Bicycles

Lagomorph wood-framed bike now available for special order

Lagomorph wood-framed bike now available for special order
Using his furniture-making skills and bike know-how, Seth Deysach has created the Lagomorph bike - and is now taking special orders
Using his furniture-making skills and bike know-how, Seth Deysach has created the Lagomorph bike - and is now taking special orders
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The Lagomorph bike
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The Lagomorph bike
The Lagomorph bike
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The Lagomorph bike
The Lagomorph bike
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The Lagomorph bike
Using his furniture-making skills and bike know-how, Seth Deysach has created the Lagomorph bike - and is now taking special orders
4/5
Using his furniture-making skills and bike know-how, Seth Deysach has created the Lagomorph bike - and is now taking special orders
The Lagomorph bike
5/5
The Lagomorph bike
View gallery - 5 images

When established furniture maker Seth Deysach was invited to be part of the Object Society design show in June last year, he decided to create something special for the occasion that combined two of his passions - creating things in wood and cycling. The single-speed, one size Lagomorph bike boasts strong, elegant lines and an impressive catalog of high quality components. Now the designer is taking special orders for the wooden-framed bike, with custom options available on request.

For a good many years Deysach quenched his thirst for all things bike-related by working in bike shops - first at weekends and then full-time. Looking for a change of pace, he then ventured into furniture manufacture but his love for cycling was never far from the surface. When asked to contribute to the Object Society show, he decided to put both his old and his new skills to good use and build a wooden bicycle.

"Almost all wood bikes I've seen attempt to mimic the look and construction of a steel or carbon bike," Deysach told Gizmag. "From a furniture makers point of view I saw only drawbacks to that."

The frame, forks and stem of the medium-sized, 18-inch (45.72 cm) Lagomorph bike are made using lengths of American Black Walnut, which are bridal jointed and glued together and then fastened together to form the exposed joinery structure - held together "just like a chair would be."

Unlike the all-wooden Splinter bike, Deysach has opted for more familiar, non-wooden drive and steering systems - adding a White Industries crank set, freewheel, steel bottom bracket and pedals, a Shimano Dura Ace hollow pin chain that's said to be both durable and rust-free and Mavic open pro rims on Phil Wood 32 hole flip flop track hubs. Hidden inside the head tube is a Chris King 1-inch No Threadset headset, the handlebar is an Ahearne map which has a Paul brake lever attached to it leading to Dia-Compe front caliper brakes.

The Lagomorph bike's frame is priced at US$2,500 and the forks and stem cost US$1,000. A complete build will empty your bank account to the tune of US$6,000, making it cheaper than the duo from Audi and Renovo - but without the disk brakes, multiple gears, LED lights and rack. Deysach says that he would need a good 12 weeks for construction and that custom options are available.

View gallery - 5 images
9 comments
9 comments
Mr Stiffy
He has already lost the basic principle of the diamond frames construction, by feeding the stress from the back wheel, nearly half way down the seat post tube.
Atul Malhotra
6000 bucks for a bicycle?
We get a decent car in India for abt 3000 and we are exporting it to 6 countries now too
what is this guy trying to tell us?
if ne one wants a ready business market just make a modular battery kit for Indian bicycles..20 milion bicycles are sold in India every yr..and abt 80 million are in use
the users are generally low income folks and if somebody can make a 40- 50 dollar kit of rechargable and removable batteries , he could quickly sell millions of units
at even 2 dollars per piece of profit he could make millions of dollars of profit every yr right from the word go
what say?
Jasper
First of all I think its beautifull. I love the angular/chunky looks. It's a piece of art.
Second: Mr stiffy: your point is? Lot of frames stray from the pure diamond frame concept. You should try some antidepressants..
Atul: your totally missing the point! Many bicycle frames costs 2500$, obviously not "transport" bicycles, but in the west a 6000$ bike isn't that rare.. (i own one and im not particularly well off by DK standarts)
Dekko
Yes, this is a beautiful piece of work - somewhere between utility & art. Atul is right, it is expensive, by western or eastern standards. But putting a price on work like this is not quite the same as pricing a production line bike. I hope that the saddle is not made of wood....
Adam C
I\'d love to see some curves. Straight lines are for refrigerators.
Facebook User
Designers go nuts over themselves; competing to build useless bicycles and odd chairs. Reinventing the wheel with every attempt. It would be actually-be-something if a designer were to build either a bike or a chair better than what we\'ve already seen, in various forms, over the last century.
What next, bicycle made of whale bone and a chair that sits on you... durr.
Facebook User
With all things wooden, art takes the lead over price. I feel this is a beautifully crafted work of art and has the potential to become a sought-after collectible in the years to come. I especially love the clean lines, the woody brown color, and the way the two triangles that form the diamond frame are offset.
Gerfried Hans
Hmm, wooden rims were standard in the last century, this one does not have those. It\'s more on the design side than on the wood engineering side.
Brendan Dunphy
Looks great, even if more art than technology. As a craftsman, I don't expect he aims to make millions from it. There are plenty of others re-designing the bike for the utility end of the market. Good luck to them to.