Bicycle made of wood from Belarus. A wooden bicycle was made in Belarus

Belarus is starting to produce its own line of bicycles. This will be done by a door production company; the idea is that the frame of such two-wheeled horses will be made of ash or birch.

On the territory of present-day Belarus, wooden bicycles were produced in the first half of the last century. The Museum of Belarusian Polesie in Pinsk (Brest region) houses a sample of a bicycle, made entirely of wood, dating back to 1933, TASS reports.

The company that has revived the format of the wooden bicycle expects that their products will find their consumers, given that “people who are tired of the rapidly developing technogenic environment will be increasingly attracted to the natural form and natural materials.”

The products are made by hand. Each bicycle is unique in its own way, inimitable and highly valued, as it always has been.

A bicycle based on birch costs 1,890 Belarusian rubles (about $1,000). The constructed two-wheeled car made of ash will cost 2,290 Belarusian rubles (about $1,210). The production is based on the driving performance of the bicycle.

“It is important that the owner of such a bicycle can ride it easily, pleasantly and efficiently,” representatives of the workshop believe.

The craftsmen who produce wooden bicycles are confident that the product is strong enough: the wooden frame is covered by a 5-year warranty. The manufacturer is ready to fulfill an order for a batch of 10 bicycles within 30 days.

A bicycle is a common means of transport for Minsk. All the more striking against the backdrop of technologically advanced and fully “packaged” iron horses is their counterpart made of real wood - smooth and warm to the touch.. Looking ahead: the sensations from the trip are wonderful, you feel at least like an Instagram star.

“Wooden rovars are piece goods”

For a year now, the guys from the Pamatey company have been making Belarusian wooden bicycles of the Drovar brand, but other companies are selling them in Belarus and Russia under their own name. The production is located on rented premises of the Gorizont plant in the center of Minsk.

The workshop smells of wood, everywhere there are pieces of wood veneer, sawdust, blanks, sawn frames of future bicycles, almost finished mudguards covered with cellophane - apparently work is in progress. But we never saw a warehouse where finished products or parts for them would be stored. Everything is immediately sent to the customer.

— Our bicycles are bought both in the USA and in Russia, in South Korea they'll be leaving soon. Only a couple of them travel around Minsk. You see, a wooden bicycle is original, unique. Although it is as reliable as iron, not everyone will buy it for themselves. That’s why we don’t work for the warehouse: if there is an order, we do it, if not, we do other production. For example, we make bicycle hangers. It seems like a simple wooden stick, but necessary and reliable, they say in production.

All bicycle parts are made by hand, and the process is labor-intensive. Plates from different types The wood is cut into layers and blanks, and then glued together with a special waterproofing glue under special temperature and humidity conditions. The finished frame is covered with several layers of primer, impregnation and ship grade varnish. Thanks to this treatment, the texture of the wood is clearly visible. And it takes about two hours to assemble a bicycle from ready-made parts.

Modern craftsmen borrowed the idea of ​​making bicycles from wood from a Belarusian craftsman from the village of Bogdanovka, in Polesie.

— When we decided to make bicycles, we found out its whole history. The first wooden bicycle appeared in Belarus in 1933; it is still kept in the museum in Pinsk. Master Vasily himself was a blacksmith. Iron bicycles were very expensive at that time, so Vasily decided to make a bicycle out of wood. On it he went to Pinsk to the market. It was there that the master sold the bicycle, it seems, for 10 zlotys. At that time it was a lot of money.

Drovara is based on a wooden frame made of birch (cheaper) or ash (more expensive). The mudguards and steering wheel are also made of wood. The fittings are made of iron, like the bell, the handles on the steering wheel and the saddle are covered in leather. Aesthetics are important: the frame of a bicycle light color and matching tires. Therefore, it seems that the tires are made of wood.

The price of a bicycle is rather high: a “birch” bicycle costs 1,890 Belarusian rubles (about 1 thousand dollars). A product made of ash will cost more - 2290 Belarusian rubles (about 1210 dollars). The cost of a bicycle can be higher, it all depends on the customer’s wishes regarding its configuration. The craftsmen provide a five-year guarantee on the frame.

