Renovo wood bicycles

[elkroeger]

I thought some of you might like this - beautiful monocoque wood and bamboo bicycle frames. Ethan Allen himself couldn't match this.

 

Renovo

[ESokoloff]

I WOOD worry about termites constantly

 

That is cool. Thanks for sharing.

[Jerry Johnston]

Beautiful frames!

[Gregori]

Wooden yew like one?

Don't maple me ash yew again.

 

If someone grove me one, I certainly wouldn't birch about it, and that's no oak.

 

(Okayyyyy, it's WAAAY past my bedtime...)

[Gary in Aus]

While we all have diferent tactile responses there is something about timber and bamboo that appeals to me.

 

I am an avid flyfisherman {which means I spend far too much money in the pursuit of fish that I catch and let go} and like most have a collection of equipment ,all my rods are made of graphite and mixtures of exotic chemicals, my fly boxes are from special grade metals etc and reels are machined from even more exotic metals and chemicals.

 

However the most "tactile" exquisite flyrod I have ever cast and used was a English made Hood 7 piece split rangoon cane rod.

 

Possibly impossible to describe the sensation , it is definitely one of those "if you have to ask you wouldn't understand " experiences.

 

The balance ,the feel , it's weightless and seems to move without any conscious action on your part.It feels alive and that you can feel the life in the water and when you have a fish you can feel it's alive through the rod I have only felt this using this rod , I saw one for sale in the Compleat Angler in Wellington ,New Zealand years ago but the $7,000 price tag was a bit too rich for me.

 

One day.

 

[motoguy128]

Pretty cool. Although it sppears to me that the "strength" of the wood revolves around the resins use to laminate it. So it's similar to fiberglass and carbon fibre in that regard.

 

I understand the concept of the "feel" of a bicycle frame. Similar to the feel of a motorcycle engine, chassis and steering. I still ride a 10 year old steel frame. I still can't justify spending $2k or mor for a bike that won't really make me faster and has a dead feel like carbon and aluminum is too lively... although there are some combination aluminum/carbon frame.

 

But I really like the concept. For racing however, the weights are still 1 lb or more heavier than a top end racing frame.

 

I also notice they aren't willing to risk designing their own front fork. I wonder if their analysis determined it would be too bulky to have adequate strength or rode too harsh. Carbon may still rule to forks.

[elkroeger]

Yeah, that fork crown / steerer tube is kindof the achilles heel of the whole thing. They have stuck to the safest / easiest place(s) to deal with - the main triangle, or both main triangles (minus dropouts). Clearly you can do a lot more with steel, carbon, etc...

 

I find it remarkable that something like this is even rideable. I'm just dying to try one out. I'd love to see how it fares under some moderate abuse for a couple years....

[KMG_365]

Okay, that's nicer than mine. But mine's faster!

 

 

[ESokoloff]

.... I still ride a 10 year old steel frame. I still can't justify spending $2k or mor for a bike that won't really make me faster .....

 

Flatlander

[elkroeger]

Okay, that's nicer than mine. But mine's faster!

 

 

 

Are YOU the guy who owns that dang thing??? ;-)