3D Printed Cycling Shoes? Inside HEZO’s Wild Ride with the Wolfland 01

Words James Ion - Photos provided by HEZO

3D Printed Cycling Shoes Must Be a Gimmick

In a digital age where everything claims to be “revolutionary,” it’s easy to dismiss innovation as gimmickry. 3D printed cycling shoes? Sounds flashy. Sounds niche. Sounds… kind of amazing—if done right. The kind of right that comes not from marketing decks but from the hands of tinkerers and thinkers, the designers obsessed with the problem before the product.

That’s what led me to HEZO Cycling.

Who Are HEZO?

“Yeah, actually, the idea was mine. I’m a product designer. The idea was to create an individual shoe in Germany, sustainable, on-demand manufacture, and all that. And I wanted to make a shoe for everyone, not just the pros.”

Helen Wiehr is not your typical founder. With a background in design and a mind tuned to materials and manufacturing, she set out to reimagine what cycling shoes could be, not just how they look or fit, but how they’re made, where they come from, and who gets to wear them. HEZO began as a question: How do we make a shoe that’s personal, sustainable, and entirely built in Germany?

Together with Carsten Kaldenhoff, an engineer and longtime cyclist who left a university job to go all in, Helen turned that question into a project, and the project into a prototype. Then came the printers. Then came the shoes.

And behind the digital magic is Dr. Nils Hasler, an electrical engineer with a PhD in computer science, who developed the entire customisation software that powers HEZO’s unique made-to-measure fit.

The Origin Story

“The idea was to make it very digital. No handcrafting. A separate shoe, insole, inner, outer, with no glue. That was the main idea. Better recycling, better production, less waste.”

It started in 2018 as a diploma concept. At first, they used SLS (selective laser sintering) printing. The results? Expensive. Clunky. “The cost for them would have been 650€! But it wasn’t the shoe I imagined—it looked like plastic with wood glued on. It was… not cool.”

That failure sparked a rethink. They stumbled across FDM printing (fused deposition modelling) at Formnext, the world’s largest 3D print fair, and found a new path. The quality was better. The material options are wider. The costs are lower. “We didn’t know it was possible with FDM. But suddenly, it was.”

Wolfland 01

“It’s called the Wolfland One because it’s our first gravel shoe, but it’s not the last. It’s softer, more flexible. You can walk in it. You can ride. It’s designed for gravel.”

Unlike traditional gravel shoes that compromise either comfort or performance, Wolfland 01 hits a different stride. It’s modular, repairable, and made for real-world rides. The sole is stiffer than a mountain bike shoe but more forgiving than a road shoe. The outer is flexible yet durable. The design is minimal but packed with intent.

“You can walk into a coffee shop. You can hike-a-bike. And if something breaks? You just replace that part. You don’t throw away the whole shoe.”

The Printing Process

“You take three pictures of your foot with the app. We reconstruct your foot shape, then use our own fitting software. Because a foot is not a shoe, you still need space, shape, structure.”

The custom fit starts with a scan. Using an app built in collaboration with a biomechanics lab in Valencia, customers take a trio of photos and upload them. From there, HEZO’s software, developed by Dr. Nils Hasler, reconstructs a 3D model of your foot and adapts the shoe to it.

Each shoe is printed in layers, FDM style, taking anywhere from seven to fifty hours, depending on materials and complexity. And unlike traditional shoes, nothing is glued. Every element locks, clicks, and slots into place. “It’s better for the environment and better for fit. And you can reprint parts if you need to.”

Fit: A Shape That Works

Fit isn’t just about customisation, it’s about intention. HEZO spent years refining their last, refusing to settle for a standard mould. Working closely with Johannes Herges, a certified orthopaedic engineer and custom shoemaker, they developed a cycling-specific shape that balances comfort and performance.

“We paid special attention to make sure there’s enough room in the toe area so the foot doesn’t feel cramped,” Helen explains. “In other areas, we give the foot proper support and hold it in place.” There’s even a minimal longitudinal arch support, tailored from each scan, to help optimise power transfer without compromising comfort.

Sustainability:

“It’s really hard to design a performance shoe that isn’t glued. Normally, you glue the upper to the sole, but we didn’t want to do that.”

HEZO’s design philosophy is rooted in repairability and material honesty. No glue. Minimal stitching. All components, from the magnetic Fidlock closure to the 3D-printed sole, are designed to be taken apart and replaced. The result is a shoe that lasts longer and wastes less.

And while not all components are biodegradable, most are recyclable. Materials are sourced as locally as possible, from Spain, the Netherlands, and Germany’s own Black Forest. The entire shoe is printed, assembled, and shipped from HEZO’s small workshop near Frankfurt.

“We think it’s better than any other shoe. There are no chemicals. No glue. And it’s personal.”

How to Order

“You download the app, take three scans, and upload them. Right now, it takes about four to six weeks because of pre-orders. But in the future? One to two weeks.”

HEZO’s process is direct-to-rider. Each shoe is made on demand, based on your scans. That means there’s no warehouse, no wasted stock, no overproduction. If your scan is off, they’ll ask for another. If your fit isn’t right, they’ll fix it.

Their goal? To sell at least five pairs a day. Not mass market. Just made-for-you.

The Future Plans

“We’re working on a race gravel shoe. One that works with road cleats but still lets you walk. There’s nothing like it on the market.”

Helen and Carsten aren’t stopping at one shoe. The Wolfland 01 will be joined by a race-oriented gravel shoe, designed for riders who want road power with off-road practicality. There’s talk of running shoes. More cycling styles. Iterations and experiments.

But they’re not trying to become a mega-brand. Just a great one. One that listens, adapts, and prints what the world actually needs.

The Proof is in the Printing

“I think we’re on the right track now. The last three years weren’t easy, especially when we printed in SLS. But now? Now it’s working.”

HEZO Cycling is the kind of brand gravel riding was built for: scrappy, local, and brave enough to challenge the default. They’re not chasing trends. They’re building solutions. Printing ideas. Solving fit, waste, and performance in the same breath.

And they’re doing it with a dog named Zorbas curled up next to the printer.