Let's go!

Finally we start the test drive. We decided to evaluate the steering, brakes, landing and comfort of a wooden bicycle to understand whether it would be convenient to use in everyday life for an ordinary city resident, given that a cyclist often has to either dismount at traffic lights (no one has canceled the traffic rules) or pick him up in underground passages. From personal experience I’ll say that I prefer to choose a longer route from home to the end point than dragging 14-18 kilograms (that’s how much a standard bike weighs) up the stairs in an underground passage - it feels so-so.

We got the very first bike produced by the company for testing. Others have long since left for their customers.

“This is our “grandfather,” the masters joke. — Prototype. In the new bicycles, we took into account some features: for example, we increased the steering radius and came up with new designs.

I jump on the bike, half a turn of the pedals - and it easily (and I mean easily) begins to roll and pick up speed - just have time to choose the road! The weight of the bike gives it dynamism. Another half turn - and the car is rolling dashingly along the uneven asphalt on the factory territory; there are almost no differences from the usual bicycle. Frankly, I did not expect such agility from this vehicle, because outwardly it seems that the bicycle is rather clumsy.

It was harder to ride a bike uphill - it took a little more effort, but a trained person wouldn’t notice it. Of course, on a road bike with several speeds it is more convenient to overcome the Minsk climbs - you don’t need to strain so much. But you press the pedals a little and the bike picks up speed. At the same time, training.

The bike only has a foot brake and it operates smoothly. But what if you need to brake suddenly, as often happens in a real situation in the city? For the sake of experiment, I brake sharply - the brake works just as tenaciously, despite the fact that the bike is quite heavy, and without unnecessary twitching. At the same time, there is no feeling of fragility of the structure.

Being unaccustomed to dismounting is inconvenient: at first I had to literally jump off the bike, amusing passers-by: after all, my height of a meter with a cap makes itself felt. But later I got the hang of it and almost managed to do it gracefully.

And it was convenient to travel. As it turned out, the length from the saddle to the handlebars was optimal for my height. By the way, when ordering, they will take the necessary measurements from you to make a bike just for you. The test specimen turned out to be just right for me: if you want, go home with a proud posture, if you want, bend over to the steering wheel and pedal as hard as you can.

And even the bell on the steering wheel is just like in a Soviet bicycle

The first bicycle, according to its creators, does not have a fully adjusted steering radius. It is enough for turns in the city and for avoiding obstacles. But to make a U-turn, you need a fairly large area. In subsequent models, this was taken into account and the steering radius was increased.

In general, the bike is stable, shocks on potholes are absorbed by the shock absorbers on the saddle, it brakes well, plus the aesthetic pleasure is polished wood with preserved texture. The feeling of flying is wonderful.

The seat height can be adjusted to suit the person's height. Shock absorbers absorb impacts from uneven pavement

And with such a bike we were guaranteed attention. Every now and then passers-by came up with questions about where they could buy such a miracle. We were interested in the cost, model and handling - at least open the rental of wooden bicycles.

— Highwayman? - asks a passerby, and out of the corner of my eye I notice how an unknown photographer captures an unusual vehicle in the frame.

- Gornik! - I laugh in response.

The only significant drawback of the wooden bike that was noticed during the test drive was its weight. Still, it’s quite difficult to carry 20 kilos through underground passages. But this is my subjective opinion. An ordinary bike weighs from 14 to 18 kilograms, but there are heavier ones. So it's more of a matter of habit.

A wooden bicycle - this is what the distant ancestor of the modern bike looked like. All components of the first two-wheeled horse were made from this environmentally friendly material - no metal alloys, rubber or plastic.

Modernity dictates movement in both directions - new designs continue to develop, and some things are taken from the past. Thus, wooden frames returned to life again, albeit in a more advanced form. And some creative designers develop unique bicycle models known around the world.

