Wooden Handlebars

[Marron]

Once again Bike Snob NYC makes my morning. I'm thinking that if they're lighter than carbon they will be a hit.


"Some time ago a reader alerted me to the fact that someone is making and selling wooden handlebars. While my request for an interview with the maker went unanswered, I’ve since seen them here and there on sites like Fixedgeargallery and Velospace, so presumably they’re out there. And while there are safer ways to achieve that flammable look on your bicycle, these bars give you two things a roll of wood-grain contact paper cannot—susceptibility to termites, and that thrilling feeling that your bars might splinter at any moment. Together with a brakeless bike, wooden bars will transport you to that next level of sublime uncertainty, and simply arriving at your destination with all your teeth will feel like a Tour de France stage win. I’m not sure what sort of special care these bars require, but I’m guessing that you treat them like Mogwai: avoid bright light; never get them wet; and never, ever ride them after midnight. I’m also not sure if they come with a warranty, but maybe the builder will make you a nice set of wooden dentures in the event of a catastrophic failure. And if you still want to buy them, I'd suggest getting two, as the second set might be helpful in defending against beavers."

[Fixed]

flat bars right ? i might try them if they didn't cost too much
cheers

[11.4]

Broomstick.

[PaulE]

Is said broomstick available in 25.4 for true track bikes and 31.8 for those who need some extra girth in their wood?

[MilanoTom]

You're looking at it wrong. Wood is cutting edge, natural, pre-processed carbon fiber. Before long, SRAM will make levers and cranksets out of it, call it SRAM Brown, and it'll cost more than Red.

Regards,
Tom

http://www.sampsongroup.com/Papers/Monitoring%20and%20Measuring%20Wood%20Carbon.pdf

From the linked report:

"Most forestry estimates will be volume estimates of merchantable stem wood, but they may use a variety of volume measures (board feet, cubic feet, etc.). Most carbon conversion tables in the U.S. use cubic feet as the standard volume measure. Use Table 1 to convert the average annual forest growth (Mean Annual Increment or MAI) into cubic feet of merchantable wood per acre per year.

A reasonable rule-of-thumb is that, for every cubic foot of merchantable wood in a forest, the forest will contain about 30 pounds of carbon per acre. Thus, a forest growing at the rate of 70 cubic feet of merchantable wood per acre per year is increasing its woody carbon stock by around 2100 pounds, or about 1 tonne of C per acre per year."

[11.4]

Is said broomstick available in 25.4 for true track bikes and 31.8 for those who need some extra girth in their wood?

What are you thinking? 25.4 only.

And the wood grain improves air flow across the bars -- just like the dimples on certain rims. Word is, the Italian national team is switching to wooden flat bars for the Olympic road race. Expect to see them at the Tour as well. The Italians will be bringing their own custom broommaker to Beijing.

[fiamme red]

Can I get them with a faux-carbon finish?

[PaulE]

What are you thinking? 25.4 only.

And the wood grain improves air flow across the bars -- just like the dimples on certain rims. Word is, the Italian national team is switching to wooden flat bars for the Olympic road race. Expect to see them at the Tour as well. The Italians will be bringing their own custom broommaker to Beijing.

Does the label on the bar have to go to the back of the stem? Kind of like swinging the wooden baseball bat so the ball doesn't hit against the bat's label?

[nicrump]

Ezra Caldwell, he was in Austin a few months back. had a set on his bike. laminated and steam bent. they were sweet and very strong. find em at

http://www.fastboyfenders.com/

[PaulE]

Sure, a new idea comes along and right away somebody else needs to make "improvements".

If wooden handlebars were intended to be laminated, then trees would have laminated branches and trunks. Next thing you know we'll be counting number of laminate layers, then someone will take laminated flat stock and form lightweight tubes, and finally we will have seamless laminated tubes, double and triple butted.

Very slow day at the office today.

[benb]

Good enough to make airplanes... good enough for a bicycle. Wood structures can be very strong and very light.

Seems like it's mostly fashion though. Care of a light wooden bicycle wouldn't be fun.

[PaulE]

as long as you stay out of the way of the bow of a bigger enemy steel ship.

Craig Calfee is making Bamboo calfees that are treated, and teaching Africans to make them without the expensive treatment part. I saw a lot of Bamboo scaffolding being used while constructing buildings when I was in China and Hong Kong years ago.

Good enough to make airplanes... good enough for a bicycle. Wood structures can be very strong and very light.

Seems like it's mostly fashion though. Care of a light wooden bicycle wouldn't be fun.

[pdxmech13]

I'd buy them as a good replacement for carbon fibre.

A little elmers wood glue and your back on the road.

[davids]

These were tried back in the '30s. They encountered some strange aerodynamic effects in wind tunnel testing:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X2CYjcQSUXg

Primitive technology, I know. But they dubbed some newer music onto the footage.

[Marron]

I'm shocked that no one mentioned wooden rims, which as recently as 10 years ago would show up on Nashbar's clearance pages. Whereas they obviously worked and had been produced for at least a century, I can't recall ever seeing wooden handlebars. The version depicted at Bike Snob was a Rivendellish priest bar style. I'm sure Grant P is nashing his teeth at having missed the "next big thing" in retro gear.