The bike, made of wood, is the ancestor of all modern two-wheeled vehicle models. Previously, there were no metal or plastic parts on the bike.

Gradually, new materials and designs appeared, technologies began to improve, now there are new varieties of wooden frames that can compete with steel and aluminum counterparts.

History

The first representatives of wooden bicycles had a completely different look, the wheels were fixed through a straight frame, and handles for maneuvering were fixed on the front area.

The first painting involving a bicycle appeared in the 1490s, which means that the history of the bicycle includes more than 500 years of development.

In China, they claim the appearance of a bicycle even before our era. According to the found drawings, which are more than 2500 years old, the Chinese have assembled, also made entirely of wood.

According to official figures, the bicycle was invented in Germany in 1818. After that, the two-wheeled vehicle was constantly modernized. Steel appears and machines that were vaguely similar to modern counterparts.

However, the wooden bicycle has not disappeared, new designs make it possible to use it again. Bicycle scooters, which were invented in the 19th century, are now also made of wood.

Bicycles and scooters

Bicycles made of wood are not so popular and are often made in a single copy. Models are characterized by a high monetary value and not every rider can afford to buy a bike made of wood.

For this reason, some are thinking about making a wooden one.

Benefits of wood

Bikes made of wood are characterized not only, such two-wheeled vehicles are quite practical due to the following characteristics of wood.

1. This is a fairly strong and resilient material.
2. Its processing does not take much time.
3. Due to the vibration-absorbing properties of wood, a smooth ride of the bike is ensured.

Wood bike manufacturers use layering to increase frame strength. Also, in order to reduce weight, wood is combined with carbon fiber.

However, if you want to create a unique and inimitable bike, you will need to come up with the entire assembly scheme and purchase all the necessary components yourself.

Someone simply changes their frame to a wooden one, leaving all the elements from the old bike. Someone wants to build a new wooden bicycle from scratch.

To this end, you will need to buy additional elements so that there is no need to cut out each gear.

First of all, you need to decide on the material for the frame. It must be strong enough so that the mountings and accessories can be easily attached to the bike.

You will need wood glue and epoxy. You also need plywood, a hacksaw for wood, a drill, a plane and all the elements for assembling a bicycle.

1. The creation of a bicycle begins with planning a sketch of the future wooden frame. Some people use ready-made schemes on the Internet.

   When creating a frame, it is important to take into account the dimensions of the additional elements, and so on. The design must fit perfectly with the other parts of the two-wheeled vehicle.

2. After the plywood layout is ready, you need to start creating the frame by gluing layers of wood.
3. According to the pattern, it is required to walk with a plane, especially concentrating on the corners. Trim the boards.
4. After the above steps, two parts of the wooden frame are obtained, which are given the final shape, and the assembly is carried out. All surfaces must be glued in advance.
5. are made with plywood and wooden sticks, fixing with bolts.
6. After the frame is sanded and varnished.
7. Then it is carried out, before use, you need to make sure that each element of the bike is securely fixed.

The bike is then completely ready to ride. It is possible that wooden bikes will not be such a rare phenomenon in the future, but for now, vehicles made of wood attract the eyes of everyone around.

Modern models

The bike is considered environmentally friendly. The bike does not pollute the surrounding air, does not disturb passers-by with its loud sounds during operation. And also not as dangerous as compared to cars.

Wooden bicycles are even more environmentally friendly. Almost all elements of a two-wheeled vehicle are natural, the negative impact on the health of creating alloys from metals is excluded.

Wood is also the most readily available material. There are 4 of the most famous wooden bicycle models.

1. Perfect day is.

   Differs in a high degree of strength. The frame is made of birch. It is considered a full-fledged bike, standard frame geometry, steering column design, disc character.

1. Paul Trimmer provided a model of a two-wheeled vehicle with an ash plank frame.

   The bike is a cross between mountain and. characterized by one speed, has a small weight, about 10 kilograms. It features a disc brake system, the shape of the steering wheel is similar to that of a mountain.

