Wooden Bicycles

wooden, originally uploaded by arpikatrix.

I was checking out the Sierra Trading Post blog and came across an article about wooden bikes on Governors Island, in NYC. It seems quite a few places use wooden bikes. This is a great article by the folks at Alternative Energy. It has links, pictures and videos. Here is a design I like. You may not want to invest in a company that makes them out of bamboo.

But one hundred years ago you could buy a bike of hickory, elm or even bamboo. Bamboo bicycle companies claimed wood was lighter and better than steel, and so it was. In 1899 some of these companies folded with investors claiming to have been bamboozled.