The Do It Yourself Wooden Bicycle
Originally posted on May 29, 2008 at 23:27 pm
As an industrial designer, Erik Björk typically is faced with a lot of limitations. He strives to produce non-conventional product designs that are not too experimental, They should be easy to mass produce, yet hard to copy. He aims to create an exclusive look with interesting, low-cost materials. Most days he finds that limitations are inspiring and challenging, but sometimes they can also be very frustrating.
Erik admits that “The Do It Yourself Wooden Bicycle” is the polar opposite of his trademark industrial designs. It is very easy to copy and reproduce. The components are available from the nearest hardware store, and anyone can build it with common hand-tools. The look is quit rough and unconventional, which Erik hopes will make the bike an unlikely target for bike thieves.
Erik considers his design as a first test version of a open source project. He encourages folks to build their own. If you’d like drawings of Erik’s bike to jump-start your own project, then contact him via email. More information on The Do It Yourself Wooden Bicycle is available at Erik’s website.
–Karl Rosengarth