Wolf Tooth Components and Otso Cycles have been making innovative bicycles and parts for over a decade. Starting in 2013 with aftermarket chainrings and cogs for nascent 1x drivetrains, their offerings have grown considerably to include an expanded catalog of machined aluminum parts, complex tools, dropper posts, and a full-blown sibling bike brand, Otso Cycles. Josh spent a day at Wolf Tooth‘s Minneapolis HQ earlier this year and reports on what he learned about the brand’s history and where they’re headed…
Checking in at Wolf Tooth and Otso
Earlier this year, I made a few stops during a quick trip to the Upper Midwest. Wolf Tooth was high on my list of places to visit for some time, as I’ve enjoyed using their products for nearly as long as the brand has been around. I was also quite stoked on the new hardtail they launched earlier this year.
The inception and subsequent growth of Wolf Tooth have been synonymous with the development of “modern” mountain biking. For the past decade-plus, mountain bike geometry has gotten slacker, wheels have gotten bigger, suspension has gotten better, and drivetrains have gotten simpler—at least for a while. In step with that trajectory, Wolf Tooth, and later their bike brand Otso, have been there pushing a rider-focused agenda that larger manufacturers can sometimes be slow to adopt. And it all started with chainrings.
While at the southern Minneapolis HQ and factory, I met with the company’s owners and founders – Mike Pfeiffer, Brendan Moore, and Dan Dittmer – for a contextual conversation about the brand’s origins and where it might be headed. I also toured the facility and interviewed Marketing Director Kurt Stafki, which we’ll get into a bit later.
Single Rings, Big Cogs
While many newer riders probably take their 1x drivetrain systems for granted, I remember the days in the early twenty-teens when my friends and I were converting our double cranksets to single using chainrings specifically designed for chain retention in the absence of a front derailleur. At the time, there were limited options from SRAM and Shimano, but Wolf Tooth arrived early on with more compatibility.
There was a push towards simplicity in those days, particularly for hardtails – the move toward bigger tubeless wheels and tires, disc brakes, and 1x drivetrains was a big part of it. And this is how Wolf Tooth started. They helped fuel the 1x revolution first with aftermarket chainrings. They were also the first to expand beyond the 76 BCD that SRAM originally patented, including the first narrow-wide chainrings for 104 BCD and other fitments. They’ve always been compatible with more than just SRAM drivetrains and have more unique tooth profiles than other brands.
Next, they focused on rear-end parts like larger cassette cogs and derailleur hanger extenders so existing drivetrains could run larger cogs than initially designed.
Continual Improvement
Since the early days, Wolf Tooth parts have adorned my bikes, and they tend to take a beating. And when components don’t meet performance expectations, Wolf Tooth offers replacement or repair parts (more on Right to Repair below). Even if their parts are good enough already, they seem committed to continual improvement and making products even better while still retaining a solid value proposition for customers.
Take their ReMote dropper lever, for example. Released in 2016 and still a mainstay in their catalog, it was the first lever to function on a large sealed bearing for smooth and consistent actuation with fitments for a variety of cockpit integrations. In years since, they have built on the popularity of the original with the ReMote Pro, which includes additional adjustability, and ReMote Light Action for droppers with harder pull ratios and an overall lighter feel.
Another example is Wolf Tooth’s dropper post, the Resolve. Already a popular product known for being reliable, self-bleeding, and fully at-home-serviceable if needed, it offers a catalog of replacement parts rather than requiring cartridge replacement like some other brands. With the Resolve rev2, the post was updated with new internals that reportedly offer 25% lighter actuation and better self-bleeding.
Rather than requiring customers to purchase a brand new dropper to take advantage, an upgrade kit is available for a fraction of the price. I could go on with a list of other notable improvements and enhancements throughout Wolf Tooth’s catalog, but let’s get back to the factory.
Brand Identity
Within the first few minutes of walking the factory floor, I quickly realized that Wolf Tooth is run and operated by passionate cyclists. From the bike racks filled with employees’ commuter rigs to the buzzing assembly floor, it’s clear that the rider-centric atmosphere originating with founders Mike, Brendan, and Dan is pervasive among the company’s growing staff. While some folks had already left for a group ride by the time I arrived, I pulled a handful of folks aside to document the eclectic array of bikes in the shop.
And then there’s the often clever branding integration throughout the facility, combined with plenty of vintage and heartfelt ephemera almost everywhere you look. Once I noticed the drain grates throughout the factory floor were etched with Wolf Tooth’s logo, I began to notice these subtle displays in other spots around the building. There is a real sense of pride here.
I recently caught up with Kurt Stafki, the Marketing Director of Wolf Tooth and Otso. Here’s a brief interview that touches on various topics surrounding the brands’ history, product development, production, and right-to-repair.
Wolf Tooth Origins
I touched on this a bit already, but what was going on in the cycling industry during the early days of Wolf Tooth?
Wolf Tooth was started by Mike Pfeiffer, Brendan Moore, and Dan Dittmer. The three were engineers at a tech company that would spend lunch breaks riding together. They designed a chainring with a new approach to wide/narrow teeth and posted a photo on MTBR asking if anyone would buy them.
