16 Year Old Builds Working Wooden Bicycle
by Lloyd Alter, Toronto on 01.26.08
Lee Valley Tools publishes the story of Marco Facciola, who built a bicycle out of wood and glue and absolutely no metal parts.
"I wasn't sure my wooden bicycle would actually work. I quickly realized the first pieces of the puzzle I needed to figure out were the chain and the sprockets (gears), since the design of all the other components depended on these."
"When I look back at the completed project, I realize that building the chain caused the most problems and also took the most time (nearly 40%). One of the biggest difficulties was drilling a hole in the spacers—the hollowed-out, cylindrical pieces of wood that keep the two plates apart."
And no easy-to-build fixie was good enough for Marco, "I decided to add a ratcheting system to the bicycle. This would allow me to ride down a hill without having to pedal. If it was a direct-drive bicycle, I would have to pedal at all times."
Read the whole story in ::Lee Valley Tools via ::Splurch
Genius; da Vinci would be proud!
This kid is off the hook! I have been doing professional woodworking for about 25 years and I’ve never seen anything like this before. Thanks for posting.
Looks like the cars and equipment used on the set of Gilligans Island Tv Show
This young man needs to get into Engineering RIGHT NOW!!!!! He has talent and skill that is obviously immeasureable and we haven't even seen the likes of what he can do to help design through humanitarian needs. I commend you young man. Keep using your brains with your hands, you may save humanity.......
In the full article Marco Facciola says that...
In the future I hope to find another challenging woodworking project, but for now, I plan to focus on my schoolwork, my part-time job and sports.
... he even has a part time job!
Cool. Although I think he could have broken from the all wood concept to put some padding on the seat. :)
wow, what an amazing kid. i love hearing stories like this; i work in a very urban, very socioeconomically depressed area and all i hear about (and see; i work in health care) all day long are stories of all the bad things going on. i see kids shooting each other up, high, drunk driving, having multiple kids before age 16, you name it ... stories like this help me restore my faith in the potential of the next generation. :)
Yeah, but how's the ride?
That is quite amazing! I don't think I've seen any thing so complex yet low tech constructed by someone so young before. It'd make for a bit of a bumpy ride what with the wooden seat and the wooden wheels hehe. Kudos to him though.
Great job. It pleases me to see the patience required for this task exhibited by a young man in this day in age. You hear so much about how the teens of today are distracted, unmotivated and lacking discipline. Here is a fine example of the contrary! Good luck to a talented young man.
Great job. It pleases me to see the patience required for this task exhibited by a young man in this day in age. You hear so much about how the teens of today are distracted, unmotivated and lacking discipline. Here is a fine example of the contrary! Good luck to a talented young man.
Yeah this kid is pretty amazing - that's very good wood working for a professional, let alone a 16 year old! Very very impressive!
Does anyone notice this small flaw?? WHERE ARE THE BRAKES???????
how is this tree hugger ???
LA: Bikes are treehugger. DIY is treehugger. Cool things that don't emit CO2 are treehugger. Why isn't it treeHugger?
For all those touting the genius statis I know you mean well but give poor Marco a break! I mean I think it's top-notch craftsmanship for sure but SAVE HUMANITY? What a head-trip to put on a 16 year old. What if he wants to brew beer instead? For me the shake up is that we all have the capacity and the where-with-all to save ourselves, most of us simply tend to rely on others to figure it out for us so we can continue destroying things. Hey Marco, if you're reading, don't let these turkeys make you out to be anything different than you are. Great work, enjoy your sports, do what makes you happy brother!
What an amazing kid. His parents must be very proud.
That's fairly RAD...
Maybe there is some sort of eco-freindly stain that can be applied to bring out the wood grain textures. That'd be sweeet!
Save the environment, not destroy it!
O M G! I love your bike!
This is so cool, can I take it for my personal project? Kidding. Your amazing.