Meet Us
And our story
How BackroadsLab Started
BackroadsLab started the way most good things do, with a common obsession and many, many shared miles.
We met at Worcester Polytechnic Institute studying Robotics Engineering. Over the course of many projects, we found that our complementary skills and attitudes led to some great outcomes.
Now, well into our engineering careers and looking for an outlet for our creativity, we started BackroadsLab to explore the intersection of our passion for cycling and engineering.
Our products are born from things we wanted, and you can find them on our bikes and in our garages.
Daniel Shrives
My obsession with cycling started in middle school, riding to school and back home after rowing practice every day. Ten miles of road and gravel was enough to hook me for life.
By high school, my after-school rides kept getting longer. After my first century the obsession only deepened. Throughout those years I owned more bikes than I can count — built from parts scavenged at the town dump, local bike shops, or from friends. I was constantly upgrading, building, and occasionally destroying them as I pushed my limits and refined my taste.
These days I ride around 6,000 miles a year and travel with my bike whenever I can. My favorite ride of the past year was the Boulder Octopus — 125 miles, 20,000 feet of climbing, hitting all the classic Boulder climbs in a single push. Exactly the kind of day that reminds you why you started riding in the first place.
Contact me directly at: daniel@backroadslab.com
Brent Rolfes
Most of my time is spent either riding my bike or designing and building. I’ve always been drawn to the outdoors, and over the years that’s grown from backpacking and camping into cycling, gravel riding, and now bikepacking. Riding the Kokopelli Trail first hooked me on bikepacking and made me want more of those kinds of adventures in my life.
My engineering background brings a methodical approach to design, while my passion for riding and adventure keeps me focused on creating products that are genuinely better to use.
Many of the products here started as small solutions to problems I ran into while riding, maintaining my bike, or traveling with it. As I spend more time gravel riding and bikepacking, I’m always refining products to make those experiences simpler, cleaner, and more enjoyable.
Contact me directly at: brent@backroadslab.com