Thonet’s Steam-Bended Beechwood Fixed Gear Concept Bicycle

The nearly two-century old furniture maker Thonet has been experimenting with “bentwood” furniture since 1830, so it’s not a completely irrational leap that the company has made the move into fixed wheel bicycles… with a bentwood frame. Using a steam-bending process developed in the 1930s, they’ve taken the design by London architect Andy Martin and constructed a shapely circular beech wood frame, which is then precisely adjusted with a CNC machine to ensure design integrity. Although a fixed gear bicycle, the concept bike still has the capabilities of using several interchangeable gear ratios, and features carbon-fiber wheels and sprung rod supports to reinforce stress areas in the wooden frame. No word yet on production.