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Ghisallo Adds Beechwood Handlebars, Bamboo Tubular Rims

Written by Tyler Benedict
11 Comments
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Ghisallo Beechwood bicycle handlebars

Ghisallo’s been making wood bicycle rims for ages, more recently adding carbon fiber reinforced clinchers and 29er tubulars. Now, they’ve started working with Bamboo for their hoops and introduced Beechwood handlebars.

The Beech handlebars above retail for $100 to $125 depending on style. They also offer carbon fiber “shells” that sandwich the bars around the stem clamp area to protect them from damage and pinch stresses. The bamboo tubular rims (shown below) complement the variety of other woods offered and present a very sustainable option.

Ghisallo bamboo tubular bicycle rim
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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11 Comments
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notmikeb
notmikeb
11 years ago

So… is “sustainable” the new hip term for “green”. That word seems to be bandied about a lot these days.

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Jesse
Jesse
11 years ago

@notmikeb Not exactly. Sustainable was always the correct term. When it went mainstream the media dubbed it “green” but that greatly diluted the meaning of the word.

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pmurf
pmurf
11 years ago

I’ve heard before that bamboo, while technically “sustainable” due to it’s rapid and rampant grown in China, isn’t necessarily “green” when it’s distributed in the states or Europe due to the transportation emissions. That being said, bamboo’s overall “footprint” is still probably a lot less than other bike materials.

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EpicThroatBeard
EpicThroatBeard
11 years ago

I have wooden tubulars on my pump track bike. so smooth feeling and so light. deeply retro future. and beautiful. got them from these guys
http://www.holzfelgen.com/

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max
max
11 years ago

@pmurf:

The problem is not the transport. Using a huge ship for transportation and some Trucks has not such a huge impact. The worst thing is, that you use resin to glue (or bond?) the bamboo together. This resin is very bad. Resin does not rot and it’s impossible to recycle such synthetic material. At the end you need to burn the bamboo with the resin. The Exhaust from this burning is not very healthy (keep in mind, wood preservation is added to the resin if you use it with bamboo!).

And well, you need much more energy to produce the resin and to manufacture components with bamboo-resin compounds compared to the transport around the world.

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1Pro
1Pro
11 years ago

must we endure the debates over which building material is greener? the all pale in comparison to the BIG SHIT we never discuss on this planet.

your breathing and farts have a bigger carbon footprint than that bamboo epoxy rim.

but as long as we are discussing bamboo again, while i cannot find it now, the US state dept. had a page on their .gov that warned of just how much “green” bamboo was actually being stripped from rather large untouched habitats and not being replaced and “renewed” buy any means.

while i do not expect the artisan bike builders are using these types of sources i am certain your nice “green” bamboo flooring and t-shirt are.

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1Pro
1Pro
11 years ago

please pardon my typos.

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VanMan
VanMan
11 years ago

I am sure having to refinish your bike components with a very “green” marine grade varnish every season just makes them so environmentally friendly. Given how often you must have to refinish this stuff I bet the lifecycle emissions over 20 years for this stuff are really low…

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carl
carl
11 years ago

F**k ” green. Are they safe? I know wooden rims have been around forever but wood bars???

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MB
MB
11 years ago

@Carl – per their website:

“It can resist up to 2 tons of weight – tested with 2 x 1 ton weights applied to each side”

Not sure how exactly they did the test, but it appears they sandwich in some carbon layers between the wood to add strength. I’d trust it about as much as any thin alloy bar or carbon bar. Gotta remember these are solid (vs alloy/carbon bars) and laminated layers, not just a raw broom handle.

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John
John
10 years ago

And when they go out of style you can convert them to tennis rackets. Just add a cat.

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