HOPKINS, Minn. — Inside a nondescript warehouse, just outside Downtown Hopkins, employees of Berd Spokes are still coming down from an "Olympic high."
The company manufactures bike spokes. But not the traditional kind one might find on the average mountain bike.
Berd specializes in what they call a "more sustainable" spoke made from ultra-high molecular weight polyethylene - or as Manager of Sales, Rob Stepaniak more succinctly puts it - “string.”
“It's one of the strongest materials in the world, strength of weight,” Stepaniak explained
He said Berd's spoke is half the weight of a traditional bicycle spoke and dampens vibration by 200%. It was their product that was along for the ride with eight Olympic cyclists in France this past weekend.
“Goosebumps… constant goosebumps,” Stepaniak recalled. He and Company CEO Charlie Spanjers made the trip to France to see their product in action at both the Men’s and Women’s Olympic Mountain Bike Races in Élancourt, just Southwest of Paris.
Both men's and women's gold medalists - Thomas Pidcock of Great Britain and Pauline Ferrand-Prevot of France - were riding mountain bikes with Berd’s signature string spokes.
“It was nerve-wracking going into the process, knowing how much was at stake for those athletes. It's humbling to know that they put their trust in string bicycle spokes for the biggest races of their lives,” Stepaniak added.
When asked how you top the thrill of seeing a Minnesota-made product carrying Olympic athletes to gold, Stepaniak didn't waste words: “More Olympics.”