1. Ukrainian designer has released the Aero model.

   The frame implies an "eye" design. The difference from other wooden bicycles is the rigid metal fork. There is no seat tube. fixed on the upper section of the frame.

1. Guapa means a bamboo frame with an aluminum fork.

   The bike is characterized by good as well as high stability on smooth road surfaces. It is the best option among wooden bicycles.

Gradually wooden, due to the properties of wood.

Wooden bicycle - this is how the distant ancestor of the modern bike looked like. All components of the first two-wheeled horse were made from this eco-friendly material - no metal alloys, rubber or plastic.

Modernity dictates movement in both directions - new designs continue to develop, and something is taken from the past. So wooden frames returned to life, albeit in a more perfect form. And some creative designers develop unique bicycle models known all over the world.

Historical roots of the wooden bike

The first bicycles made of wood only vaguely resembled the modern design - the wheels were attached to a straight frame, the steering knobs were fixed in front. There were no pedals and no drive, the bike was propelled by pushing the feet off the ground. In general, the design was more like a balance bike.

The first painting with a two-wheeled structure was painted by the artist Giacomo Caprotti, a student of the legendary Leonardo da Vinci, at the end of the 15th century. That is, we can safely assume that the history of the bicycle is at least half a millennium.

Something vaguely similar to a bicycle originated in the Renaissance

The Chinese, however, do not agree with this - according to their version, bicycles were invented already before our era. To be more precise, according to the found drawings of 2500 years ago, they managed to reproduce a real miracle of antiquity - a wooden bicycle-booth.

The device is no simpler than a modern bike - the designers of that time tried so hard

But back to the balance bike. The official inventor of the first bicycle is Karl von Drez, a German design engineer.

The invention dates back to 1818. Starting from the 19th century, the bicycle received a significant impetus in development: its design was modified several times, and at the end of the century machines similar to the current ones began to appear.

Balance bikes with a wooden frame are still being made today.

The wooden balance bike has not gone forever - modernity brings retro back from the distant past, giving a second wind. For example, bicycle scooters are no longer the same as they were in the 19th century, but are also made of wood. However, not only balance bikes are assembled from wood. These are quite ordinary, at first glance, great. Of course, such models are not common and often exist in a single copy.

Modern models on wooden frames

A bicycle is an environmentally friendly and quiet transport. It does not poison the environment with exhaust emissions, does not annoy with crackling and noise, and it is also less dangerous than a car. Ideally. But it turns out that you can make your bike even more environmentally friendly by assembling it on a wooden frame.

Indeed, with wood, it becomes almost 100% natural - the production of metal alloys and carbon fiber, which is unsafe for health, is completely excluded, besides, wood is a more affordable material. Restless designers have succeeded in making wooden bicycles a reality. Let's evaluate the top five models:

1. Perfect Day - a mountain bike on a wooden frame - perhaps the most durable of its metal cousins. The idea of ​​creation and the exclusive model belongs to the Dvoika company. Frame material - birch.

In general, this is a full-fledged MTB, in what quality we are used to seeing it: frame geometry, multi-speed transmission, powerful shock absorption, steering wheel design, disc brakes, aggressive tires.

2. Ash bike - a unique solution of the Dutch designer Paul Trimmer. Lightweight and eco-friendly, the bike is made from solid ash planks.

By design, this model occupies an intermediate position between the three classes of bicycles: road, road and mountain bicycles. From the road builder, the ash-bike took a single-speed transmission and the type of wheels, from the road bike - lightness (about 10 kg) and the relative position of the steering wheel and saddle, from the mountain model this model took on the shape of the steering wheel and disc brakes. Indeed, v-brakes are inappropriate here - you would have to cut a tree, and this is already ugly.

3. Aero - stylish model with an "eye" frame. Unlike previous models, this one is equipped with a thin metal and rigid fork. The rear stays seem to merge with the front of the frame, there is no seat tube - the saddle is simply attached to the top of the "eye".

