Tucked away in a nondescript warehouse on Portland's Southeast industrial area, Renovo Wooden Bicycles is the brainchild of former aircraft designer Ken Wheeler.These astoundingly beautiful bicycles use a monocoque construction technique to build a bicycle that is as Ken says, "The smoothest bike you'll ever ride, stealth quiet, light and responsive, stiff as you want. Renovo hollow wood and laminated bamboo frames will forever change your understanding of what a bicycle should be, and how these natural materials can perform when designed to their strengths."
Ken is a quiet, unassuming guy who seems to fit with what most of us think of when we think "engineer".He showed us the hopelessly complicated CNC machines with which he produces his wood wonders like anyone should understand how they work!Using wood as his canvas, Ken crafts what he calls "the original carbon-fiber" into an amazing array of designs from road to pursuit and fixies, and everything in between.These bikes compare in weight and performance to almost anything on the market, and have the added bonus of being made from renewable resources.They are also quite simply a work of art.
