When it comes to choosing a bike, the material from which the frame is made is usually a fairly simple decision. Lightweight aluminum or carbon and heavy-duty steel are the standards. Any bike shop clerk can run down a pro's and con's list of the three. The Txirbil Kooperativa in the Basque Country region of Spain, however do not agree, offering a fourth option: wood.
Txirbil comes from a word that means "shaving" in the Basque language, and shaving wood is what the people of this region do best. Traditionally a carpentry-driven community, the folks of Txirbil Kooperativa noticed that as their community developed, the need for carpentry was declining and started to search for new applications for their skill set.
Initially setting out to simply prove that a bike could effectively be built from wood, the Txirbil Kooperativa are now trying to carve out for themselves a unique niche in the cycling market producing wooden bicycles. If you like wood, and you like bicycles, you might want to keep an eye out for these to actually hit the market.
[via Fixed Gear Blog]
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