Mountain bikers win gold in Paris riding with Minnesota-made bike spokes
Pauline Ferrand Prevot, of France, celebrates winning the women's mountain bike cycling event, at the 2024 Summer Olympics on Sunday.
George Walker IV | AP
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MPR News is following dozens of Minnesota athletes who are competing in the Paris Olympics for Team USA and other countries. But there are stories of Minnesotans contributing to the games in other ways.
In this week’s mountain biking finals, French cyclist Pauline Ferrand Prévot won her first gold medal with an extraordinary lead of nearly three minutes. British cyclist Tom Pidcock got a flat tire halfway through the race and came back to win gold. South African Alan Hatherly won bronze.
These were three of the six Olympic riders using bicycle spokes by Hopkins-based company Berd Spokes, which was founded by three engineers and University of Minnesota graduates. Co-founder Charlie Spanjers spoke with MPR News producer Alanna Elder from Paris, where he watched the events.
Use the audio player above to listen to the full conversation.
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Audio transcript
CATHY WURZER: We've been hearing about the Minnesota athletes who are competing in the Paris Olympics. And we're going to hear from a Minnesotan contributing to the games in a different way. In this week's mountain biking final, french cyclist Pauline Ferrand-Prévot won her first gold medal with an extraordinary lead of nearly 3 minutes.
British cyclist Tom Pidcock got a flat tire halfway through the race, but came back to win gold. That was amazing. South African Alan Hatherly won bronze. These were three of the six Olympic riders using bicycle spokes by Hopkins-based company Berd Spokes, which was founded by three engineers and University of Minnesota graduates.
Co-founder Charlie Spanjers was in Paris watching the event. He joined Minnesota Now producer Alanna Elder to talk about it.
CHARLIE SPANJERS: It feels amazing-- to have been working on this for nine years and now have these types of victories on our spokes is unreal. And to have seen those here in Paris has been unbelievable.
ALANNA ELDER: Yeah. So these are pretty big names already. So were you surprised that they were the ones to win this time?
CHARLIE SPANJERS: Well, we've been really lucky to have Tom and Pauline on our spokes, and they're both part of the INEOS Grenadiers professional team. It's a Great Britain team, and it's a really prolific biking team, both on the mountain bike side and the road bike side. And they were both favorites for today's race.
But, midway through the race, Tom had a flat tire. He lost 15 positions, and he lost almost a minute of time. And at that point, we thought the race was over for Tom. So the fact that he came back and then won was outstanding. And it was, unfortunately, not what the French crowd wanted to see. And then Alan Hatherly did an amazing job to get third place today.
ALANNA ELDER: So where were you? And what was it like to be there watching?
CHARLIE SPANJERS: So in cross country mountain biking, it's about a 90-minute race. And so the women race seven laps of a 4.4km course. And it was on a hill with about 350 feet of elevation gain per lap. So we got to see the riders about twice per lap.
I was here with my sales director, Rob, and we were right behind the finish line. We had a great vantage point every time they came around. And the crowd was insane.
I feel like I'm a French citizen after being at this race for two days and listening to the French crowd. Pauline Ferrand-Prévot is French, and she was the hometown favorite. And so when she won the race, the crowd was ecstatic for hours.
And we were standing there listening to the cheers and doing the wave. Because of the laps, the mountain bike races are really fun to watch because you get to see the riders so many times. It's unlike going to a road bike race or a time trial where you might only get to see somebody once.
ALANNA ELDER: I was trying to think of other events that rely on something as complex as a mountain bike with as many different components. So I'm curious, how big a role does the bike and the parts play in these competitions?
CHARLIE SPANJERS: It plays a really big role. And we got to meet with the mechanics from the Great Britain team the night before. They were doing the final preparations on the bike, and there's a lot to do on a bike to get ready for this type of race and to be sure that the bike is going to perform correctly.
The bikes are very lightweight. They have complex equipment on them, but they're designed to be as light as possible because you're going up and down hills. And then, of course, we make spokes. And what our spokes do is, in addition to being lightweight, they give a really smooth ride.
One of the biggest compliments we got this year was from both Tom and Pauline. And when they wrote our spokes for the very first time, they said, we're never going to ride metal spokes again. The smoothness of the ride that they got over gravel, and ruts, and rocks actually gives them more speed because you're not bouncing up and down. Your handlebars aren't shaking as much. Your seat isn't shaking as much. And then it also helps with the longer mountain bike race to not get fatigued from all of the jarring on your body.
ALANNA ELDER: Yeah. Yeah. Let's talk about your spokes. So I understand they're made from plastic rope, is that right?
CHARLIE SPANJERS: It's polyethylene, just like plastic grocery bags are made out of. But it's made in a special way where all the fibers are aligned along the length of the fibers. And because of that, it has the strength of diamond when you pull on it.
And when we first came up with this idea, we developed a way to connect the braided polyethylene to a stainless steel rod at the end of it. And that relies on the Chinese finger trap effect, where if you've played with one of those as a kid, as you pull on it, the braided fibers compress on the rod. And that's what makes it so strong.
ALANNA ELDER: Now that you've been at the Olympics and people have won gold medals using your spokes, what is next?
CHARLIE SPANJERS: One of our goals for next year is to have riders compete in the Tour de France on our spokes. So we've grown a lot in the sport of mountain biking, but we haven't had much or any success in road biking. We're hoping that the INEOS team uses our spokes for the mountain stages, or for the gravel, or cobblestone stages of the Tour de France.
We also have some new products that focus more on technology and automation for the bicycle industry. So we have another product that we'll be launching this year to help convert our company from just a bicycle spoke and wheel company to a technology company as well.
