Wooden Bike Hopes To Set World Record, Not Catch Fire

splinterbike

[Michael Thompson] has been hard at work for well over six months building a bicycle made entirely of wood. The project started as a bet between two friends, and has become much more over the last few months. The SplinterBike, as it is being called, has been constructed solely from wooden parts, as well as glue and paint – but not much else.

The bike uses many different woods in its construction, each chosen to fulfill a particular purpose. The axles are made from hardwood ekki, while all of the gears, wheels, and frame parts were constructed from birch plywood. Oiled ironwood was chosen to serve as a replacement for metal bearings wherever moving parts came together due to its durability. Other parts were constructed with random scraps that [Michael] had sitting around in the shop, such as the handlebars which were cut from an old broomstick.

Now that the bike is complete, [Michael] and his friend [James] are gearing up to set a wooden bike land speed world record. It should be doable, as they have calculated that the bike should hit about 31 miles per hour provided [James] can pedal fast enough. A date for the record attempt has yet to be set, but keep an eye out – it’s likely to be an entertaining show.

[via Gizmodo]

21 thoughts on “Wooden Bike Hopes To Set World Record, Not Catch Fire

  1. @chango — or they could just find a velodrome. The wooden wheels might have a problem with the woooden planks of the track but I’d guess that the right kind of wax or something could take care of that.

  2. Thats insane. I’ve been impressed by the aesthetics of wood bikes for a while now but going all the way with wood bearings is hardcore.

    I’m really curious to see how it holds up.

  3. aww, no wooden chain? lol. that would be a huge PITA. i wonder if any wood could hold up well enough to function in a wooden internal combustion engine, for my setting of a record for wooden air speed + distance.. perhaps if you could petrify the wood after milling?

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