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Wooden Aero Bicycle, Wheels & Cockpit by Tokyo Design Student Yojiro Oshima

Written by Tyler Benedict
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Yojiro Oshima wooden bicycle frame handlebar and wheels

We saw quite a few wooden bicycles at NAHBS this year (here, here and here), plus some sweet wooden fenders and bags from Nisnas on Kickstarter. The most recent tree-sourced bike comes from Yojiro Oshima, a student at Tokyo’s Musashino Art University.

The pictures come from BicycleDesign.net, where you’ll find more of them (though we did do a little color correction on them here), and where Oshima commented that this is only a prototype and that the material is, well, immaterial…that it’s the shape that’s important. Then he added that wood would be the most comfortable.

This one’s construction uses hollowed out sections bonded together, much like Connor’s designs from NAHBS (middle link above). It’s unfinished, evidenced by the lack of brake levers and full cable routing, but still quite beautiful. Particularly the handlebars…

Yojiro Oshima wooden bicycle frame handlebar and wheels

The curve at the top of the spokes is designed to absorb impacts and combines with the beam-style seat tube to improve overall comfort.
Tyler Benedict
11,282 articles

Tyler Benedict is the Founder of Bikerumor.com, where he’s been writing about the latest bikes, components, and cycling technology for almost two decades. Prior to that, Tyler launched and built multiple sports nutrition brands and consumer goods companies, mostly as an excuse to travel and ride in new places.

Based in North Carolina, Tyler also loves the Vanlife & family adventure travel and is always on the lookout for the next shiny new part and off-grid adventure.

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Joshua Murdock
Joshua Murdock
11 years ago

Really neat design… and one of the few wooden bikes that actually looks fast!

That being said, somebody should create a manual for non-cyclist (or even cyclist) designers who decide to try their hand at bicycle concepts. The lack of a front brake, any cables or routing, brake levers, and the terrible set-up of the rear brake pads catch the eye of a lot of cyclists and makes it appear as if little time, thought or cycling expertise was spent on the design. It’s the little things that make the difference.

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Joshua Murdock
Joshua Murdock
11 years ago

But again, the craftsmanship that it must have taken to make that bike… incredible. I can’t even imagine. That is very cool.

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Campy Seatpost
Campy Seatpost
11 years ago

Textbook bike photo staging. Take notes:

[x] photo from drive side
[x] shifted to highest gear
[x] crank arm and spider aligned with frame
[x] slammed stem

If those were real tires, I’m sure the valve and label positions would be correct.

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Speedy
Speedy
11 years ago

Simply outstanding! But, why is this not a single speed with wooden cranks too?

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Chris
Chris
11 years ago

A disc brake setup might be more appropriate as I doubt the combination of rubber braking pads and a wooden rim will work.

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SWijland
SWijland
11 years ago

Design is a copy from the Italian C4 Joker

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1Pro
1Pro
11 years ago

looks like a c4 joker to me.

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Jonny
Jonny
11 years ago

This bike makes me want to shooot myself in the face.

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Anthony Guglielmo
Anthony Guglielmo
11 years ago

Joker has a separated seat tube with only a stub to mount the front derailleur. This is a design concept which honestly should have only been realized in CAD, the lack of cables only leads to snarky comments about how much the designer left off. More appropriate for a design site instead of a cycling enthusiast site.

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Ventruck
Ventruck
11 years ago

Looks better than the C4 to me with the segment from the BB to the seat stays. While it’s a design exercise, the lack of a front brake is too much of a mistake imo. That’s like drawing someone’s face and forgetting eyebrows or something – it has to be there as it’s a fundamental “element” to the object in aesthetic discipline. But still, looks very nice.

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