Digital Trends may earn a commission when you buy through links on our site. Why trust us?

Outrunning the competition: New Balance to sell limited run of 3D-printed running shoes

By Keith Nelson Jr. April 11, 2016

new balance 3d printed shoe zante generate running outside 2 — New Balance

The shoes don’t really make the man (or woman), and soon, men and women may not even make the shoes. New Balance announced today that the storied shoe manufacturer and retailer will be launching its first running shoe that incorporates 3D-printed materials, starting this Friday.

The company let slip its plans to release the company’s first running shoe using 3D printing technologies back in November. The Zante Generate, an update on the shoe company’s Fresh Foam Zante design, will feature a midsole that is completely 3D printed. That first foray utilized industrial 3D-printing company 3D Systems’ special DuraForm TPU Elastomer material and selective laser sintering (SLS) technology to stitch the midsoles together, and involved an exclusive deal with 3D Systems. And going back to 2013, New Balance experimented with 3D printing spike plates in running shoes that were customized to improve each runner’s performance.

Relying on this history, New Balance President and CEO Robert DeMartini asserted in a press release that, “New Balance is at the forefront of 3D printing, and has been utilizing this exciting and innovative technology to customize product for our athletes for a number of years.”

New Balance’s Zante Generate is sure to be on the radar of footwear giants Adidas and Nike, each of which has made a concerted effort to produce 3D-printed shoes over the past six months. Adidas announced the intent to create a shoe with a 3D-printed midsole the same week Nike was granted a key 3D printing patent, last October.

Related: Join the 3D movement. Check out discounted 3D printers here.

New Balance’s 3D-printed shoes will sell for $400 and the firm will only release 44 pairs of the shoes, in honor of New Balance Owner & Chairman, Jim Davis purchasing the company 44 years ago in 1972. The shoes will be sold at www.newbalance.com and at the New Balance Experience Store on Boylston Street in Boston starting on Friday, April 15 at 9:00 am ET.

New Balance has detailed the creation of the Zante Generate from thermoplastic powder to completed midsole, and you can check out the process here.

Editors' Recommendations

Topics

Keith Nelson Jr.

Former Digital Trends Contributor

Keith Nelson Jr is a music/tech journalist making big pictures by connecting dots. Born and raised in Brooklyn, NY he…

Gaming

Scalpers already taking advantage of Super Mario 3D All-Stars’ limited release

where to pre order super mario 3d all stars nintendo switch

Scalpers have started selling pre-orders for physical copies of Super Mario 3D All-Stars for the Nintendo Switch, taking advantage of the game's limited release.

Nintendo revealed Super Mario 3D All-Stars as part of Super Mario's 35th anniversary. The game bundles Super Mario 64, Super Mario Sunshine, and Super Mario Galaxy, with all three titles receiving improved HD resolutions and 16:9 aspect ratios.

News

Printable wood biopaste could be the sustainable future of 3D printing

Biopaste 3D printing

Researchers at Germany’s University of Freiburg may have found a way to make 3D printing a bit more environmentally friendly -- by printing with a new material best described as a wood-based biopaste. After all, who needs boring, unsustainable plastics when you’ve got an alternative that works impressively well, made out of wood biopolymers cellulose and lignin?

Marie-Pierre Laborie, the lead researcher on the project, told Digital Trends that creating the printable material is straightforward. “We put each component, a cellulose-based derivative and lignin, into [a] solution and blend the two … to form a sort of paste of high-solid content,” Laborie said. “At [a] particular solid content and composition, we retain the lyotropic liquid crystalline behavior of the cellulose derivative. This facilitates the processing of the paste. The paste then solidifies thanks to the stabilizing effect of the lignin upon 3D printing.”

News

This startup says it will be 3D-printing entire houses within a year

mighty buildings 3d print house 5

Is 3D printing the future of housebuilding? It certainly will be if new startup Mighty Buildings, which launched from stealth mode this week, has its way. The company builds houses rapidly using a giant 3D printer and proprietary 3D printing material that, unlike concrete, hardens almost immediately thanks to a UV light curing process. This technique allows it to create houses with 95% fewer labor hours and significantly less waste than traditional construction techniques, which could be a game-changer in the construction field.

“The 3D printing, robotic post-processing, and the ability to automate steps like the pouring of insulation means that Mighty Buildings will be able to automate up to 80% of the construction process,” Sam Ruben, chief sustainability officer and co-founder of the company, told Digital Trends.