By Ben Delaney
BOULDER, Colo. (VeloNews) — Olympian and longtime bike fitter Colby Pearce has partnered with a new company Lore for a 3D-printed custom road cycling shoe. The LoreOne, a hardshell, carbon cycling shoe, will launch in April.
Lore will 3D print the shoes using scans of a rider's feet. The resulting carbon monocoque design will be more efficient than other shoes, while still allowing a rider's feet to move "freely and powerfully" inside the hardshell structure, Lore claims.
How much does it cost? How much does it weigh? And how comfortable could a hardshell carbon shoe actually be? For now, Lore is big on claims and short on details, but those are promised for its April launch.
The Lore team includes people who have worked in design and engineering at brands like Apple, Tesla, Puma, DPS, Nike and Black Diamond.
"We are excited to share Lore to the world," Lore CEO Stephan Drake said in a release. "We have an amazing team that is pushing the bleeding edge of technology and design. The LoreOne is not only the most exciting cycling shoe ever made, but is revolutionary across all footwear categories. The level of customization, performance, materials, environmental sustainability, and manufacturing technology represent a bold leap into the future."
Drake is the founder of DPS Skis, a Utah-based ski equipment brand. He left the company in 2019.
Pearce, a multi-time national champion and record holder, has long obsessed over fit, whether for record-setting hour record rides or for his bike-fitting clients.
"The technology, materials, design and manufacturing is light years ahead of everything else on the market," Pearce said.
"The way the athlete works with the shoe is groundbreaking, and the foothold is unparalleled. The Lore project is three massive steps forward from any other shoe on the market. Prepare to have your head explode while your feet feel true power transfer for the first time ever. The LoreOne shoe will change the way you interact with your bike, forever."
A spokesman said shoe manufacturing will be in California and the shoes will initially be sold consumer direct, but sales through bike fitters and the use of bike shops as scanning centers are planned for 2022.
Lore's website is Lore.cc.
