The word 'wood' alone is meaningless.......when constructing mountain bikes from new timber materials..

The Renovo Badash 29er mountain bike has undergone rigorous testing - results revealing that Hickory and Oak can withstand extreme forces whilst providing qualities which allow for everlasting service and durability where other materials would fail. When the team at Renovo first came up with the idea of creating an MTB their comprehensive experience working with wood was renowned, yet they'd taken a long time before making the decision to create the 29er using Hickory. After testing their road frames for impact resistance against aluminium, steel and titanium, slowly the MTB concept evolved from idea to reality.

During testing a chain stay had been cracked after an extreme impact, a front wheel jammed into rocks on a steep descent, resulting in the rear end slamming down hard. The chain stay split was simply repaired with epoxy and sent out for further testing - performing as it had done before the crash.

Bicycle tubes compared by cross section, wood, steel, titanium and aluminium.

Renovo create bicycle frames using many different types of wood, depending on the application, referring to their materials of choice as – hollow wood and laminated bamboo. Notable properties of natures renewable hollow tubing are – quiet due to the shock absorbing qualities of wood, very light, responsive and you can customise the stiffness as much as you want. At Renovo they know ‘wood’, stating that “the word ‘wood’ alone is meaningless.” Have you ever heard ofSatiné or Bubinga, not your ordinary construction grade timber, these hand picked woods require special tools to cut and shape the hollow wooden tubes that become Renovo frames. Satiné or Bubinga are just a couple of the carefully selected materials earmarked for special use at Renovo.

With so much innovation and a firm conviction that wood is the prefect choice for constructing bicycle frames, Renovo have hit on a winner and their customers love them for it. The Badash 29er was an immediate hit with the test riders, some placing orders immediately, some used to full suspension opting for the hard tail Badash as their new favourite.

For full details on the Renovo Badash 29er as well as the frame and tubing test results check out the Renovo site – the oak top tube comes out on top in impact tests, while the Badash hickory frame just holds on and on against steel in a load test – the results are truly amazing.

With thanks to Ken at Renovo for image usage in this post.