The response was positive, and they quickly sold the first batch. Eighteen months later, they each quit their day jobs to do Wolf Tooth full-time. They were already designing and machining more innovative mountain bike components because they identified a strong demand for 1x MTB drivetrain components despite a limited offering from major drivetrain companies. Being a small company has always allowed Wolf Tooth to quickly respond to market demand and industry changes.
Otso Cycles
We’ve reviewed nearly all of the Otso bike models over the years, from the recently released Hoot Ti hardtail MTB, to the versatile Stainless Fenrir, to the classic Voytek. Like the Wolf Tooth side of the house, Otso Cycles has also grown considerably over the years. How much overlap exists among the brands and what’s on the horizon for your bike models?
Otso was started by Wolf Tooth in 2016 from a desire to create bikes that didn’t exist. The first two bikes were the Voytek and the Warakin (which is now the Warakin Stainless). The Voytek is a fat bike with the handling and riding style of a mountain bike. The Warakin is a gravel bike with suspension-corrected geometry and crazy-big tire clearance for 700 x 50 mm tires (crazy big for 2016). Both bikes were years ahead of their time. This design principle extends to every bike that we make.
Our lineup now includes an updated Voytek 2, the Warakin in titanium and steel (along with the original stainless steel), the Arctodus fat bike that can clear the biggest 26” and 27.5” tires on the market while maintaining a narrow Q factor, the Waheela C gravel race bike that is designed for confidence and comfort during long days on the saddle, the Fenrir bikepacking bike that can be built with drop bars or MTB bars, and the Hoot titanium hardtail that brings extra playfulness to 140 mm of travel. When we are designing bikes, we think about how we can make something that is better than other offerings and can meaningfully contribute to the cycling industry. We don’t get out of bed in the morning to make just another gravel bike. We want to make something that is remarkable and unlike anything else on the market.
The Otso team is relatively small compared to Wolf Tooth. Otso has five full-time employees who only work on Otso and a handful more who split time between Otso and Wolf Tooth. The engineers who are developing Otso bikes are the same engineers who are bringing new Wolf Tooth products to life. This is how our levels of innovation, engineering precision, and thoughtfulness can be found in both brands. Otso is still growing, and it is enjoyable to see the excitement of customers when they discover our brand and ride one of our bikes for the first time.
12 Years of Growth and Evolution
How has the company evolved over time, both from a human and machine perspective?
Wolf Tooth has prioritized investment in engineering and manufacturing resources. We have a staff of 60 full-time employees. This includes production staff in the machine shop, assembly, shipping, sales, marketing, and product development. Eleven employees have engineering degrees. Our priorities and strategic manufacturing investments have allowed us to design and machine increasingly complex products over time. Things are quite a bit more sophisticated now compared to the early days of working out of a basement.
After the early chainrings and cogs, what were some of the next products WT decided to make?
We started with chainrings, giant cogs, and derailleur extenders. The next products that we developed were multi-tools, dropper remotes, and headsets. We’ve since built out those product lines and expanded to dropper posts, pumps, pedals, grips, axles, bottle cages, B-RAD on-bike storage solutions, and more.
We have 16 machines managed by a team of 20. Our mills make products like chainrings, Pack Pliers, pedals, and ReMotes. Our lathes make headsets, axles, EnCase System multi-tools, and lock-on grip collars. The most common material in our machine shop is aluminum. We also work with stainless steel, titanium, and some plastics.
Product Design
What motivates your team to design certain products? With such variety, how do you determine market need?
We look for product ideas where we can offer something better and different from anything else available. We often receive feedback from folks saying that we solve problems that they didn’t know they had. Take our ShiftMounts, for example, which allow you to pair shifters and brakes from different manufacturers on the same mount.
Prior to the ShiftMount, if you had a shifter from one brand and brakes from another, you needed to have two separate mounts. The ShiftMount lets you mount your shifters and brakes from different brands on the same clamp. This cleans up the cockpit and saves a bit of weight because now only one clamp is needed instead of two. This comes to life in every product that we make.
Manufacturing Lifecycle
Let’s look at a few diverse product offerings that are both designed, made, and/or assembled in-house, including chainrings, Resolve droppers, Waveform pedals, and bottle cages.
Chainrings: We have more than 400 different chainrings based on mount, offset, tooth count, and tooth profile. Each chainring starts as an aluminum billet. After 20-30 minutes in a CNC mill (time is based on the size of the chainring), the machine shop team spends time with quality control, where we check seven different measurements, including offset, tooth width, chain wrap, and more. Chainrings are then anodized, laser-marked, and packaged for shipping.
Resolve Dropper Post Rev2: Each dropper post has 85 individual components. Our assembly team builds each of these to order. It takes 20 minutes for our team to assemble one dropper post from scratch. Each component is inspected during assembly. We also function-test fully assembled dropper posts to make sure they have smooth motion, hold pressure, and operate as intended when actuated.
