What a Concept 7: Bikes Give Me Wood

I still do not understand what happened.  Just a few years ago, anything that caused a tree to get cut down was considered horrible, anti environmental, and evil.  It went to such extremes that foresters and loggers were protested, vandalized and some killed by tree spiking in the effort to save trees.  Now it seems the environmental crowd has gotten wood over making anything out of wood.

Some history

The Walking machine 1817

Wood is the latest craze in bike manufacturing.  Wood was one of the first materials used to make bicycles.  Even after turning to steel as a frame material, wood was used for the rims of wheels.  Once steel became more accessible things changed.   Bamboo, which was used way back in bicycle history in England in 1894, is also gaining popularity again.  It seems every week another major bicycle manufacturer, or custom shop introduces a wooden model to their line up.  Not that this is bad, but i find it interesting how the times change while staying the same.  There are some very beautiful wooden bikes and designs that have made me say "wow".  Then there are those that do not.

The Handmade Dutch

Photos: Jan Gunneweg

Dutch industrial designer Jan Gunneweg brings us a wooden marvel of both craftsmanship and design.  The Bike is made of Walnut, and weighs less than 35 pounds.  The design, (other than the single speed aspect) is graceful and solid.  The design shows off his skills most heavily in the wheels.  One large wooden spoke balanced against opposite side metal spokes create the structure of support.  Gunneweg told  Co.Design that the spokes "symbolize the legs of man," then added "balancing the wheels was pretty challenging because of the width of the wooden spoke."

As an art piece or limited production design, this is one of the few that manage to combine the multiple elements into a functional and attractive ride.  Rather than making it a fixie using a three or five speed internal hub would have maintained the look of simplicity and made it more practical.  The lack of brakes did not go unnoticed by me either.  Since brake cables would have cluttered the look, as a design piece, if this ever becomes a model for future production bikes, I hope they add some.  A hub kickback brake would really be rough on the thinner wooden chainstays so that would be a structural limitation with the wood.  However internal cable routing, or nested grooves would conceal cables and add a proper set of features to the overall design. 

 With the design as it is, with no brakes, and one speed I will give it 4 Einstars.  If those features were added and it were to somehow make it to at least a limited production, it would be fully deserving of  a full 6.   

Rating ~ 4 Einstars!

The Bamboo Scooter

Photos: Fritsch-Durisotti

As I mentioned earlier, bamboo is one of the "woods of choice" in new design concepts. There is so many different bamboo designs out there that it would hurt my head to try to count them. So I will focus on a new scooter by Fritsch-Durisotti.  Leave it to the French to try to revolutionize transportation with a friggin' scooter for adults.  Here is where I am confused by this.  It has an electric assist drive.  Sure, it is hidden really well, and as far as scooters go it looks all artsy and smooth, but seriously, this is for adults?

If I wanted something electric that I could get on and just ride somewhere without using a car, there are already options for that.  A golf cart comes to mind, and I can load it with a crap load of groceries or buy out the clearance isle at Wal-Mart and get it home in one.  If I had no cargo plans, then there is the Segway.  If ever the mood strikes that I want to sit back and cruise around without effort, there are electric assist bikes.  Now, that rare moment when pushing off a giant scooter or scooting for chicks at the park clouds my days thoughts, I will go buy a cheap drill and lobotomize myself.  

this doesn't even look comfortable. (there is a seat somewhere)

When my 10 year old son looked at the picture of this thing, his first thought was how to make the front fork into a giant slingshot.  That was the only part of the entire design concept that made sense and it wasn't even their idea.   

Rating ~ 6 Full Hipstars!

Here are a few honorable mentions in the wooden bike design trend.

This fixie by Ken Stolpmann
 features a wooden frame with cantilever seat beam.

Renovo Bikes wooden bike Gallery

Sanomagic Wooden Bicycles

Tino Sana Wooden Bicycle