Tokyo's $20,000 wooden bicycle

[Taro Toporific]

wood-bike-tokyo.jpg

Impossibly Light, Totally Sleek Handmade Bikes Built by a Tokyo Shipwright
NYTimes.com 2013/10/23
Sueshiro Sano, a ninth-generation shipwright, makes lightweight, bespoke wooden bicycles in his Tokyo workshop. His bikes, which take three months to assemble and can cost up to $20,000, use Honduras mahogany and are custom built...more...

[wuchan]

If you have the proper wood you can make a product superior to carbon fiber. The problem with wood is consistency. The reason stradivarius instruments are so good is the wood. The wood he used were from trees that went through very dark and dry periods which resulted in denser wood. In theory a wood bike would be lighter and won't have bottom bracket stretching issues but, and that is a very big BUT, I wouldn't like to crash a wood bike. Old wood rims have been known to kill people. On the other end, carbon fiber can have the same issues (aerospoke front rims have killed people).

In my experience we still don't know what we are doing. Different materials, same problems. Wood is an amazing and renewable materal that does not need to be recycled.

[kurogane]

I noticed that they are 'bespoke' wooden bicycles. Is it really necessary to mention the spokes? I understand that some high end racing bicycles and such have rather strange looking wheels on them, but at the end of the day they are a type of spoke, after all.

Sounds cool, though. Like wuchan noted, I would hate to be on top of that in a crash. Your ass would probably be the best place you could get all those splinters.

[FG Lurker]

I noticed that they are 'bespoke' wooden bicycles. Is it really necessary to mention the spokes?

Gotta admit, I'm unsure if you're making a joke or if you don't know what bespoke means...

[kurogane]

I noticed that they are 'bespoke' wooden bicycles. Is it really necessary to mention the spokes?

Gotta admit, I'm unsure if you're making a joke or if you don't know what bespoke means...

That means I win, doesn't it!!???

Friggin' cool looking bike, though, eh, bespoken spokes or none.

[Coligny]

HMTQ English... How does it work... It's a miracul...

[pjifwepijfsd]

I like the bikes, but I really want one of those boats. Beautiful.
With the bikes, the spokes on the wheels aren't bespoke, but for the boats, judging by the photos, the spokes on the (steering) wheel are bespoke.

[yanpa]

Never have truer words been spoke.

[Coligny]

bitch please...
It's "spokezored".

[Russell]

I would certainly get a woody riding it...