Wood Bikes Continued

regular commenter Bikesgonewild expressed allot of interest in this bike and requested a follow up post including links to the site of the frame builder. The frame which, is constructed from 34 layers of Birch wood, is build by dutch engineer and designer Jan Gunneweg and weighs about 9kg about 19.5 pounds. While this is a bit heavy for a race bike, the frame is very strong and looks beautiful. The ride is supposed to be somewhat stiffer than carbon but more forgiving than wood. I think for most people who would actually ride this bike the weight would not be much of a factor, its never going to be a PRO racing bike. More like and eccentric enthusiasts dream bike at about 14,500 and 16,000 euros each its definitely in the dream bike price range (22-24,000 US dollars) However though if you are someone with that kind of money, the bike could surely be built up a bit litter, an upgrade to Record level components and Lightweight wheels or even more practical Mavic R-SYS wheels and you could probably drop a pound or more.






Jan also makes this more commuter minded bike, which is also very cool.

House at the Rim of the World

This house is located in Big Bear California, getting there requires either an off road vehicle or allot of hiking, either way the view is well worth it.

Wood Bikes

While the idea of a wooden bike is certainly nothing new (illustrated above). It seems the design possibilities of wood are just begging to be fully exploited. I don't doubt that the bikes in the above photo are inspired by modern creations of the industrialized world, I do acknowledge the possibility they are an indigenous invention however unlikely that may be. These bikes also lack one key feature the modern bike, drive trains and are basically glorified scooters with seats. They do however seem to have a foot articulated brake, which reinforces my notion that they are made primarily for down hill use.

More advanced wooden bikes seem to have woo,d only in the frame. These three examples illustrate woods potential to build highly functional modern bikes. The above bike even incorporates the natural flex in wood to creat a full suspension frame, without the use of a rear shock.


There are even tandems made out of wood, like this bike built by a German college student Jens Eichler (the guy riding in front) . It's called Renovatia.



However it seems that, until now its been thought impossible to build a fully functional bike completely out of wood. 16 year-old high school student Marco Facciola built a bike out of wood, completely. Pretty damn impressive. "Marco had to complete this as a non-academic project for his International Baccalaureate, and inspiration came from his grandfather, forced to make wooden wheels for his bike during the war due to rubber shortages."


These closeups of the drive train and free wheel are the most impressive.

Street Art