When two fabled designers or manufacturers meet, the ideas that come out of their minds are usually quite astonishing. And when we take the renowned manufacture of furniture Thonet and British architect Andy Martin, the story gets a lot more interesting. In fact, they have conceived a bicycle which completely demonstrates Thonet’s expertise in steam bending.
The outcome is an elegant two wheeler, simple in design yet extremely good looking. The specialists at Thonet have used their more than 80 years of expertise in steam bending to manufacture the body of this bike. Having used CNC machines for the bending, they’re also reinforced the small vehicle with spring rods and connectors.
In addition to wood, they’ve also used carbon fiber HED H3. This makes it astonishingly light and super at touch. Unfortunately, it would be a bad idea to ride it at high speeds, as it doesn’t feature brakes. It is, though, fitted with a few interchangeable gear ratios. Available as a limited edition, from Andy Martin’s website, the Thonet bikes cost a whopping $69,000 (£43,000).
[Mocoloco]
