Lots of Norcal hipsters in Silicon Valley have been taking to the streets on sleek, urbane and environmentally friendly wooden bicycles. Thanks to two die-hard woodworkers, these mobile and useable pieces of art are becoming the new “new” thing. Bill Holloway and Mauro Hernandez are taking reclaimed wood from old houses, furniture and other wooden cast-offs to create their unique bike designs. It may not help someone win the Tour de France, but these bikes are getting double takes throughout Northern California and beyond.
At Masterworks Wood and Design, Holloway and Hernandez are using their wood working skills to carve out special eco-friendly “art that you can ride.” The two have built 10 bikes — all cruisers, made almost entirely of wood. Their first cycle creation and their entry-level model is called the Defender and costs $5,500. Other models, such as the Interceptor, which has a pirate theme, and the Cherry Bomb, with flames carved out of wood, run as much as $7,500.
These woodworkers track down rare and beautiful wood to recycle for their bikes, whether it is a unique cherry, mahogany or oak. They then carefully hand sculpt the piece of wood into a masterpiece on wheels. Handles are fitted with hand-sewn English leather and they even put details such as a hand-carved skull gear shift on one bike. The bike’s inner frames are built around a high-grade multi-ply mahogany imported from England. This English mahogany gives the bike its strength and flexibility. Brazilian rosewood oil is applied to seal the finish of the wood. “You don’t take this bike to the store and leave it sitting out front,” Holloway was quoted in an interview. He went on, “It’s a cruiser, not an errand-running bike. It’s meant to be taken to the boardwalk, ridden for 10 miles and that’s it.”
With an enviro-green pitch, very cool designs and the fact that there are so few available, these bikes may be showing up on the those hard-to-buy-for gift lists or perhaps be sought out by a few art collectors.
Urban Tree to Bicycle from Spots Unknown on Vimeo.
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-Kevin Feather
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