Berd spokes have won the Olympics. They have won world championships (under a Canadian, even). They are growing, slowly but surely, in prominence. But there are still limited options to easily build up a wheelset with the wild polymer “rope” spokes. Hope is changing that.
The U.K. high-end hub and components brand just announced a new Berd-approved hub is on the way. A Hope Pro 5 with hooked flanges will launch on Feb. 1, 2026.
The hooked flanges aren’t essential to building Berd wheels. But the design does make it a lot easier. Vancouver Island’s NOBL Wheels is one of just a few places that can slightly modify existing hubs to work with Berd spokes. Having a high-profile brand like Hope offer a Berd-friendly hub out of the box will, surely, help the polymer spokes gain more traction. (And traction is one of the benefits of the novel spoke construction).
Fly like a Berd?
If you haven’t heard of Berd, it’s not surprising. The small company came out of nowhere with its Olympic win. Tom Pidcock clearly took advantage of INEOS’s willingness to test and use non-sponsor gear if it gave any sort of competitive advantage. So the Brit was one of the first pros riding Berd-spoke wheels at the international level. He just happened to win the Olympics on them.
Their expense, diversion from tradition and, probably, the fact that it’s not that easy to notice what kind of spokes someone is riding while they’re in a race, meant that the Olympic gold gave Berd a huge boost, but didn’t send the brand into the stratosphere. I mean, spokes made out of what looks like string? How strong can they be, even if that’s very science-y string.
Well, they’re very strong. Via Cumberland, B.C.’s NOBL, we’ve tested them on mountain bikes and gravel bikes and come away impressed in both scenarios. They’re light, their bougie, but the polymer spokes are also proving incredibly tough, even over a year of riding.
Will they catch on outside the elite pro ranks (and well-funded recreational riders)? The expense of Berd spokes and specialized knowledge needed to create them (NOBL are quite invested in both) mean that these distinctive spokes still remain a fringe technology, even if a very proven one. And cyclists can be, at times, very resistant to challenging traditions.
Whether they will catch on or not, Berd’s design deserves more attention. With Hope hopping on board, a major endorsement of the technology, here’s hoping they can.