Under Armour SpeedForm Europa

Under Armour running shoes have made a lot of progress in the last couple of years. From their initial exploration into building shoes designed with one-piece uppers and seamless internals, the brand has refined the building technique to a point where they can push styling and design choices in edgy new directions, and the Europa is a great looking design right out of the box.

Built on the SpeedForm design platform that is the signature of the Under Armour brand, the shoe features no separate insole, and as a result has no seams or joints that could irritate your feet over long distances.

Designed as a stability shoe that helps to control over-pronation, it has an 8mm heel-to-toe drop. We are seeing a general move away from heavily stacked heel cushions towards more level designs, so the Europa joins the pack here.

The appearance of the midsole, with its combination of materials artfully styled along the instep, is visually striking. The bold logo embossed on the heel support’s exterior is another style point for the shoe.

We’ve established that it looks nice, but how well does it work when in use? The SpeedForm design leaves a very thin ankle collar on the shoe, as it relies more on the Coreshort midfoot panels and TPU heel counter for support. This means that the usual feeling of a shoe gripping your ankle is absent. If this is your first pair of UA SpeedForms, there will be a feeling of ‘where’s my shoe?’ when you first run with them.

It’s there all right, just doing a very good job of feeling invisible along the uppers while still keeping it together. The outsole is also nicely flexible and grips tarmac well.

The dual density medial post isn’t just a styling exercise but is built to help counter over-pronation. It’s not an overly soft shoe and should suit medium paced runners well.

Compared to the competition, the UA Europa has a relatively wide forefoot, supposedly to help with additional stability, but seems a smidge shorter than other shoes of comparable size. It’s a stunning looking pair of shoes, but the Under Armour fit can be a little different from other brands that you are used to. Try and see if it fits.

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