, as it also has a similar sporty vibe.

If you absolutely love easy-on designs and you're looking for some new pals to explore a new city or just go out for a stroll, we believe you're better off having a look at the slip-on walking shoes we have reviewed so far.

Even though the Sirocco looks really tall from the outside, our caliper stated that its heel stack is pretty much average. At 31.4 mm, we felt comfortable and protected from harsh urban surfaces. If this doesn't sound like much to you, here you have a list of the tallest sneakers we have reviewed so far.

On the other hand, the forefoot stack of this Hey Dude pair is lower than average. At 17.5 mm, it gave us more of a ground feel, yet not so much as to feel every pebble we stepped on. This is also thanks to the strategically placed rubber of its outsole, which shielded our feet from the obstacles of the city.

This big contrast between both stack heights has left us with a steep drop of 13.9 mm. This just means that the rearfoot feels higher than the forefoot, but it's neither a good nor a bad thing! In fact, it's a quite common design in walking shoes, as the heel is the first part of the foot that touches the floor when you walk. If you want to know a bit more about all this, check our ultimate (and very nerdy) guide on the topic!

Once we cut the shoes in half, we have full and clear access to their midsole (among many other things). When we pressed our durometer against the Sirocco's, it returned 29.9 HA, which is pretty much average.

Even though this indicates its midsole isn't on the softer side, this shoe felt really comfortable during our wear tests. There might be some times when plush and comfort come hand in hand, but contrary to popular belief, it isn't always like that!

The star of the comfort play this Hey Dude pair announces is its crazy thick insole. At nothing less than 7.5 mm, the experience underfoot was more plush than expected even with its averagely soft midsole!

We know we're not talking about a pair of stability shoes that will keep our feet right where they should be no matter what. But, honestly, this trail-inspired model did just fine! As you can see, our ankles didn't overextend themselves, which translated into a safe and comfy ride.

Nevertheless, please just use the Sirocco in town. If you want to go on an adventure and enjoy nature, there are many hiking models on our catalog waiting to be your perfect partner!

Our fingers didn't struggle that much to twist the Sirocco. Even though its midsole got a little bit in the way, it wasn't too bad. Consequently, we decided to give it a solid 3/5 on our torsional rigidity test.

This means that the materials are quite agreeable. Not so much as to follow our feet moves from the very first minute we put this shoe on, but enough for us not to endure a harsh break-in period! Once again, comfort definitely reigns.

We believe the 3/5 this Hey Dude pair scored on our heel counter stiffness test is perfect for its design. For a start, we didn't end up with blisters or anything like that due to its pliable structure. Then, at the same time, we didn't have to deal with any kind of heel slippage, as this area is padded and structured enough.

Another striking point of this shoe regarding its comfort is its wonderfully wide midsole. At an extremely spacious 117.0 mm, the Sirocco offered us loads and loads of space to land comfortably. Apart from a stability boost, this also meant we could let our toes spread happily and freely when we were walking around town.

But things get even crazier in the heel. Even though our caliper returned a massive 95.0 mm, this didn't feel like "a little bit too much" to us. In fact, we appreciated the freedom! This shoe is really easy on, so we believe Hey Dude just hit the bull's eye with this design.

Talking about easiness, our flex test just put into numbers how smooth and comfy the Sirocco feels. We only needed 21.2N to bend it all the way up to 90 degrees, which is lower than average. This means this Hey Dude pair is more flexible than most sneakers, and once its materials had warmed up enough, it followed our feet seamlessly.

The Sirocco felt light on our feet during our wear tests. In fact, even if we had been walking for hours or running errands all day long, this pair didn't ever make us feel like we were wearing ankle weights, and it didn't even lose a little bit of comfort either!

When we took it to our lab, our scale confirmed it, as it returned 10.62 oz/301g. This result is way lower than average, which means this Hey Dude model has owned its well-deserved spot in our lightweight sneakers category. 

Regarding our experience during our wear tests, we wouldn't say the Sirocco is a breathable shoe. In fact, it actually feels like the contrary. When we took it to our lab and saw that no light could shine through its nylon upper... we already knew we were totally right.

