While there’s been a bit of a shakeout since the artisan bike maker heyday of years past, Portland is still home to many great builders. One of them is hardwood bike specialist Renovo. Under the tutelage of Ken Wheeler, the company (celebrating their 10th anniversary this year) has found a solid niche.
Their latest is the Aerowood endurance bike. Learn more in the press release below:
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Nature’s Carbon Fiber: The Renovo Aerowood Endurance Bike
A Sleek And Beautiful Design That Delivers A High Quality & Smooth Ride
Renovo Hardwood Bicycles introduces the Aerowood, a complete road standout in regards to race geometry, aerodynamic, stealth. The Aerowood features Renovo’s FFSVD© (full frame shock and vibration damping) technology, which delivers a high-quality and smooth ride.
Wind-cheating frame aerodynamics usually come at the expense of long-ride comfort, but Aerowood’s hollow wood frame makes for a very smooth ride. The Aerowood excels at long rides, so one may comfortably reel the miles. The aerodynamic design of the Aerowood’s frame also shows off the beauty of the wood material. The Aerowood goes far beyond its elegant aesthetic with a lightweight hollow and aero main triangle that is pound for pound stiffer than metal, and has a fatigue life that exceeds steel or alloy — and almost being equal to carbon. Wood of course, is also a renewable and non-polluting resource.
Aerowood Features:
— Hollow Frame Construction from Bubinga and Curly Maple
— Lifetime Warranty on Craftsmanship and Materials excluding Finish
— FFSVD© – Full Frame Shock & Vibration Damping
— Club race, Paceline, Endurance Internal Di2 Caliper Brakes Road, Electronic Shifting Only. (Di2/eTap/FSA)
— Seatpost diameter: 27.2mm
— Headset/Steer tube: 1-1/8” internal/ Straight
— Tire Clearance: 25mm
— MSRP: Frameset $4,995 // Full-Build $8,895+
Check out more local bike business news in the Industry Ticker archives.
— Jonathan Maus: (503) 706-8804, @jonathan_maus on Twitter and jonathan@bikeportland.org
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Looks amazing. If I place my order today do you think I’ll have it before Sasha Obama is president?
They claim that they now have production frames in stock:
“Frames are now built for inventory, the only delay before shipping is assembling components to the frame.”
Actually unlike other types of locally made custom bikes, Renovos come out of the shop relatively quickly. pretty sure there’s no long wait on these.
Those trees must grow fast 🙂
Let’s hope it doesn’t come to that.
Looks pretty. 25c max tire size…I wonder how much a built frame weighs?
$9,000 for a wood bike lol
I really need to test ride one of these bikes some day. Wood still beats pretty much every other material for skis and snowboards, why wouldn’t that be true for bikes too? (Though one of the best materials for boards is a wood core with a titanal layer…wonder if that’s possible for a bike frame)
I don’t dare Google what “titanal” might be.
Make sure to use DuckDuckGo in Private mode, and don’t do it on your work computer.
Renovo’s bikes are gorgeous, and even more so in person.
I find it interesting that wooden bikes are listed complete only with electronic shifting — especially since wide cassettes tend not to be shifted so much.
But then again, I wouldn’t expect anyone in this market to go with a “stock” build.
I think you’re going out on a limb with that assumption.
You wood say that, but there are plenty more poplar tree puns.
Don’t be a sap!
More like against the grain.
But personally, I would resist a stock build (and geometry) with every fiber of my being. After leafing my deposit I would be on pines and needles waiting for my new bike.
Yes. If it doesn’t fit right, it just saps your energy.
And your trunk, don’t forget that!
really rooting for this to stop right now
A stock build might be fine for budding riders.
What, you’re not lichen this?
An Endurance bike, but only with Electronic Shifting, the least reliable out there, makes no sense, as does the inability to run 28mm tyres or bigger.
I wood have to agree.
Hey I designed that! Or more accurately, this looks like a revision of the bike I designed for Renovo around early 2011. My seat-tube wasn’t hollow for example. Thanks for all your excellent reporting as always Jonathan. I went looking to see what was up with Renovo here in 2024 and found all these great old articles from the downfall days.