The model belongs to the Ukrainian designer Maria Koroleva. The emphasis was on originality and style, while the bike itself belongs exclusively to the class of pleasure bike. However, walks with such a bike will be remembered forever!

4. Bough Bike - electric bicycle made of wood with a belt two-speed transmission. The engine power is 225 W, the maximum acceleration speed is up to 25-30 km / h without the cyclist's power inputs. Brakes - manual rim and classic drum.

The material of the frame is oak wood from France, the wheel mounts and the joints of the frame parts are made of stainless steel.

5. Guapa - urban singlespeed on a bamboo frame and a rigid aluminum fork. The model is distinguished by lightness and high directional stability on smooth roads.

The bike is perfect for fast city riding and will delight cycling enthusiasts and adherents of a sustainable lifestyle.

Bold and non-standard solutions from China

Fast forward to the Celestial Empire - the most cycling country in the world both in terms of the number of riders and the production of models. The Chinese are creative people, and wooden ones are great for them - one of the reasons to express all their abilities in practice.

The bicycle model on a wooden chain is considered the heritage of Chinese folk art. The chain is made according to all the rules - the same links and rollers, but only wooden. A distinctive feature of the great is that the wheels here are not spoke, and not even discs, but solid circles.

Close-up of chain and center of rear wheel: cuts, notches, holds

This bike is made entirely of wood and was invented by a young Chinese designer.

A bicycle made of Chinese chopsticks was designed by a resident of Liaoning named Song Chao. It is pointless to count the number of spent sticks - there are clearly tens of thousands of them! Probably, the designer ran around all the known and unknown catering establishments in order to collect such a quantity of "raw materials". And then I spent several months processing and gluing them.

However, the result is worthy of the costs and expectations. In the photo we see the happy creator of the "stick" bike, well, and a fairly durable product that will withstand an adult.

The wooden bicycle on sectional wheels is the creation of the Chinese master Peijia Wu. Not a single metal piece, not even a tiny nail. Everything is exclusively made of wood! Probably, such a bike will withstand more than one rider.

Why sectional wheels? The rim is not represented as a solid piece, it consists of pieces of wood fastened together, the joints are minimized. Of course, if you compare with a smooth wheel, then riding this bike will be accompanied by jolts. But, according to the creator himself, this minus is insignificant - the bike perfectly fulfills its purpose.

Another feature of this wonder model is the girder transmission. The transmission does not go through a chain, but through a beam propelled by the legs. The mechanism resembles the lintels of locomotive wheels.

Conclusion

Even such familiar transport as a bicycle can attract attention if you approach its assembly in a non-standard way. While wooden bicycles were a thing of the past, they look attractive these days. Perhaps, in the near future, they will be able to compete quite well with conventional models.

I present to you a bicycle made by myself with a frame made of wood (walnut).

I am a student and I have no steady sources of income, but I love triathlon. Running and swimming do not require money, but in order to participate in a cycling race on an equal footing with others, it is advisable to have a good bike.

I bought an old bike for $ 600 a couple of years ago, and while it is good for walking, triathlon needs something better and there is already a dent in the frame.

At the university, I took a course in engineering, where I learned what I needed to make a frame myself from those materials that are at hand. In my case, it is bala wood (dark walnut).

The whole project took about 5 months, I was engaged in it exclusively in my free time, and even then not always. I will try to tell you in detail about all the steps and describe the stages, but you will need a general understanding of how veloramas work (I myself learned this knowledge mainly from the Internet), and basic skills in working with the tool.

Step 1: How it was and how it became

For comparison, I post a photo of what the bike was like before the modification, and what it has become.

Step 2: materials and tools

This is not a complete sheet of what I have used, but it includes all the basic details and materials.

Wood
- Wood glue
- Epoxy resin
- Plywood
- Carriage

Plus all the parts from a regular bike (I took them from my old bike).

Instruments:

Plane
- hacksaw

Drill and drilling machine

Step 3: construction of the bike frame

Before you start doing something complex and interesting, it is advisable to throw in a clear plan.

