But that's a different kind of stress that's weighing on rims. The bars are just held in the middle by a metal clasp. Think about, that's exactly how you would break a piece of wood if you're trying to break it. Imagine riding up a steep hill (especially with a ss/fg) and using the bars for leverage or making some emergency maneuver - that's a recipe for a disaster with wooden bars.

But if you're so confident, why don't you use, eg a wooden seat post and tell us about your experiences?

That said, they look very stylish.

[I didn't vote "stupid" though, but the second option]

A simple Google search for wooden handlebars netted several pics and articles:

https://joshspear.com/item/handcrafte...en-handlebars/
https://www.doobybrain.com/2009/03/09...st-boy-cycles/
https://ohoh2.blogspot.com/2008/12/wo...andlebars.html
https://yayeveryday.com/post/4157
https://flourescentbrown.blogspot.com/
https://doctorleaf.blogspot.com/2009/...andlebars.html
1880 bars

Apparently, in spite of all the "opinions" stated here, people ARE riding them in certain circumstances. As a matter of fact, the next to the last link has a guy saying,

"It is super light, and my bike now rides like a weightless speedboat skipping across water.

When I asked the guys at the store what company makes these, he says, the 'Wooden Handlebar Making Company'. Heh. He did assure me that this "Japanese messenger who breaks everything got one, and he hasn't broken it yet."

The last link is to a pair of 1880 bars. In doing this research I also read that one of the "innovations" sold to racers by the WRIGHT BROTHERS out of their bicycle shop was custom, lightweight wooden handlebars, which were apparently an improvement over the heavy steel bars of the day.

^ teamontherun run gets it. Jeez.

I'm sorry, but such comments just make me roll my eyes and laugh at the person making them.

Yes, surely it was the half kilo or whatever weight difference between the steel bars and the wooden bars that were holding back your bike.

https://www.bikeforums.net/showthread...den-Handlebars

https://www.bikeforums.net/showthread...uging-interest

agree

but as the OP clearly stated that it's for "cruising" as an aesthetic piece and not a performance piece, probably wouldn't use it for steep hills anyway.

Where is the "only when drunk" option for the poll?

I doubt that the "weightless speedboat skipping across water" has anything to do with reduced weight. I would expect it has to do with the excellent vibration dampening abilities of a nice piece of laminated wood, smoothing out the ride.

That's just my guess, but feel free to roll your eyes at me as well as I have no experience with wooden handlebars, just expectations based on the feel of other wood products.

Oh, and I'd totally use a wooden handlebar on a townie bike if I had confidence in the craftsman's wood selection, construction, and adhesives skills. The right wood and resin can produce some amazingly strong structures. I'd also go for a wooden seatpost, there are some examples out there that are stunning, and seatposts are pretty hard to wreck, unless you're doing massive jumps and landing really wrong.

Neither on the mountain bike though, I've paid the price for running too-light parts on a bike that gets ****-kicked.

Throughout this whole discussion there have been speculations about the performance of these bars without any test data to substantiate either view. Why don't you simply perform a load test where you support the bar in the middle and hang increasing weight on the bar ends until it fails, and find out it's capacity. This is how we evaluate structural designs, which use composite materials.

you obviously have zero experience with wooden rims. let me school you: wooden rims need to be tensioned/trued regularly -- sometimes after each long ride. the wood does not hold in tension very well and tends to warp.

there is a reason why wooden rims are no longer in fashion: they suck.

...I think wooden handlebars are a poor idea not necessarily because of a lack vertical structural strength, but due to the unstable nature of wood. fluctuations in humidity will cause it to warp or dry out (case in point: wooden handlebar plugs that easily crack after swelling up inside metal bars). But if such a test were done, I'll put my money on aluminum/steel over wood.

Actually, they're not too bad when used exclusively on the track and not stored in high humidity. They do need to be revarnished periodically. I'm talking tubulars here. I also have a set of aluminum rims with wood cores. The solid wood rims are long gone, and their main fault was that they were very heavy and no better than modern aluminum rims.

And?

You posted links pages that say "hey there's guy on etsy is selling wooden bars. whoah." and "fastboy is making wooden bars. cool." -- and nothing of substance, though. And as I noted earlier, fastboy is done with wooden handlebars after working with them for awhile.

As for the Wright Brothers, I'm sure their wooden bars were a vast improvement over the steel tubing available in the 19th century. But we've come along way. Our low-end steel tubing handlebar (ala Wald) is probably 1000x stronger, stiffer, and lighter than what was available back then.

And lulz @ the hardcore messenger guy that a friend of a friend knows that breaks everything. yeah, yeah -- we all know "that guy." Sure.

In all my years, I've never seen anyone on the track using wooden rims -- and there is a strong reason for that, I believe. Wooden rims are the object of collectors and grouches -- not performance and practical-minded racers. They'll be heavy, require much maintenance, cannot be deep enough for aero advantages, and any benefit they may have would be exponentially and easily surpassed by aluminum or carbon.

As for the wood swelling and contracting, this has been mentioned. I feel checking the stem regularly for tightness should be all that is needed considering my non humid climate. As far as someone riding these near the ocean or anywhere that frequents higher humidity levels, I would probably suggest against a part like this.

