Build Your Own Customized Wooden Bike

If you feel as much at home in a wood shop as you do on a bike, French woodworking company Wooden Widget created plans for a do-it-yourself bicycle called the Hoopy, made almost entirely from wood. The entire project, which was spotted by CityLab, reportedly takes an experienced craftsperson around 50 hours to complete.

Simply purchase the 130-page blueprint online; it can be downloaded in PDF form for £30 or about $40 U.S. (Word to the wise: The plans use the metric system, so be prepared to make some conversions.) It includes more than 200 photos, which will guide you step-by-step as you cut the bike frame’s individual parts from 10 mm plywood and glue them together. You’ll then varnish your freshly carved creation, and finish it off with salvaged or secondhand parts. Depending on your preference, you can fit it with single speed or two-speed gears, BikeRadar writes.

The final product weigh around 26 pounds—around the same as your typical metal hybrid bike, CityLab points out. It can hold up to 440 pounds, so you can probably take it out for a spin with a companion. And even though the bike is one-size-fits-all, you can raise or lower its seat during the construction process if you want to customize it to your exact height.

According to Wooden Widget, the entire project can be completed for around $330, including the mechanical parts, the wood, and the instructions. However, some of this money will go toward a good cause: Wooden Widget will plant five trees each time someone purchases Hoopy instructions.

As for the bike itself, "It's also great to ride," Wooden Widget concludes on its website. "Surprisingly fast and very comfy."

[h/t CityLab]

Header images via Wooden Widget