Summer in Portland 20 Frame Sale!

The Real Beauty of a Renovo is the Ride... the Looks Are a Bonus:

It's the smoothest bike you'll ever ride, stealth quiet, lightweight and responsive, stiff as you want. Renovo hollow wood and laminated bamboo frames will forever change your understanding of what a bicycle should be, and how these natural materials can perform when designed to their strengths.

Elisabeth's R4. Birch and purpleheart, Vancouver, BC. The mottled appearance is chatoyance, a beautiful tiger eye-like iridescence which dances around with changes in viewing angle.

Renovo R4, custom built for Meade Gougeon, founder of West System Epoxies. His Pro-Set oven-cured epoxy bonds every Renovo frame. Meade's frame is padauk, wenge and curly maple with a piano finish. Weight 4.8 lbs (click to enlarge)

 

 

Renovo R4, black walnut, Port Orford cedar. Frame weight 3.6 lbs.

 

Nate's R4. Walnut, yellowheart, padauk. Seattle, Wa.

 

 

 

Rick's R3, wenge, yellowheart, padauk. Massachussets

Renovo R3, purpleheart, sapele. Purple Haze is raced by Brendan, our CAT 2 engineer.

Renovo R1, caramelized bamboo, ash stays

Why Wood?

  • Lightweight; a frame weighs from 3.5 to 4.9 pounds--bikes, 16.5 to 20 pounds.
  • A magically smooth ride thanks to wood's unique ability to absorb shock and vibration--you feel the difference immediately.
  • Stiffness? Oh yeah. As stiff as carbon or better if you wish, but most importantly, we tailor the stiffness and ride quality to your riding style and weight, so the bike is designed for you, not some theoretical average rider. 
  • Tough. Most woods used by Renovo are stiffer, stronger and harder than axe handles or baseball bats. The frames easily withstands impacts that ruin butted metal or carbon frames. 
  • The fatigue life of wood rivals carbon and is substantially longer than aluminum or steel.
  • Value. The Renovo is tough, durable, and can be easily refinished in 100 years to look new again, or left with scars and dents to show character. Either way, it will outlast you and still be looking good. 
  • The Renovo frame is environmentally friendly, with sustainable woods, bamboo and low VOC finishes.
  • See our customer's comments here.

But, we don’t claim wood is the solution for everything, or even very much for that matter. As a lightweight structural material we know it’s also good for airplanes, boats, and a few other things. We're often asked to make wheels, handlebars, forks and more, but these each have practical or engineering drawbacks. So, while we may make something in addition to bicycle frames, it will be just as conservatively designed and engineered.

Renovo Frames are Made Completely In Our Shop In Portland, Oregon, Often With Oregon Woods

Renovo frames are a sublime blend of high-tech magic and fine craftsmanship. They're created on computer and machined by a computer controlled machine. But the majority of time in a frame is handwork; the real beauty is revealed only by caring craftsmanship wielded by computer-age people with a deep commitment to fine craft and fine bicycles.

Functional  Art Then...

On her 800 mile tour in Germany, Brigitte parks wherever...

Some folks view these frames as works of art, too nice or delicate for daily use, but they aren't your mom's dining room table. We chose wood for it's ride quality and sustainability, and got beauty as a bonus; but it's not a weakness. An impact that will dent and ruin a butted metal or carbon frame merely bounces off the Renovo frame leaving a small dent.

Wood is tough stuff; from axe handles and baseball bats to the walnut stocks of the 1903 Springfield rifles, the U.S. Infantry rifle from WW1 through the Korean conflict. These rifles were thrown from trucks, dragged through sand, rivers and hell, used as pry bars, clubs, crutches and still functioned as rifles. After the wars, civilians bought these battle-scarred relics and refinished many of them into gorgeous sporting rifles.



A Renovo Frame Will Outlast You and Still be Looking Good

Like the Springfield gunstock, or any bicycle frame, a Renovo can be dented and scratched. But, like those gunstocks, and unlike other frame materials, the Renovo is easily refinished, because it's wood all the way through, not just a paint layer. And the best news--a dent or scratch won't escalate into a frame-terminal crack as with other bike frame materials. So really, if you want a beautiful bicycle as your daily driver, the Renovo is your best bet, and yes, between rides some folks will park their Renovos in their living rooms as art they can enjoy even when they're not riding.

Unlike Any Other

The Renovo is semi-custom made with select woods chosen by the owner, and, thanks to the color, grain and figure of wood, each frame is completely unique, even if made from the same wood as another Renovo. Compact geometry in six sizes ranging from 49cm to 61cm fit nearly anyone.

The woods, adhesives, and finishes are probably not what you're familiar with, so please visit 'What You Don't Know About Wood' for an overview.

The Panda?

Renovo Pandurban Bamboo Commuter

 The Panda series is our line of handbuilt, affordable, complete bicycles in laminated bamboo, which is ultra-green, ultra-durable, and strong, with the smoothest ride of any material we've worked with. There are two versions of commuters, a road bike and a fixie (we are in Portland). These bikes are a treat to ride, a treat to look at; they'll make you smile every time you ride.

 

Patents are pending on the Renovo hollow frame.