Wooden bicycle “prototype 1”
This was the first timber frame I ever designed and built.
The goal, was to experiment with the idea of using timber as a suitable material replacement for steel, as well as trying to minimise total material waste when frame building.
The timber for the frame was European beech, and was constructed by veneering and layering the wood in a ply formation, then using timber glue to compress these layers together. Which would eventually come to form the “tubing” of the frame.
I did my best to understand the stresses of a bicycle frame, and construct the veneer with that in mind, using the grain where it would be strongest and most flexible in the best areas.
Test riding my frame provided quite a few valuable lessons. From which I learnt, and reapplied to my second prototype.
Zheng Chin Design 