Built to perform; these light weight custom geometry bicycles are made from history’s most tested material, wood.
Aircraft grade birch plywood forms the inside walls of the front triangle tubes with grain direction biased to maximal torsional stiffness (resistance to twisting generally measured as bottom bracket stiffness) The outside walls of the tubes and the stays are made of walnut or ash with grain directions biased to resisting bumps and rider weight. These wood species are known for exceptional shock resistance which prevents cracking when loaded quickly by a bump in the road. Woodworkers have incorporated walnut into gun-stocks and carriages, and ash into bows and baseball bats for this same reason. The birch also acts as a damper in conjunction with the outer layers due in part to its internal energy absorption, its biased grain direction, as well as the difference in natural frequency of the two types of wood.
The overall effect is a bike that twists less, absorbs more vibration and bumps, and remains competitive in weight with even the most advanced frames on the market!
We can fully customize the bike geometry to achieve a perfect fit without going to extremes with stems and seat posts. In addition aesthetic choices like wood species (ash or walnut are recommended for performance and can be combined for pinstripe effect) in the outside layers as well as a wide array of suitable hardwoods for the head tube.
The bearings are all seated in a special composite with a titanium surface resulting in highly durable press-fits that never creak or wear. This unique construction means that the structure is preloaded by the relatively stretchy titanium ensuring proper bearing alignment even under extreme loads.
Aluminum is used in the dropouts and carbon fiber in the seat tube sleeve. Anywhere that aluminum or titanium comes into contact with the wood there is a layer of carbon fiber. This intermediate layer creates a gently stepped transition of material stiffness which alleviates stress concentrations. All bonds are made with high strength epoxy.
