Twin Cities bike tech pioneer Steve Hed dies

Steve Hed, a suburban St. Paul bike builder who helped revolutionize bike technology, has died.

Hed was a one-time bike shop owner and inveterate tinkerer who started experimenting with faster bike wheels and later perfected the tri-spoke composite technology that bears his name. Tour de France winner Lance Armstrong rode them and made them an industry icon still in wide use.

Hed collapsed at his Shoreview business last week and died Wednesday morning at Regions Hospital in St. Paul. He was 59 and is survived by his wife, son and daughter.

"Steve was always known as one of the pioneers of the aerodynamic performance world," said Tim Mulrooney, sales manager for Hed's company.

Hed's inventions and patents, as well as concepts "designed mostly in wind tunnels in his garage" remain vital to the industry, Mulrooney said.