These issues have been discussed and there is talk about having a few bars sent out and tested. I guess my buddy that makes them knows someone who can accurately test for this. If we decide to try and sell them we will do this for sure. As for just making a few for himself and I, I will just ride a pair and see what happens.

As for now, they are not available for purchase so stringent testing is not needed. I am simply reading feedback to see if anyone would possibly be interested. The price tag of something like this would not be cheap so it would be a part for someone really looking for a nice display piece over a performance piece. They may go up for sale if enough people show interest but only time will tell. If they do happen to become available, there will be real world testing as well as load testing done on everything we decide to sell.

Thanks for all the info, suggestions, comments, and criticism. It is much appreciated.

Taken directly from a November/December 2008 issue of Road Bike Action on a test of Ghisallo wooden rims.

Question:
What if my wheels get wet?

Answer:
As long as the wheels are left overnight to dry slowly,water will not affect the wood-and in some cases, will toughen it, as wood needs to retain a certain amount of moisture to maintain its strength.

The Ride:
Smooth is the correct yet sufficient word to describethe way our Ghisallo-equipped wheels rolled. Yeah they are heavy, and yeah, they dont have the snappy acceleration of a Zipp 202 with an Andre Dugast silk tubular- but, man, do they roll! (these rims with a Vittoria Rally Tubular) The combination was magical. With 120 psi in the tires, the wheels roll silently over cracks and broken pavement, absorbing road noise and muting substantial impacts to an extent that defies any modern wheel we have ever ridden. Over a stretch of rough pavement where a massively rigid wheel, like a Mavic R-SYS with a racing clincher, will bang, stutter, and slow slightly, the Ghisallo wheel rolls effortlessly past, unfettered.

Verdict:
Truly, the first compulsion to purchase a set of pricey wooden wheels is for the nostalgic cool facto. That said, there are compelling performance and comfort factors that should be considered. If you ride a variety of surfaces-perhaps you link unpaved roads to distant highways over local mountains-a good set of wheels based upon Ghisallo rims, with some 25mm tubular tires, would be the absolute perfect choice. The extra weight of the Ghisallo rims will take a little from your acceleration and climbing, but for all-day rides and recovery days, they will return far more life to your legs and torso in the form of rolling comfort.


Im not trying to stir up anything here. I just thought this info would be good for anyone interested. It is a test done by Road Bike Action magazine on a set of Ghisallo wooden rims.

This guy makes wooden handlebars for his custom bikes, and he's a true rider.

I don't know much about wooden handlebars, but he seems to...and if Ezra swears by them, I don't know why I wouldn't.

Well, I've used them, raced on them, and don't regard myself as a collector or grouch. I've also seen others use them. You may choose to believe what you wish.

Im not a woodworker. I am just helping supply ideas and troubleshoot. I am relying on my friend with over 20 years experience working with wood. He made them on his own after we had a discussion on wooden handlebars. I am trusting him with his knowledge on picking the right material and his experience in working with different types and his experience with lamination.

Our quick and crude test showed no deflection in the 31.8mm bar and ever so little in the 26mm bar. I will be riding a 26mm bar but then again, I only weigh 155 pounds and this will be on a second bike. Not my main bike. I will ride them for awhile to start and if they feel fine, they might find a new home on my main bike and another pair made for the second bike.

You might want to do a little research before you make such an outlandish statement:

1. The modulus of elasticity (stiffness) is virtually identical for all steel (~29,000,000 psi)

2. The density (weight) is virtually identical for all steel (~489 pcf)

3. The tensile strength of modern mild steel used in tubing is maybe 2x what was used back in the day, and even the best high ten steel is no more than 5x.

So, steel hasn't changed substantially, since the advent of the bicycle, and has no relavance to the argument herein as to the suitability of wood as a structural material. I'd refer you to the American Institute of Timber Construction (AITC) Timber Construction Manual if you are interested in learning more about this material and its potential uses.

That's really pretty and a great show piece, but I wouldn't trust it to preserve my teeth.

So I have a simple question for the people that say they would not trust it. Just for curiosity sake.

What would it take to get you to be wiling to try a product like this?

I wouldn't worry about the strength of the bar so much as the durability. I'd expect the clamp to work its way into the wood over time, compressing it at the clamp edges by the small repeated stressing of the bar as you ride.

An aluminum sleeve, say four inches wide, might help. Maybe design the bar to be used with a 31.8 stem plus a wide aluminum shim. Wouldn't look as good, I suppose.

Would look nice on a bamboo-frame bike.

Iv thought about doing a sleeve as well. My thought on that was that a sleeve would do the same thing as the stem would do so I kind of threw that idea out the window. I get what you are saying about using a wide sleeve though. I was thinking something skinnier than 4".

didn't bother to read most the second page, but the wood won't swell if it's sealed correctly. And it will be way more than strong enough. Ever try to break a closet pole under just your weight. it's hard. now make that pole 1/3 it's length and I really doubt you could break it. Now make that pole laminated instead of sold and I would bet money you couldn't break it under your weight.