{"id":120021,"date":"2026-05-07T18:43:53","date_gmt":"2026-05-07T18:43:53","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/basketball.runfyers.com\/index.php\/2026\/05\/07\/jank-components-wants-to-make-your-ride-better-one-small-part-at-a-time\/"},"modified":"2026-05-07T18:43:53","modified_gmt":"2026-05-07T18:43:53","slug":"jank-components-wants-to-make-your-ride-better-one-small-part-at-a-time","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/basketball.runfyers.com\/index.php\/2026\/05\/07\/jank-components-wants-to-make-your-ride-better-one-small-part-at-a-time\/","title":{"rendered":"Jank Components wants to make your ride better, one small part at a time"},"content":{"rendered":"

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Many mountain bikers think they\u2019re 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>, a small one-man operation based out of Anacortes in Washington\u2019s San Juan Islands. Olsen first started the brand while he was still studying materials engineering in university.<\/p>\n

\u201cIf you\u2019re an engineering student and into biking, you\u2019re thinking about your components a lot,\u201d Olsen says about how Jank Components started out. \u201cI was focusing on composites, but in university you get exposed to 3D printing and all kinds of other stuff.\u201d<\/p>\n

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Racing pro enduro is hard enough. Loading up your race bike to commute to the next event, usually in a totally different country, is just wild.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Olsen is more qualified to take parts design into his own hands than most. And that\u2019s 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.<\/p>\n

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The original, V1 component of Jank Components. A simple beggining that kicked off years of refining.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

From thinking to making: Jank Components comes into being<\/h2>\n

Despite all that, Jank Components actually came into being when it did through a series of coincidences.\u00a0Back when brands started putting those accessory mounts on top tubes, there wasn\u2019t 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\u2019t have been more perfect.<\/p>\n

\u201cI think like, a week later, Mike Kazimer did an OpEd basically saying \u2018where are all the accessory mounts?\u2019 After that, people were finding the website and ordering before I full launched.\u201d<\/p>\n

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Olsen packing up in-line mounts in the early days of Jank Components.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

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.<\/p>\n

\u201cI thought, oh shit, this is going now.\u201d Olsen recalls with a laugh. \u201cThat effectively launched my business. So, shout out to Mike for that.\u201d<\/p>\n

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<\/em>) helped design the Stan\u2019s Dart adapters for OneUp pumps and that some friends have helped with shipping from time to time, but it\u2019s otherwise just him. Lately, one of the riders he coaches at Galbraith Gravity has been helping because he\u2019s interested in engineering. \u201cShout out Rylan.\u201d<\/p>\n

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Taking the next step: Jank Links<\/h2>\n

Jank Components levelled up recently, stepping into the world of aftermarket linkages and adding an axle adapter for Fox\u2019s inverted Podium fork. Again, with a background in engineering and the real-world skills to know how a bike could be better, it\u2019s a natural step for Olsen.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019ve always been really into suspension and kinematics. Last time I was at Sea Otter, seven years ago, I was riding a bike I\u2019d designed and convinced a factory to make me a first article. That\u2019s how I met the folks at Ibis and what launched my racing career, in a way.\u201d<\/p>\n

Then, while working filming for Fox on the World Cup circuit, Olsen brake his elbow in a crash while riding in Vermont.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019d been sitting on some ideas for years and thought, Ok, I\u2019m going to be sitting at home for a couple months. I need to actually do this. I\u2019m going to make these parts.\u201d<\/p>\n

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Link\u2019s look simple but, obviously, have a huge impact on how a bike feels.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

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\u2019t get into making links sooner.<\/p>\n

\u201cThose guys are super cool. They already made want I needed and they\u2019re super friendly. Back when I was first on Forbidden, they would send me links to try out.\u201d<\/p>\n

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The OG in-line pump holder started it all, and several current versions are still in the lineup years later, including frame-specific storage compartment versions, because it still makes people\u2019s rides better.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

It also grows Jank Components<\/a> in a way that looks like a cross between Cascade Component\u2019s 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\u2019t sure that\u2019s his plan, just yet.<\/p>\n

\u201cI mean, OneUp is massive now. I don\u2019t know if that\u2019s my goal. I\u2019m trying to grow the business, obviously, but I don\u2019t want to overdo it. It\u2019s been a nice slow growth over the years and I don\u2019t want to mess up a good thing.\u201d<\/p>\n

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