My most recent shoes were Nike ($70 from shoe store).  My shoes before that were New Balance ($100+ from shoe store). I had never heard of Ryka but decided to give them a try based on the Amazon reviews and the low price.  I don't think it's always the case that you get what you pay for, but in this instance, I found that to be true.

First, I think I might have gotten a slightly defective one.  The left shoe was fine, but the inside of the back that hits the back of the ankle felt funny immediately when I put it on.  You know how sometimes when you put a shoe on, the top lip of the back bends inward and presses against the back of your ankle?  That's what the right shoe felt like.  I think there was something off about the cushioning there.  It wasn't painful but just annoying but after about 20 minutes into my first (and only) walk with the shoes, I didn't notice it at much.  But every time I tried the shoe on after taking it off, I'd notice it again.

That's not the reason for the low rating though.  Read on.

These shoes are lightweight and I suspect that if you only wear them for errands, you'd be fine with them.  I do like how lightweight they are.

I walk my dogs on the trail twice a day every single day.  I wear the same shoes every day, except when it's rainy or super wet, in which case I wear waterproof hiking boots (which are not comfortable to me) or my slip-on water-resistant walking shoes (which are comfy but not as comfy as my walking/tennis shoes).  Luckily I live in sunny CA so I can wear the walking/tennis shoes 95% of the year.  I don't care what my shoes look like as long as they are comfy.  And by comfy, I mean like walking on clouds.  Women who are used to wearing fancy or dress-up shoes and god forbid, high heels, don't fully understand what true comfort is.  They are so used to DIScomfort that they'll consider any casual shoe comfortable.  Not so with me.  I expect supreme comfort in my shoe and never really understood what that meant until my first pair of (super expensive) New Balance many many years ago.

Anyway, I have chronic back pain. Usually it's mild but it sometimes flares up to extreme.  I always add Dr Scholls insoles to my shoes and have found them to make a big difference in both the feel of my feet as well as other parts of my body.  So when I got the Rykas, I immediately put in the Dr Scholls.  Unfortunately, the added insoles made that defect in the right shoe much more uncomfortable so I removed them.

Fast forward to my first walk in the park.  These were without the Dr Scholls.  The terrain is trail-y.  Not smooth or as hard as concrete.  5 minutes into the walk and I could feel the pain starting in the middle of my lower back.  Luckily I had the Dr Scholls in my pocket so I put them in.  The pain immediately subsided.  The rest of the walk was fine, especially once I stopped noticing that defect in the right shoe.  But even so, I could feel that the shoes lacked the cushioning of my previous shoes.  Even with the Dr Scholls, they felt like my other shoes WITHOUT the Dr Scholls.

I've had a few minor callouses on parts of my feet from childhood (from wearing cheap shoes! we were poor), so my feet really notice lack of cushioning.  I could tell that with continued wear, these Rykas would be blistering my feet.

So these are going back (which they would have anyway because of the annoyance of the defect), and I'm now looking into New Balance again.  Yes, they're pricey as hell but for how much I wear my shoes and how much I've learn to take care of my body as I grow older, I think they're worth every penny. I think if you're on an extreme budget and don't do much walking, then shoes would be fine for you.  But definitely add some Dr Scholls or such--you'll notice a huge difference!