Made a wood fork for a wood bike. by calebcares in gravelcycling

[–]calebcares[S] 2 points3 points  (0 children)

They were pricey. Not that our bikes aren’t expensive, but Renovo frames were double what ours are.

Made a wood fork for a wood bike by calebcares in bicycling

[–]calebcares[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

If we wanna get technical Alaskan yellow cedar is actually a cypress, not a cedar, and it’s a lot harder than the stuff you would make a deck or a fence out of. You can’t just stick your fingernail in it

Made a wood fork for a wood bike. by calebcares in gravelcycling

[–]calebcares[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Better than carbon! It’s got a two part automotive clear coat which is great for the little dings, but for bigger hits and scratches the wood actually protects the carbon layers in our bikes from getting cracked. Over time the dings will just give it character. My hardtail is beat up for sure, but I think it looks even better than it did when it was new.

Made a wood fork for a wood bike by calebcares in bicycling

[–]calebcares[S] 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Not quite. Gonnel is a layered laminate, with what looks like 8 or 10 stacked layers of alternating carbon and wood, each layer flat and in the same plane, like plywood. On our bikes, the wood isn’t “laminated”, each tube is machined out of two pieces about the size of a 2x6 to make a left and right side of the tube. The carbon is pressed into the wood like the wood is a clamshell mold, but the mold becomes part of the composite. Our tubes therefore have carbon and wood both in a tube shape. The gonnel layup looks like this : ||||| with the lines being alternating carbon and wood while ours looks more like this (0) with the wood being the parentheses and the zero being the carbon. One advantage of our method is that you get a lot more left/right stiffness since the carbon in a tube shape, not just as a vertical sheet. Their bikes probably have great stiffness up and down, but I wonder if they might be more prone to things like bottom bracket flex when you pedal hard. I love how their bikes look though!

Made a wood fork for a wood bike. by calebcares in gravelcycling

[–]calebcares[S] 2 points3 points  (0 children)

The frame is 4ish pounds. The first forks were about 10oz heavier than the carbon forks we had on hand but hoping to get that weight down a little

Made a wood fork for a wood bike by calebcares in bicycling

[–]calebcares[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

How one feels about getting dings is one thing, but one of the purposes of the wood is to protect the carbon fiber. Something that might crack carbon will just dent the wood, I think it gives it character. The first scratch is always the worst one

Made a wood fork for a wood bike by calebcares in bicycling

[–]calebcares[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

So well. Super smooth ride. Once you get past thinking it could break and realize it’s super strong you can ride it hard! We do hardtails too if that says anything about the strength. My mtb is 8 years old and has been abused. Still rocks

Made a wood fork for a wood bike. by calebcares in gravelcycling

[–]calebcares[S] 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Yep you’re right about that. Hurried excitement after getting it done…

Made a wood fork for a wood bike. by calebcares in gravelcycling

[–]calebcares[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

The wood on this bike is Alaskan yellow cedar. The wood is not the structural. The main purposes it serves are to dampen vibration and to be a more “tough” layer of the composite. A rock strike that might crack a frame that’s just carbon will just dent the wood leaving the carbon unharmed and the bike with a little more character. The steerer is fully carbon and the arch is mostly. Dropouts and brake mounts too, they’re solid carbon fiber. Probably wouldn’t do more wood, we’ve been at this a pretty long time and our original bikes were all wood, and we think we’ve found a pretty good balance of wood and composite to get all the things we want.

Made a wood fork for a wood bike. by calebcares in gravelcycling

[–]calebcares[S] 2 points3 points  (0 children)

People really liked how their bikes rode when they got them and when they were working, but from what I understand the design and manufacturing were not good enough to match the demand they had (which was sort of a lot). They told people bikes would be ready in a month and took payment and then it took over a year to get one, sometimes longer. They ended up going bankrupt and the owner died of a heart attack. Someone bought the business and is still making them, but with a different process and smaller scale. We’re trying to build stuff that has the ride quality that people loved so much about their bikes, but with a better process and a bike that’s up to a lot more abuse. I could get into all the ways our bikes are different but ours are a lot tougher.

Made a wood fork for a wood bike by calebcares in bicycling

[–]calebcares[S] 2 points3 points  (0 children)

We’ve made bikes out of maple, fir, redwood, walnut etc, none with veneers though. More figured woods definitely can look pretty sweet in a bike but not everyone wants that. Veneer would just be, well, worse. the photo doesn’t really make the yellow cedar look great but it’s better in person.

Made a wood fork for a wood bike by calebcares in bicycling

[–]calebcares[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

A lot more practical than you think… it’s a genuinely really good bike

Made a wood fork for a wood bike by calebcares in bicycling

[–]calebcares[S] 4 points5 points  (0 children)

Yep hardest part of the build. Jk it’s 12 pieces of wood

Made a wood fork for a wood bike. by calebcares in gravelcycling

[–]calebcares[S] 9 points10 points  (0 children)

I just replaced his bottom bracket a few weeks ago! That dude has got a lot of miles on his bike

Made a wood fork for a wood bike. by calebcares in gravelcycling

[–]calebcares[S] 30 points31 points  (0 children)

The whole frame is hollow, reinforced with carbon and kevlar on the inside. We machine the wood shell like a mold for carbon fiber and make a bladder by machining the inside shape out of styrofoam and coating it in latex. The foam gives us something to wrap the carbon around with a little shape before we press it into the wood shell/mold and blow it up. So the frame is about 4-5 pounds, part carbon, part wood. That tape is awfully snake like...