Many mountain bikers think they’re bike, or components, could be made better. Few have the follow-though to actually go and make better parts. Eric Olsen is doing just that though Jank Components, a small one-man operation based out of Anacortes in Washington’s San Juan Islands. Olsen first started the brand while he was still studying materials engineering in university.
“If you’re an engineering student and into biking, you’re thinking about your components a lot,” Olsen says about how Jank Components started out. “I was focusing on composites, but in university you get exposed to 3D printing and all kinds of other stuff.”
Olsen is more qualified to take parts design into his own hands than most. And that’s not just the engineering degree. He also has a background in elite racing (even spending one year not just racing the Enduro World Series, but bikepacking between events), filming the World Cup circuit and coaching mountain biking closer to home in Washington.
From thinking to making: Jank Components comes into being
Despite all that, Jank Components actually came into being when it did through a series of coincidences. Back when brands started putting those accessory mounts on top tubes, there wasn’t anything to put on them yet. When a father on the team Olsen coaches asked, he made him a holder for the popular OneUp pump. He set up an online Shopify for the pump holder. His timing couldn’t have been more perfect.
“I think like, a week later, Mike Kazimer did an OpEd basically saying ‘where are all the accessory mounts?’ After that, people were finding the website and ordering before I full launched.”
In a funny bit of timing, Olsen, who was still a student, happened to be away in California riding with friends over spring break when the orders started rolling.
“I thought, oh shit, this is going now.” Olsen recalls with a laugh. “That effectively launched my business. So, shout out to Mike for that.”
Jank Components remains basically a one-man operation, based on Anacortes in Washington’s San Juan islands. Olsen says Dario (DiGiulio, also from Pinkbike) helped design the Stan’s Dart adapters…
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