ALANNA ELDER: Well, thank you so much, Charlie. It's been really interesting learning about your company, and congratulations on all the success.
CHARLIE SPANJERS: Well, thank you very much, Alanna. I appreciate it.
CATHY WURZER: That is Minnesota Now Producer Alanna Elder talking with Berd Spokes founder Charlie Spanjers. By the way, there are watch parties across the Twin Cities, heck across Minnesota right now-- NBC is carrying live coverage of the Olympic women's gymnastics team finals. St. Paul's Suni Lee looks fantastic.
She nailed her beam routine and looked really happy with her performance. I'm not going to spill the beans, but the USA women are rocking it right now. If you want to watch, it's on NBC over-the-air and streaming.
British cyclist Tom Pidcock got a flat tire halfway through the race, but came back to win gold. That was amazing. South African Alan Hatherly won bronze. These were three of the six Olympic riders using bicycle spokes by Hopkins-based company Berd Spokes, which was founded by three engineers and University of Minnesota graduates.
Co-founder Charlie Spanjers was in Paris watching the event. He joined Minnesota Now producer Alanna Elder to talk about it.
CHARLIE SPANJERS: It feels amazing-- to have been working on this for nine years and now have these types of victories on our spokes is unreal. And to have seen those here in Paris has been unbelievable.
ALANNA ELDER: Yeah. So these are pretty big names already. So were you surprised that they were the ones to win this time?
CHARLIE SPANJERS: Well, we've been really lucky to have Tom and Pauline on our spokes, and they're both part of the INEOS Grenadiers professional team. It's a Great Britain team, and it's a really prolific biking team, both on the mountain bike side and the road bike side. And they were both favorites for today's race.
But, midway through the race, Tom had a flat tire. He lost 15 positions, and he lost almost a minute of time. And at that point, we thought the race was over for Tom. So the fact that he came back and then won was outstanding. And it was, unfortunately, not what the French crowd wanted to see. And then Alan Hatherly did an amazing job to get third place today.
ALANNA ELDER: So where were you? And what was it like to be there watching?
CHARLIE SPANJERS: So in cross country mountain biking, it's about a 90-minute race. And so the women race seven laps of a 4.4km course. And it was on a hill with about 350 feet of elevation gain per lap. So we got to see the riders about twice per lap.
I was here with my sales director, Rob, and we were right behind the finish line. We had a great vantage point every time they came around. And the crowd was insane.
I feel like I'm a French citizen after being at this race for two days and listening to the French crowd. Pauline Ferrand-Prévot is French, and she was the hometown favorite. And so when she won the race, the crowd was ecstatic for hours.
And we were standing there listening to the cheers and doing the wave. Because of the laps, the mountain bike races are really fun to watch because you get to see the riders so many times. It's unlike going to a road bike race or a time trial where you might only get to see somebody once.
ALANNA ELDER: I was trying to think of other events that rely on something as complex as a mountain bike with as many different components. So I'm curious, how big a role does the bike and the parts play in these competitions?
CHARLIE SPANJERS: It plays a really big role. And we got to meet with the mechanics from the Great Britain team the night before. They were doing the final preparations on the bike, and there's a lot to do on a bike to get ready for this type of race and to be sure that the bike is going to perform correctly.
The bikes are very lightweight. They have complex equipment on them, but they're designed to be as light as possible because you're going up and down hills. And then, of course, we make spokes. And what our spokes do is, in addition to being lightweight, they give a really smooth ride.
One of the biggest compliments we got this year was from both Tom and Pauline. And when they wrote our spokes for the very first time, they said, we're never going to ride metal spokes again. The smoothness of the ride that they got over gravel, and ruts, and rocks actually gives them more speed because you're not bouncing up and down. Your handlebars aren't shaking as much. Your seat isn't shaking as much. And then it also helps with the longer mountain bike race to not get fatigued from all of the jarring on your body.
ALANNA ELDER: Yeah. Yeah. Let's talk about your spokes. So I understand they're made from plastic rope, is that right?
CHARLIE SPANJERS: It's polyethylene, just like plastic grocery bags are made out of. But it's made in a special way where all the fibers are aligned along the length of the fibers. And because of that, it has the strength of diamond when you pull on it.
And when we first came up with this idea, we developed a way to connect the braided polyethylene to a stainless steel rod at the end of it. And that relies on the Chinese finger trap effect, where if you've played with one of those as a kid, as you pull on it, the braided fibers compress on the rod. And that's what makes it so strong.
ALANNA ELDER: Now that you've been at the Olympics and people have won gold medals using your spokes, what is next?
CHARLIE SPANJERS: One of our goals for next year is to have riders compete in the Tour de France on our spokes. So we've grown a lot in the sport of mountain biking, but we haven't had much or any success in road biking. We're hoping that the INEOS team uses our spokes for the mountain stages, or for the gravel, or cobblestone stages of the Tour de France.
We also have some new products that focus more on technology and automation for the bicycle industry. So we have another product that we'll be launching this year to help convert our company from just a bicycle spoke and wheel company to a technology company as well.
ALANNA ELDER: Well, thank you so much, Charlie. It's been really interesting learning about your company, and congratulations on all the success.
CHARLIE SPANJERS: Well, thank you very much, Alanna. I appreciate it.
CATHY WURZER: That is Minnesota Now Producer Alanna Elder talking with Berd Spokes founder Charlie Spanjers. By the way, there are watch parties across the Twin Cities, heck across Minnesota right now-- NBC is carrying live coverage of the Olympic women's gymnastics team finals. St. Paul's Suni Lee looks fantastic.
She nailed her beam routine and looked really happy with her performance. I'm not going to spill the beans, but the USA women are rocking it right now. If you want to watch, it's on NBC over-the-air and streaming.
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