I did the layout and layouts in the SolidWorks software. Initially, I started with the geometry of my old road bike, I knew it was good for me, and then I adjusted its parameters to suit me for triathlon.

The main changes that I made: firstly, I increased the angle of the seat, and secondly, I added aerodynamics to the down tube and tube under the seat, added a profile to the rear wheel and lowered the seat anchorage point.

During the frame design phase, it is important to keep in mind the materials and components that are available and will be used: wheels, seatpost, steering, bottom bracket. You need to take into account their dimensions in order to make the right frame.

Also, in the computer model, I took into account the voids inside the frame, these voids reduce its weight. The frame wall thickness is 6 mm.

And in the end, you need to make a model of the frame on a 1: 1 scale. An engineering printing company made 2 copies for me for only $ 5.

Velorama will be made by gluing thin layers together. This is an advantage because each layer can be applied taking into account the direction of the grain of the wood to make the frame stronger in different directions. My bike is made of 8 layers.

In the photo above, you can see the diagram I made for the second bike. There is a lot of stress on the steering column, so I included + and - 45 degree angles from the steering axle for 4 layers and a side member. To connect the seat tube and the bottom tube of the frame, I layered the layers so that they overlap.

Step 4: lamination the layers

This step will take a long time and requires attention. The strength of the bike frame depends to a large extent on high-quality lamination.

The first step is to make the layers. For this, I selected those sections of the boards that were free of knots. Then I opened them on the band saw and passed them through a thickness gauge, the final thickness was 6 mm.

I made the frame templates out of thin plywood and paper. Then he started lamination, lamination was done layer by layer. As a result, I ended up with two identical frame halves, each of which consisted of 4 laminated layers.

Once this process is complete, the bike is already starting to take shape and this is where the real fun begins! Unfortunately, I did not capture the lamination process, but you can see the result in the next step.

Step 5: shaping

After lamination, you will have two pieces of wood on your hands, but they are still solid, and you cannot fit the frame in them.

Milling

I used a handheld router to sample the main voids. The bottom tube of the frame is aerodynamic, so I used a milling machine to achieve a tapered effect.

I smoothed the corners already on the milling table, and I formed the aerodynamic shapes of the seat frame with an orbital sander.

Step 6: metal inserts

Metal pipes must be prepared before use. The carriage is welded to the reinforcement frame so that both it and the seat post fit into the frame.

The head tube should be cut to fit the frame.

Then, holes are made in both pipes, like in Swiss cheese, to reduce their weight. They are then sandblasted to help the epoxy bond better.

Step 7: assembly

If the previous steps are done well, then this one will not be difficult. We put metal pipes in the frame, then we spread glue on the surface of one half, and epoxy around the metal pipes, after which we connect both halves and clamp them under a press or, in my case, in a vacuum bag.

In the modern world, it is customary to return from the depths of history a long-forgotten old thing, and now a wooden bicycle is confidently becoming fashionable. Of course, manufacturers do not offer it in the primitive form it was hundreds of years ago, and you will not have to touch it with your feet on the asphalt, on the contrary, these are quite solid premium models. The price of such new-fangled products can be thousands and tens of thousands of dollars, which may not be affordable for an ordinary man in the street, so many people think about the question: how to make a wooden one?

From the beginnings to the present

Excluding doubtful information about the frescoes found during excavations with images of structures resembling a bicycle, as well as drawings and drawings by Leonardo da Vinci, the German Baron Karl von Drais is officially considered the creator of this vehicle. The bicycle, made by him from ash, was devoid of pedals and other mechanisms usual for today; Despite the primitive design, this wooden bicycle laid the foundation for its further modifications and is the progenitor of all.

Today, the production of structures from natural materials is rapidly gaining momentum in the sports industry. Many leading manufacturers can boast of interesting concept models. One of the brightest representatives of this species is a wooden electric bike. The symbiosis of good old wood and improved mechanisms is increasingly fueling the interest of lovers of modern cycling.

In their work, folk craftsmen are not lagging behind, some of them even manage to recreate a chain mechanism using only a tree.