Waveform Aluminum Pedals: Each aluminum pedal body spends 30 minutes in a CNC mill, while each stainless steel axle spends nine minutes in a lathe to take final shape. These components then have about 10 minutes of quality control where we measure various specs before they leave the machine shop. Pedal bodies are then anodized in one of eight colors and laser-marked before assembly. Each set of Waveform Aluminum Pedals has 70 individual parts and takes 11 minutes to assemble. We then do a round of testing to be sure that they are assembled properly and spin freely before packaging and shipping.
Stainless and Titanium Bottle Cages: Bottle Cages began as a collaboration with King Cage. We developed our unique Morse base plate that has a dash-dot pattern. It’s unique because it allows 32 mm of vertical adjustment. For some bikes, this means the difference between riding with a 22 oz. bottle or being able to fit a 26 oz. bottle; by adjusting position of the bottle cage, a larger water bottle can be fit with frame and bag constraints.
When these were first announced in 2018, Ron was bending the cages and we were adding the base plate. It was a true collaboration for this product. Then in 2020, demand increased and we were not able to keep cages in stock because Ron was so busy with his business. These cages have always been popular products for us and we needed to find a way to keep them in stock. The only path forward was moving cage production from Ron’s shop to our facility. We developed our own bending jigs. When we shared the news with Ron, we anticipated that he would be upset because he would be losing our business. This wasn’t the case. Ron offered to travel to Minnesota to show us how to bend cages. This wasn’t necessary because we were able to develop the process on our own, but it was incredibly appreciated.
Each cage begins as a straight, hollow tube. This is true for stainless steel and titanium. We have several bending jigs that allow the cages to take shape in a specific sequence. Tolerances are tested down to the millimeter for every cage during the bending process at multiple points along the way. It takes roughly three minutes to bend one cage. The next step is attaching the stamped base plate at special welding stations. The cage is ready to ship after welding. All Wolf Tooth Morse Cages are manufactured here at Wolf Tooth HQ and ship from here.
Wolf Tooth Component Production
What components are produced in-house? And what are out-of-house?
Almost all machined products are machined in-house. This includes chainrings, headsets, multi-tools, pedals, dropper remotes, B-RAD items, seatpost clamps, and more – if a product is primarily machined aluminum or stainless steel, it is almost certainly machined here.
Two exceptions are Resolve Dropper Posts and EnCase Pumps. We do have the capabilities to machine the aluminum components for those two products, but the resulting retail costs would be prohibitively expensive for customers. These are assembled here with components of our design manufactured elsewhere. Our Resolve Dropper Posts, for example, are built to order by our team. We also ship everything from our Minnesota facility. Our machine shop, assembly, and shipping teams are exceptional and vital to keep Wolf Tooth moving forward.
Right to Repair
Right to Repair is an integral part of Wolf Tooth’s value proposition. Can you talk about the program’s background and why it is important?
Nearly all Wolf Tooth products with multiple parts are part of our Right to Repair program. We offer replacement parts and service guides. For our Resolve Dropper Post, for example, we have text and video guides for service. We also offer to do any service here at Wolf Tooth HQ and work with dealers and distributors to offer service for customers.
Right to Repair is a counter to throwaway culture. So many things that folks buy — in cycling and beyond — are single-use or not possible to repair. In some cases, it is less expensive to replace a broken item by buying new than it is to replace just the faulty component. This is as bad for the wallet as it is for the planet. We offer Right to Repair for a few reasons. The first is that we want customers to only need to buy something once. We design our products to be versatile, durable, and reliable. Our products may cost more than some competitors because we prioritize USA manufacturing.
When paired with our design ethos of durability and reliability, Right to Repair means that the lifetime cost of ownership for our products can be less than a competitor’s product that may have a lower retail price. If someone crashes and breaks a ReMote Pro dropper lever, we’d rather that they just replace a $1.95 clamping bolt or $19.95 base than an entirely new $69.95 dropper lever. We’ll even show them exactly how to fix it. Some companies design products that don’t allow service, thus requiring the customer to spend more. We’d rather save customers time and money, and reduce the resources required for production and shipping.
Right to Repair does add a lot of complication to our operations here. Instead of having just eight SKUs for our ReMote Pro with different mounting bases, we have 35 SKUs for replacement parts. Our engineers spend extra time writing installation tutorials and service guides. Our marketing team spends time with photos and videos to help with those guides. The good news is that this extra work is worth it. Our Customer Support Team spends hours on email every day talking folks through installation and repair. We sell 10-20 replacement parts and service kits on any given day. Customers are clearly utilizing our Right to Repair program. If this means that they have a better experience with our brand and products, we’ll happily continue devoting extra time.
Toolpaths Toward Tomorrow
Wolf Tooth had a big year in 2024, and they don’t seem to be slowing down anytime soon. I have a feeling that we’ll be seeing the brand continue to up the ante of innovation and design, adding even more popular components to its already robust catalog. It’s funny: whenever I ask Kurt or the Wolf Tooth team what some future products might be, they jokingly tell me that they’ll probably be things folks think they already make but actually don’t.
What do you want to see Wolf Tooth or Otso Cycles make next?