The biggest differentiator for a company our size vs others is our ability to create, pivot, and produce at a much faster rate with pinpoint accuracy. We behave like a rapid prototyping house, but also have the tools to scale a project into production really fast. This allows us to prove out concepts and to determinations quite quickly – not wasting time on something that isn’t going to become successful. — Dustin Adams

Let's start you off with a bit of history. This is owner Dustin Adams and his Giant XTC from his 4x days.

It's a very dog-friendly environment at We Are One.

After each detail is run and approved on the computer, the physical journey for each product begins here in the CNC machine.

Gilles Corbeil steers the CNC ship.

Different drill bit options for the CNC machine allow We Are One to create and adjust each mold to virtually any spec.

Rest assured that all the debris from creating each piece is well recycled.

This Gerber cutting machine is responsible for all the precision cuts of pre-preg carbon before the layup starts.

Different lengths and sizes of carbon strands labeled for each model.

Here strands of carbon are being shaped as part of the inner structure of the rim.

The rim is taking its shape as all the different layers of carbon are hand-laid while the valve hole gets punched out before each overlap. Being hand-laid ensures that every rim is crafted to spec and any imperfections can be caught immediately.

Tyler ensuring all the layers of carbon sit properly in the mold without gaps or unwanted overlaps before getting clamped down in the mold and pumped with resin.

Closing up the molds that are now ready for the oven.

We Are One make their own molds in-house for each of their products.

Dustin showing off the CNC'd outer mold that is used for the rims. There are four of these used per rim.

Molds for the "Da Bar" handlebar.

Annie making sure the handlebar is ready to go.

Each "Da Stem" is machined in house from a solid block of 7075 aircraft-grade aluminum.

Together, the Da Package bar and stem combo weigh in at 320g for the 35mm stem and 18g more for the 45mm length. This weight was achieved through a collaboration with 77Designz which took six months of prototyping, testing, and machining. Hidden in the design is a carbon nipple that is said to guarantee zero slips and perfect alignment.

These molds are being pumped with resin and will soon undergo the curing process. The entire process happens within a few hours.

I set out to design a molding process where we could remove more than 50% of the labor and any environmentally damaging additions to the process that were being used. Our process needed to be able to sell rims that were ready to use right out of the mold. No chance for repairs or patching. — Dustin Adams

The drill room. Rims come here after being taken out of the mold to meet with Chris, the man behind all the drilling, to be cleaned and drilled.

The only finishing touches the rims get after being removed from the molds are a good buffing to remove any leftover resin. That's it. No paint, no nothing. According to We Are One, it's more cost-effective this way and better for the environment with the absence of harmful chemicals that come with paint and prep.

The rims get locked into a corresponding jig before the nipple holes get marked out. It may look primitive but is guaranteed to be done right every time.

This Agent rim is on a proprietary jig getting drilled out. Notice the angle on the drilling jig which will allow the nipple to engage with the spoke at the proper angle thanks to the couple millimeters of offset.

Details from the drill press.

Signed off and ready to be built.

Fresh carbon hanging above the wheel building room.

We do not paint, sand, fill, patch, or doctor any of our rims. The rims come from the mold to the drilling room for the spoke holes to be drilled, and up to the wheel building shop for assembly. We cut down massively on our environmental impact with no added VOC's or chemicals for painting, and keep the costs of production lower due to the reduction in labor needed post-mold. — Dustin Adams

Fresh sets of wheels getting laced up.

Anyone can custom order nearly any color combo available on the market, hubs included.

We Are One currently have a partnership with Industry9. They can be ordered to fit with a variety of colors available.

The packaging and shipping department has been really busy and there are no signs of slowing from what they've seen. That new building couldn't come at a better time.

The We Are One Dealer Weekend

Dustin explaining what goes on in the layup room during the tour. He wasn't short on the details and made sure everyone present knew of how precise their process was.

Let the fun begin! First order of business is to set up camp.

The group ride is a go. No shuttles allowed for the first laps.

Matt Beer in the Kamloops landscape.

Dustin Adams closing out the pack.

The upper landscape holds a reminder from the forest fires that ravaged through interior BC just a few years ago.

Graham Agassiz making sure everyone will stay warm all night long.

What's a party without a feast? Post ride burritos kick off the night's festivities.

The first annual We Are One Weekend wouldn't be complete without a keg in the middle of the hill climb event.

The first-ever Hill Climb World Champ was crowned that night. They seem to party as hard as the work out there.

There’s a saying that goes, "If you want something done right, do it yourself." That is exactly what’s happening in BC with a small yet passionate group of people going by the name of We Are One Composites.The company’s humble beginnings started with owner Dustin Adams’ decision to leave a job in a similar industry that wasn’t up to his standards. As a result, the "proud-to-be Canadian" brand was born, with Adams laying up carbon fiber strands by hand to provide quality wheel building from his hometown in Kamloops. The vision was set, a business plan drafted, and the product was officially put into motion in early 2017. Since then, We Are One has grown as a company that now offers multiple high-end carbon wheel options and most recently a bar and stem combo.Dustin’s history on two wheels spans a few decades, with him entering his first race in 1994. The competitive journey began with a local race series in Kamloops, which eventually took him all the way into the top spots on the NORBA circuit in 2002 before a fourth-place at a World Cup. His experiences as a top tier athlete arguably put down a solid foundation and helped form the mindset for his transition into entrepreneurship.After an earlier failure to lay up carbon wheels at a high standard and consistency in China in a previous partnership, Dustin's hunger for success naturally drove him to the creation of We Are One Composites. In pursuit of theprocess, Adams left that manufacturer to create his own brand that does everything in-house. This allowed for 100% ownership of the process, proper quality control, and prototype testing which could be done whenever need be, within the same facility, for immediate feedback. It was a huge benefit to the entire operation and a luxury many other companies simply don’t have.Moving forward, Dustin and his team have secured a much larger workshop up the road as they’ve outgrown the current one in just under three years. The added space will be an asset to their expansion and offer a long list of benefits for the employees, including a pump track.As a form of dealer appreciation and wanting to meet with some of the people that make their success possible, the crew at We Are One hosted a weekend of riding, camping, and good times in Kamloops. It began with a shop tour and, to no one's surprise, ended with a sketchy hill climb complete with kegs and other obstacles.