Is it possible to build a bicycle made from wood?

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Dom

Yes. You have already found out about ALL wood bikes, Natural fiber and epoxy frames, and of course the bamboo bike. The question is how functional you want the bike to be. As a piece of art, an all wood bike would be pretty cool. BUT, as a rider, it would not function competitively with its commercial counter parts. If you want a functional wood bike, like the bamboo bike... you will need to merge wood with traditional components.

Yes, wood has ben used in bike frames for decades. In fact, there are still automobile frames made from wood! I drove and raced a Lotus Super 7 which was an all wood frame. It was very strong and light! I could carry the frame hanging over a shoulder like a computer case.!

Soccerref...Show more

Wood is not really durable enough for wheels which is why they stopped using it for that in the late 1800's as metallurgy produced alloys that were both strong enough and light enough to be used for wheels. Tires are rubber for a reason. Components will be tough. I can't imagine wood bearings being durable and it's going to be difficult to get them to be low in friction. You're going to need bearings for both wheels, the bottom bracket and the headset (steering). I suppose it's possible to build a belt drive type of system out of wood but you're still going to need some sort of very strong flexible material for the belt. Modern belt drive systems use advanced composites.

Renovo makes high end racing bike frames out of wood. They're quite nice actually.

http://www.renovobikes.com/

Calfee also makes them:

http://www.calfeedesign.com/products/bamboo/

These are also kind of cool in their own way:

http://woodbicycle.com/

This group is dedicated to making low cost bamboo framed bicycles in Africa so that a larger number of poor people there can have bicycles.

http://bamboobike.org/Home.html

BTW, what you want to do has been done. This guy actually has a wood chain though it looks like it's held together with metal pins. He even managed to build a wood freewheel mechanism which I'm guessing was very noisy and inefficient.

http://www.leevalley.com/newsletters/woodworking/2/3/article1.htm

Here's another one that doesn't use a chain or belt drive. Instead it uses interlocking gears between the crank and the wheel. I would guess that it's a fixed gear.

http://www.wired.com/autopia/2011/04/bike-built-of-wood-could-set-speed-record/...Show more

wood wheels are what bikes started with
for good reason, they moved on
but it can be done

they had no gears or chain though
drive was direct like a tricycle, still metal not wood

you could drive the front wheel directly from wood cranks and pedals
top speed would be about 7 mph though

you could make wood gears and chain but there are hundreds of parts in a chain

what about rope and pulleys?

anyway
it;s not really possible to buidl anytthing practical
it would wear out too soon and be too much hand labor to build [ too $$$$ to sell]

what about tires?

people make bamboo bikes now
of course that is just the frame

and there is a company renovo that makes wood #####$$$$$$$$$$$$$$ bikes
just the frames i think

brakes are going to be tough without rubber
wood just doesn;t have much friction

maybe make it a 'fixie', that would aid in braking some
though the cranks then have to be stronger, and attach to the shoes

bearing also are tough
wood isn;t really very strong for very compressed loads that also have to be low friction
but it would last a few miles


wle...Show more

Google "bamboo bicycle". It's done all the time. No chain? Don't see a way of getting around that. You're still going to need a certain amount of metal parts in any bicycle....Show more

Look at the Renovo web site http://www.renovobikes.com/ to see some gorgeous bike frames made from wood. I've seen one in person and it was pure artistry. These bikes use ordinary components for the drive train, though.

HTH...Show more