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, though the range has expanded to include replacement idler pullies, small tools and mounts for tubes, pumps and AXS batteries. Olsen says Dario (DiGiulio, also from Pinkbike) helped design the Stan’s Dart adapters for OneUp pumps and that some friends have helped with shipping from time to time, but it’s otherwise just him. Lately, one of the riders he coaches at Galbraith Gravity has been helping because he’s interested in engineering. “Shout out Rylan.”
Taking the next step: Jank Links
Jank Components levelled up recently, stepping into the world of aftermarket linkages and adding an axle adapter for Fox’s inverted Podium fork. Again, with a background in engineering and the real-world skills to know how a bike could be better, it’s a natural step for Olsen.
“I’ve always been really into suspension and kinematics. Last time I was at Sea Otter, seven years ago, I was riding a bike I’d designed and convinced a factory to make me a first article. That’s how I met the folks at Ibis and what launched my racing career, in a way.”
Then, while working filming for Fox on the World Cup circuit, Olsen brake his elbow in a crash while riding in Vermont.
“I’d been sitting on some ideas for years and thought, Ok, I’m going to be sitting at home for a couple months. I need to actually do this. I’m going to make these parts.”
The result are the Jank Links, made to adapt select Ibis and Pivot models in a way Olsen saw other riders asking for, or just wanted himself. It also put Olsen into competition with local brand Cascade Components, who also make after-market links for other brands. Olsen has ridden their links and admits they might be the reason why he didn’t get into making links sooner.
“Those guys are super cool. They already made want I needed and they’re super friendly. Back when I was first on Forbidden, they would send me links to try out.”
It also grows Jank Components in a way that looks like a cross between Cascade Component’s hyper-specific upgrades and OneUp Components, just slightly north of Olsen, steady, year-over-year growth and expansion from a niche brand selling cassette expanders into what it is now. Olsen isn’t sure that’s his plan, just yet.
“I mean, OneUp is massive now. I don’t know if that’s my goal. I’m trying to grow the business, obviously, but I don’t want to overdo it. It’s been a nice slow growth over the years and I don’t want to mess up a good thing.”