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Racing bike, laminated mahogany hollow frame, by ship builder Sueshiro Sano, 2022
(sanomagic.world.coocan.jp)
I thought some people here might appreciate it. More of Sueshiro Sano´s stunning work: http://sanomagic.world.coocan.jp/englishindex.html
Can it be ridden, or is it for display?
Although it is a bit too luxurious for that and will probably not be used for it, it is in fact made for racing! Mind the Campagnolo groupset.
On Sano's page there's a link titled "Race Results by Mr. Chomei and his Mahogany Bike No. 7 ". Looks like another mahogany bike was made in 2009 and was used in several races over ten years.
A Breaking Away reference? Ben fatto continuate così!
Depending on the laminate and parts design it could be pretty functional. I don't think you'd want to do more than take it for a couple of laps around a track though.
Unless you're Sam Pilgrim. That dude will ride any bike down the gnarliest obstacles. A few months back he rode a bike made of bamboo that collapsed under him after going off a jump with it. The bike had only been ridden for about half a day.
On Sano's page there's a link titled "Race Results by Mr. Chomei and his Mahogany Bike No. 7 ". Looks like another mahogany bike was made in 2009 and was used in several races over ten years.
It would hurt like hell to ride. Wood wheels aren't gentle.
Nope, in fact wooden rims ride very smooth compared to aluminium rims. Also, take a closer look, there are state of the art pneumatic road bike tires on.
Looks like it still has rubber tires, so probably just fine.
Rubber isn't the only shock absorption that a racing bike uses. The metal wheels deform a bit to absorb impact as well.
You must be thinking of steel rims, which are completely outdated tech. Bikes have aluminium rims nowadays and aluminium rims are stiff af, compared to other materials
Aluminum in and of itself is not stiffer than steel. It's about 1/3 as stiff as steel. That said, it is quite a bit lighter and since stiffness is proportional to cross sectional area aluminum parts can be stiffer than steel parts at the same weight because they can use more material. Strength is a whole other can of worms.
That is all true from a purely theoretical, material science based perspective on this, so the misconception is understandable. However, please mind that in practice, when it´s about bike components the main criteria is that they have to be lightweight. So when it´s about bike parts we always compare the stiffness of steel parts and aluminium parts of the same weight and as you explained correctly:
Obviously that results in the aluminium bike parts being generally stiffer than the steel bike parts they are compared to. I apologize for any confusion I caused but I am a bike mechanic and not a metallurgic engineer.
It's true that I can get caught up in the nuance sometimes. That said, you and I both understand the details behind what you're talking about but odds are a number of people lurking in the comments don't. All I was really trying to do was nudge those people away from "substituting aluminum in place of steel with no other changes will result in a better part".
Never mind, we just approached this from different angles :)
Yes
Never mind the confirmation Davel23 gave; just the fact that it's got real mechanicals instead of wooden ones would've made me guess that it's a real bike.
Nothing wrong with making a bike out of wood, by the way. Wooden bikes meant to be ridden aren't common, but they are a thing.