I LOVE domestic manufacturing, especially when it comes to bikes and components. While there’s nothing “wrong” with bikes made in Asia, there’s just something incredibly satisfying about knowing that your frame or wheels weren’t shipped halfway around the world before reaching your doorstep.
We Are One Composites is based in Kamloops, BC. It was founded by a former World Cup DH racer, and it is one of only a few brands designing and manufacturing carbon frames, wheels, and components here in North America. We're stoked to finally be carrying We Are One products, so let's take a closer look at some of its most exciting Canadian-made offerings:
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We Are One Convergence Wheels
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We Are One first made a name for itself with high-performance carbon MTB wheels. They are all hand-laid in Canada using a proprietary laminate process to improve strength and come with a generous lifetime warranty. The We Are One Convergence is the brand’s latest flagship wheels and its most notable feature is its unique and innovative wavy rim profile.
The point of highest stress on any bike rim is where the spoke nipple pulls against the spoke hole, which is usually drilled into the rim. This makes it a common site of rim failures.
The wavy Convergence rim profile allows the spoke nipple to contact the rim at a perpendicular angle, allowing for even load, which increases fatigue life and strength.
Increasing strength was the major design goal of the Convergence rim. We Are One studied its previous flagship wheel — the Revolution — to understand where the carbon layup could be improved. The result is a rim that is 32% more impact resistant than the previous generation Revolution wheels.
The Convergence comes in 29”, 27.5”, and MX wheelsize configurations, and is available in three different internal rim widths:
- Convergence SECTOR Rim - 28mm
- Convergence TRIAD Rim - 30mm
- Convergence FUSE Rim - 33mm
Beyond the strength and the lifetime warranty, the best part about the Convergence wheel is the cost. It’s a Canadian-made carbon rim that comes with top-of-the-line Industry Nine Hydra hubs, yet it retails for $1,800, which is well below many high-end competitors making rims domestically.
We Are One Revolution Wheels
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If the Convergence wheels are too pricey for your tastes, We Are One is still offering its previous flagship model — the Revolution — built with Industry Nine’s more budget-friendly 1/1 hub. While the Revolution lacks the Convergence rim’s wavy profile, it’s still a strong and well-tuned rim that comes with the same lifetime warranty. Retailing for $1,275, they’d be my personal choice.
We Are One Arrival Frames
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With so much carbon manufacturing expertise in house, a full carbon frame was perhaps the next logical step in We Are One’s evolution. It came out swinging last year with the Arrival, a no-compromise, full-carbon trail and enduro bike made in Canada using the same proprietary laminate process used in its rims.
The Arrival frame comes in three travel configurations — 130mm, 152mm, and 170mm — and it uses a parallel mini-link suspension design to provide a solid pedaling platform with lots a ramp up for aggressive riding. The geometry is thoroughly modern with a slack head angle, steep seat angle, and long reach.
The frame is visibly built using an absurd amount of carbon fiber. To me, the raw version looks like a stealth fighter jet, and it’s absolutely beautiful. The only thing I think prospective shoppers should be conscious of (beyond the wallet-busting $4,500 price tag) is the Super Boost rear end. (Sounds like a good excuse to get matching We Are One wheels!)
The Arrival is made in limited quantities, so it's a rare and unique bike that will undoubtedly turn heads out on the trail. What’s super impressive to me is that We Are One has taken strides to source the majority of the parts and raw materials used in its frame from within a 500-mile radius of its home base. Only the lightweight titanium hardware comes from overseas.
We Are One Da Package
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Do your hands get beat to a pulp during rough trail rides? Have you ever gone to the bike park and experienced “the claw,” where your hands are so fatigued that you literally have to peel them off your bars? If you can get past the goofy name, We Are One’s Da Package might be the solution you’ve been looking for.
Da Package is a combination stem and handlebar that aim to create the perfect blend of comfort and strength. We Are One created a custom layup for its 800mm handlebars to maximize compliance, while maintaining DH-level durability. To achieve its design goals, it created a unique 33mm diameter bar and added a sleeve to slide into the 35mm stem clamp.
Combined with a machined one-piece stem, it provides even clamping force on the bars, which increases fatigue life without adding unnecessary stiffness. Altogether, the Da Package weighs 332g for the 35mm rise option, making it one of the lightest DH-rated bar and stem combos on the market.
Ari’s Blinged-Out We Are One Arrival 172 Build
Want to see what these We Are One products look like put together? When We Are One landed at TPC, one of our Retail Ride Guides, Ari, immediately started putting together his dream enduro bike: a We Are One Arrival 172 frame rolling on Convergence wheels:
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