Historical roots of the wooden bicycle

The first bicycles made of wood only vaguely resembled the modern design - the wheels were attached to a straight frame, and handles for control were attached to the front. There were no pedals or drive; the bicycle was driven by pushing the feet off the ground. In general, the design was more like a balance bike.

The first painting of a two-wheeled structure was painted by the artist Giacomo Caprotti, a student of the legendary Leonardo da Vinci, at the end of the 15th century. That is, we can safely assume that the history of the bicycle goes back at least half a millennium.

Something vaguely similar to a bicycle originated in the Renaissance

The Chinese, however, do not agree with this - according to their version, bicycles were invented before our era. To be more precise, using the drawings they found from 2,500 years ago, they managed to reproduce a real miracle of antiquity - a wooden bicycle booth.

The device is no simpler than a modern bike - that’s what the designers of that time tried

But let's get back to the balance bike. Officially, the inventor of the first bicycle is Karl von Dres, a German design engineer.

The invention dates back to 1818. Starting from the 19th century, the bicycle received a significant impetus in development: its design was modified several times, and at the end of the century, machines similar to the current ones began to appear.

Balance bikes with wooden frames are still made today

The wooden balance bike is not gone forever - modernity brings back retro from the distant past, giving a second wind. For example, bicycle scooters are no longer the same as they were in the 19th century, but are also made of wood. However, not only balance bikes are made of wood. These are quite ordinary, at first glance, large. Of course, such models are not common and often exist in a single copy.

Modern models on wooden frames

A bicycle is an environmentally friendly and quiet transport. It doesn't poison environment exhausts, does not irritate with crackling and noise, and is also less dangerous than a car. Perfect. But it turns out that you can make a bicycle even more environmentally friendly - assemble it on a wooden frame.

Indeed, with wood, the bike becomes almost 100% natural - the production of metal alloys and carbon fiber, which is unsafe for health, is completely eliminated, and besides, wood is more available material. Tireless designers managed to make wooden bicycles a reality. Let's give it an A best models:

1. Perfect Day - a mountain bike with a wooden frame - is perhaps the most durable among its metal counterparts. The idea of ​​​​creation and the exclusive model belongs to the Dvoika company. Frame material – birch.

In general, this is a full-fledged MTB, in the quality we are used to seeing it: frame geometry, multi-speed transmission, powerful shock absorption, steering wheel design, disc brakes, aggressive tires.

2. Ash-bike - a unique solution by Dutch designer Paul Trimmer. The lightweight and environmentally friendly bicycle is made from solid ash boards.

By design, this model occupies an intermediate position between three classes of bicycles: road, highway and mountain. From the road bike, the ash bike took a single-speed transmission and the type of wheels, from the road bike - lightness (about 10 kg) and the relative position of the steering wheel and saddle, from the mountain bike this model adopted the shape of the steering wheel and disc brakes. Indeed, v-brake is inappropriate here - you would have to cut the wood, and this is already ugly.

3. Aero – a stylish model with an “eye” frame. Unlike previous models, this one is equipped with a thin metal and rigid fork. The rear seatstays seem to merge with the front of the frame, there is no seat tube - the saddle is simply attached to the top of the “eye”.

The model belongs to the Ukrainian designer Maria Koroleva. The emphasis was on originality and style, while the bike itself belongs exclusively to the pleasure class. However, walks with such a bike will be remembered forever!

4. Bough Bike – an electric bicycle made of wood with a two-speed belt transmission. The engine power is 225 W, the maximum acceleration speed is up to 25-30 km/h without the cyclist's power consumption. Brakes – manual rim and classic drum.

The frame material is oak wood from France, the wheel fastenings and the joints of the frame parts are made of stainless steel.

5. Guapa – urban singlespeed on a bamboo frame and rigid aluminum fork. The model is distinguished by its lightness and high directional stability on smooth roads.

The bike is perfect for fast city riding and will delight cycling enthusiasts and adherents of an eco-friendly lifestyle.

Bold and innovative solutions from China

Let's fast forward to the Celestial Empire - the most cycling country in the world both in terms of the number of riders and the production of models. The Chinese are a creative people, and wooden bikes are one of the reasons for them to express all their abilities in practice.

