The ‘Aero Bicycle‘ project, created by architects Atanas Zhelev, Mariya Korolova and Martino Hutz, incorporates an inventive composite wood bike frame and was shown at Milan Design Week 2015. the skeleton of the bicycle aims to uncover alternative options for wooden structures. The ‘composite wood technology’ was engineered for the realization of this design. this technique is similar to the way in which carbon fiber is used to manufacture composite structures.

The bicycle frame is constructed through the layering of 0.9mm wooden sheets and gluing them together into the desired shape. the natural fibers of each wooden sheet are aligned into the force direction running inside the frame which provides additional strength to the structure. This results in less material being used whilst achieving substantial stiffness with complex geometries. Additional tests using different manufacturing methods such as inserting carbon fiber or aluminum layers within the wooden sheets, were also investigated in order to achieve more strength with less material whilst keeping the frame refined.

via designboom