4/25/14 11:11 PM

A friend who is a fitter and turner by trade and whose hobby (other than cycling) is woodworking has just completed making himself a wooden bike frame. So far he's covered a few hundred kilometres on it, and says that it handles and rides pretty much the same as his previous bike (an Al custom made for him by a Sydney framebuilder about 15 years ago). A quick heft of it at the cafe this morning gave me the impression that it weighs about the same as an early 90s steel race machine. He says that he considers this one just a prototype and is already starting on an improved and lighter model.

The dark timber is Jarrah and the blond timber is Silver Ash, both Australian hardwoods. There are aluminium inserts in the head tube, seat tube, and bottom bracket to take the seatpost and headset and BB bearings.

4/26/14 4:59 AM

Stunning. I bet it weighs a brute ton. More than he alludes to in fact.

I find the mix of Di2 and wood fantastic, and the finish is stunning.

I bet Sparky will drool all over it and make one himself.

4/26/14 8:40 AM

I know someone locally who has one of these:
http://www.renovobikes.com

4/26/14 10:00 AM

LOL, I have a billet of Sapele that has enough material too.

4/26/14 3:52 PM

Solid, or hollow like the Axalko.com bikes?

4/26/14 4:56 PM

The frame tubes are hollow. And what I said about the weight was from picking the bike up myself to get an impression of what it weighed. There's a builder in Japan who turns out 8Kg wooden bikes - and he uses wood for rims, forks, handlebars, seatposts etc, as well as for the frames. And they're not just unrideable show items - some of them have actually been raced.

http://sanomagic.world.coocan.jp/Lineup/english_sanomagicbikelineup.htm