To give it a second chance to prove itself as a worthy summer companion, we summoned our smoke machine. Nevertheless, this Hey Dude pair paled in comparison with the New Balance 991 v2, which earned a perfect 5/5 on our breathability test. We already had no doubts after this: even though the Sirocco let some air get through its toebox, it was not enough for us to give it anything higher than a 2/5 on ventilation.

We understood it once our microscope showed how tightly woven the material is. The upper doesn't have a single gap to let the air flow!

On the bright side, this design makes the Sirocco great for winter (just not freezing weather, though). But if temperatures go up and you still wanna rock this Hey Dudes, we recommend you wear thin socks!

Honestly, we didn't expect a budget pair of sneakers to feature premium materials. But as we always check everything, we grabbed our torch and awl and got the party started.

Starting at the heel, it took us a little bit to melt the material, but after a while, we were met with a big flame and a sticky leather material. You guessed it: this leather is fake!

The same procedure was implemented in the leather protection of the toebox, and the result was also parallel. The material is not authentic, as it melted under our torch and ended up all sticky.

We always put our Dremel in the very same spot, and even though the Sirocco has a leather protective layer that surrounds the forefoot... it couldn't shield this shoe from the tool.

But the damage wasn't too bad! The non-breathable upper fought back like a champ, which earned this Hey Dude pair an average 3/5 on our toebox durability test.

The heel didn't do that well, though. At 5K RPM and with 2N of force, the Dremel destroyed the material in no time. Even though the Sirocco didn't end up with a whole (which would have been catastrophic), we couldn't give it more than a 2/5 on our heel padding durability test.

Before we talk about the outsole hardness of these sneakers, there's something we need to say: their bottom is not fully covered by rubber! Even though we could find this material (the brown part) in the high-wear areas, there's a lot of exposed foam.

We put our durometer right on top of it and it returned 85.4 HC. This result is pretty much average, indicating that the Sirocco should offer a healthy mix of durability and traction.

We were concerned about the exposed foam, but... it turns out it wasn't the only thing we had to worry about. At 10K RPM and with 2N of force, we saw the Dremel literally obliterate this shoe's rubber outsole.

This test had us trembling, and when we grabbed our tread gauge, it returned an unbelievably disappointing result: 4.5 mm. By far, this is the worst result we have ever seen in our lab in the sneakers category, coming second to only the Under Armour SlipSpeed (jumping rope training shoes, at 4.66 mm) and the Hoka Restore TC (walking shoes, at 5.90 mm).

What we believe was a decision to keep the weight of this Hey Dude pair low, might have cost the Sirocco its daily use. Why? Well, because the brand decided to go for only a 2.9 mm thick outsole. After the disastrous result of our durability test... we believe that maybe sacrificing some weight in order to make this shoe's outsole last longer would have been a wise choice.

After our wear tests walking around town, we can say the Sirocco isn't the grippiest shoe out there.

But as long as you stick to dry urban areas, you should be fine. Its pattern is nothing crazy and it doesn't feature deep flex grooves, so we didn't really expect a wonderful performance regarding traction. It gets its job done, which is what really matters to us.

We believe the affordable price tag on this Hey Dude model was exactly what it needed. It shines thanks to its comfort and overall spacious fit, but it's not the most durable shoe out there. If you're planning to wear it only from time to time, then you should be fine. But constant use will definitely take a toll!

All in all, we believe you're paying for what you get: a simple pair of sneakers with nothing premium on them, but very easy on the wallet.

As expected, there are no reflective elements around. Be careful if you walk around town at night, try to stick to light-up areas!

The Sirocco has a pretty padded heel and insole, yet the rest of its structure is definitely on the thinner side.

When we measured its tongue's padding, our caliper returned only 3.1 mm. This is way less than average, yet thanks to this shoe's design, we didn't really see it as a problem. In fact, its easy-on build is all set for you not to tighten its laces! Consequently, there's no potential lace bite to shield our instep from.

To make this shoe even easier to put on, Hey Dude added a practical finger loop at the heel.

The wonderfully padded insole of the Sirocco is removable, so you can change it if you need or want to. Just keep in mind that it carries a big amount of the overall comfort of the shoe thanks to its plushness!