Sometimes funny, sometimes admirable designs delight with their originality, awakening desire from wood with their own hands.

Emphasis on wood

Wooden bike bikes are distinguished not only by their unique attractive design, but also by their practicality, due to the properties of wood:

• material strength;
• elasticity;
• ease of processing;
• vibration absorption for a smooth ride.

Manufacturers often use layering technology to create a flexible extruded mold, resulting in a solid frame, which adds strength to it. And it is also common to combine wood with carbon fiber to provide a lightweight product. The finished frame is treated with impregnations from moisture, decay, as a result of which the product's resistance to environmental influences is ensured.

The most common tree species used in production are ash, maple, birch, beech, oak, cedar, walnut, sandalwood and other mahogany varieties. Another noteworthy material is bamboo. Of course, it is not a tree, but it is not inferior in strength.

How to make a bicycle out of wood

Some manufacturers offer the buyer a kind of "do-it-yourself" kit - that is, such a set contains all the parts of a bicycle, as a result of which they are fastened together to obtain a full-fledged vehicle. And you can also find instructions for assembling branded bicycles posted on the sites by the developers themselves (not free) and make a similar one yourself. But if the desire to own an exclusive model is added to your craving for modernization, then you should still make a bicycle out of wood with your own hands.

So, inspired by the ideas of modern designers, you decided to update your old bike with a wooden frame or build a new one almost from scratch (for which, of course, you will have to buy additional parts if you do not want to carve every gear from wood).

Required materials and tools:

• wood (it is important to choose the right material, the wood must be strong enough and so that the fasteners hold well on it);
• glue for wood;
• epoxy resin;
• carriage connecting the mechanism to the frame;
• plywood;
• wheels, handlebars and all the rest of the mechanism of a regular bicycle;
• plane;
• screwdriver or drill;
• hacksaw;
• bolts, screws.

Now your exclusive handsome man is only waiting for a test drive, ready to amaze with his originality and attract attention. Perhaps, in the future, such models will not be at all a rarity on the roads, but for now such non-standard solutions will be public.

We are all accustomed to the bicycles that roll around our streets and we know that they are usually made of metal. Despite the affectionate name "steel horse", Japanese craftsman Sueshiro Sano has created a wonderful piece of art from wood! The idea to replace the familiar material with wood came to him when he was working on another pleasure yacht. He, like his father and grandfather, are hereditary shipbuilders. For thirty-two years, Sueshiro Sano has built magnificent mahogany yachts that amaze with their luxury and grace. In 2008, he first decided to create a bicycle, using a kind of material for it - mahogany.


The skill of a specialist is striking, in addition to the fact that he does everything with his hands, because all the structures of these works are made of wood, and only the brakes and chain drive are made of metal. At the same time, the weight of the bike is quite small and averages seven kilograms six hundred grams. Such lightness and grace is achieved by the fact that the frame and its steering wheel are hollow. The wood perfectly softens the shocks, while the movement of the transport becomes smooth, which is very convenient when using the "wooden friend".


Sueshiro Sano founded a mahogany bicycle company and named it Sanomagic. Since each creation is made by a Japanese master by hand, the process takes quite a long time, but Mr. Sano is not going to abandon his technology and apply the mechanization of production. Working on the creation of each of his offspring, he puts into these beautiful creations not only the skill of the master, but also his soul.


Sanomagic bicycles attract not only with their exclusivity, but also with their high durability. Indeed, in their manufacture, technologies and materials of such an important industry as shipbuilding are used. Specially treated wood, then covered with high-strength yacht varnish, which is not afraid of cold winds, scorching sun rays and torrential rains. The unusual resistance to adverse weather conditions makes the original products even more attractive.


From 2008 to 2014, Sueshiro Sano made only eleven wooden bicycles, but in this age of technology and modern materials, this is the main value. Every detail of any of these creatures felt the warmth of a living human hand, which was warmed by a loving heart. The works of art that came out of Mr. Sano's workshop will serve people for many years to come, bring them joy.