Keeping nostalgia alive in Northeast Wisconsin
‘It’s never too late to follow your dreams’
February 5, 2024
WAUSAU – Sometimes, a business venture can be the sum of many parts.
Such is the case for Todd Treu, founder of Peak & Pedal Sports – a local manufacturer focused on direct sales of bicycle and ski accessories, including ski and snowboard racks – located in the Entrepreneurial & Education Center on 72nd Ave. in Wausau’s west side industrial park.
Treu said his venture is less a linear route from his work experience and more the result of a lifetime of accumulated interests.
“My family was in the food business until 1992,” he said.
Todd said Treu Food Products, founded by his grandfather shortly after World War II, occupied the building at the south end of Harrier Avenue, which now houses Wausau Academy of Dance.
“We got squeezed out by bigger competition,” he said.
After those doors closed, Treu said others opened – this time in the trucking and shipping industry.
“I entered as a driver,” he said. “My ability to dispatch, plan and organize soon bubbled to the surface, and I found myself managing those efforts – it was stressful, though.”
Along the way, Treu said he moved to Wausau Tile, where an ownership change and significant organizational shifts moved him out the door in April 2020.
He said that’s when he decided to begin making room for something in this life that might be more enjoyable.
“I have two recreational passions in my life – biking and skiing,” he said. “I figured if I’m going to (stress) myself (out), I might as well do it for myself rather than for someone else.”
Treu said he had been making rack systems to carry skis in the back of his pickup trucks for “maybe 10 years.”
“It was a way to get skis up and off the bed and create some room underneath for bags,” he said.
Treu said he had gotten enough supportive feedback that he began thinking of how to scale up his idea and make it profitable.
He said he built his original system from wood covered in carpeting.
“A connection at a local aluminum fabricator convinced me the strong, lightweight metal would add a more professional look, so Bed-Saver Racks was born,” he said. “I had to invest about $5,000 for the molds, and then I had to order a couple thousand pounds of aluminum.”
Though he was excited to take the leap, Treu said the journey came with plenty of difficulties.
“My extrusions came too late in the season to make any sales that first year,” he said. “I was too unorganized. It was almost a whim the way I started this.”
But Treu said he focused quickly and sharply, designing his initial racks for the beds of full-size pickup trucks – before modifying his design so a topper or Tonneau cover could still fit atop the bed.
“I offer installation kits for five makes of trucks,” he said. “I designed a jig for crimping edges and invested in a $6,000 3D printer. It’s good for making small parts and for creating prototypes. While it would take a day and a half to make (them), I can make the mold with that and have it blow-molded.”
Leaning on the knowledge he obtained during his shipping days, Treu said, has also helped him.
“When I’ve had to source materials from outside the U.S, I’ve been able to interpret the shipping differences between the extreme options of ‘Exform’ (where it’s out of the manufacturer’s hands once it leaves their shop) and ‘DDP’ (where they’re responsible until it reaches your door),” he said.
As a one-man shop, Treu said he has turned to Fiverr (an online marketplace for freelance services) to recruit assistance with brochures and designs.
“One designer was great about getting a first draft done, but revisions have been sluggish,” he said. “In another case, language barriers lent mixed results as a brochure designer put my literal instructions into print when I was speaking more figuratively. That was frustrating, but to have it done here would have cost about $500 more.”
Treu said he is also learning to create multiple revenue streams.
“I’m hoping to add an assistant to help with a spinoff aspect of Peak & Pedal that will wax and tune skis,” he said. “It would utilize a kiosk model, which I am designing using existing materials from my Bed-Saver Racks.”
Treu said he’s also using those materials to design a way for Bed-Saver Racks to accommodate bicycles, for the insides of larger SUVs.
“Some of these bikes are $12,000,” he said. “I’d rather they be inside a vehicle than held onto a rack with a cable lock.”
Available via BedSaverRacks.com, Treu said he has made all but maybe one sale via e-commerce.