A model of a bicycle on a wooden chain is considered property folk art China. The chain is made according to all the rules - the same links and rollers, but only wooden. The great distinctive feature is that the wheels here are not spoked, or even discs, but solid circles.

Close-up of the chain and the center of the rear wheel: cuts, notches, hooks

This bike is made entirely of wood and was invented by a young Chinese designer.

A Liaoning resident named Song Chao built a bicycle from Chinese chopsticks. There is no point in counting the number of sticks spent - there are clearly tens of thousands of them! Probably, the designer ran around all known and unknown catering establishments to collect such a quantity of “raw materials”. And then I spent several months processing and gluing them.

However, the result is worthy of the costs and expectations. In the photo we see the happy creator of a “stick” bicycle, and a rather durable product that can withstand an adult.

A wooden bicycle with sectional wheels is the creation of the Chinese master Peijia Wu. Not a single metal part, not even a tiny nail. Everything is made exclusively from wood! Probably, such a bike will withstand more than one rider.

Why are the wheels sectional? The rim is not a single piece, it consists of pieces of wood fastened together, the joints are kept to a minimum. Of course, if compared with a smooth wheel, then riding this bike will be accompanied by shocks. But, according to the creator himself, this minus is insignificant - the bike perfectly fulfills its purpose.

Another feature of this miracle model is the beam transmission. The transmission does not take place through a chain, but through a beam driven by the legs. The mechanism resembles the jumpers of locomotive wheels.

Conclusion

Even such a familiar vehicle as a bicycle can attract attention if you take a non-standard approach to its assembly. Although wooden bicycles were a thing of the past, they look attractive these days. Perhaps in the near future they will be able to compete well with conventional models.

Now you can order wooden bicycles from us with a frame made of ash or birch - exclusive, natural, wooden bicycles. Birch Material - birch. The complete set may differ and varies depending on the wishes of the customer. The classic version involves a minimum number of body kits and the absence of hand brakes, which significantly reduces the cost. As a bonus, it is possible to make a personal plate under the saddle with an inscription or logo. Frame warranty is 5 years. Warranty on components - 1 year. Order fulfillment time is 30 days for a batch of up to 10 pieces. Delivery time - 10 days. As an additional option, a design can be applied to the frame by transferring the printed image onto wood. View the birch model in the Ash catalog Material - ash. The complete set may differ and varies depending on the wishes of the customer. The classic version involves a minimum number of body kits and the absence of hand brakes, which significantly reduces the cost. As a bonus, it is possible to produce a personal plate under the saddle with an inscription or logo. Frame warranty is 5 years. Warranty on components - 1 year. Order fulfillment time is 30 days for a batch of up to 10 pieces. Delivery time - 10 days. View the ash model in the catalog The history of the wooden bicycle, in particular in Belarus, goes back to the first half of the 20th century, at least from that time a wooden sample has been preserved. The bicycle, dating back to 1933, is kept in the Pinsk Museum of Belarusian Polesie and is a prototype made entirely of wood. Nowadays, wooden bicycles are made by hand, the machine only processes the wood, and all other operations are done by humans. Therefore, each bicycle is unique, inimitable, and highly valued, as it always has been. The company's designers and constructors take every detail seriously, both in the design of bicycle frames and in the selection of components. The production is based on its driving performance, i.e. how easy, enjoyable and efficient the consumer will be able to ride it. For each new frame, taking into account the purpose of the bicycle, certain components are selected that will best combine with its geometry. Existing models are designed and manufactured using the latest advances in bicycle technology. Slabs from different types of wood are cut into layers and blanks, and then glued together with a special waterproofing glue under special temperature and humidity conditions. When the frame is assembled, it is covered with several layers of primer, impregnation and ship grade varnish. Thanks to proper gluing and manual finishing, the frames are resistant to temperature overloads and humidity. All parts are carefully checked for deformation and shrinkage before being assembled together. Although the frame is wood-based, the design uses steel alloys for the head tube, bottom bracket, seatpost, and front and rear fork flanges.