Our Founder
Particle is an American owned and operated high-performance carbon wheel brand. Our founder and CEO, Patrick Clark, a Colorado native, got his start in the bike industry working for a major carbon rim OEM.
Before founding his own brand, he accumulated experience working with pro cycling teams, engineers, product development, as well as customer service, learning what works and what doesn’t.
While he appreciated the wheel tech that was available, he saw the potential for innovation and realized the limits of what were possible for a performance carbon wheelset were nowhere near being actualized.
Particle: Behind the Name
The name Particle was chosen as we have a reductionist approach to product development. Reductionism is a philosophical and scientific approach that explains complex systems, ideas, or phenomena by breaking them down into their simpler, more fundamental parts.
Our product development includes breaking down a wheelset into it’s most fundamental components, carbon layup, design, materials, and engineering concepts, no matter how small and study them. We optimize them, improving in as many ways as we can and then integrate it.
Light Without Compromise
By looking at our product names, it is clear to see that we are crazy about light wheels, however, lightness isn’t everything. If a wheelset is fragile, lacks stiffness, or if there are any other compromises made, then lightness isn’t that special.
Our obsession is making the lightest wheels possible that are not only safe to ride, but are also good enough to perform in the highest levels of pro cycling. It is safe to say that we only want develop wheels that we ourselves would want to ride. All of our wheels can survive more than 2x the UCI Vertical Impact Test Standard.
Pushing the Envelope of Engineering & Testing
We have partnered with whom we believe are some of the best carbon rim, carbon spoke, carbon crank, and hub manufacturers and engineers. We stand on the shoulders of the giants who have pioneered the design of earlier carbon fiber bike parts and want to continue to raise the bar.
In order to fulfill of our promise of “Pushing the Envelope,” we put a large emphasis on product testing and continuous trial and error in order to make further improvements. Our testing, whether in the lab or by our sponsored pro cycling teams, is an essential part of how we operate.
Validation & Feedback
Collecting real world feedback is essential. Our wheels and carbon cranks have been ridden ridden in some of the UCI’s most demanding races with multiple victories. Their feedback has been invaluable.
We are proud to continue to sponsor the two men's pro teams from this year and are excited to partner with a women’s ProTour team who will be racing at the 2027 and 2028 Tour de France Femmes.
Feedback from our customers is equally imporatant. We encourage honest opinions. This feedback is taken very seriously, and we use it to improve what we have to offer.
Pursuing Transparency
In our opinion, it is important for brands to have integrity. We don’t need to pretend that we are an OEM. In fact, we are proud to outsource production. In our opinion, it is paramount in developing truly innovative products.
After starting his own brand, Patrick felt like a kid in a candy shop. He had free rein to visit factory after factory and meeting engineer after engineer before deciding on which ones to work with. His years of experience showed him what makes a quality wheel and how to seek out quality design, production, and quality control
We also publish our test results, our quality control measures, and hope to inspire other brands to do so. Respecting our customers is our priority.
A Greater Purpose
We feel like having a bike brand should come with a sense of social responsibility and a higher purpose than to just sell wheels. For this reason, we have decided to donate 10% of our profits to World Bicycle Relief. As far as we are concerned, it is our duty to give back. It is the least we can do.
In addition, we choose to sponsor riders who have gone through adversity. We are also big proponents of women's cycling.
