Can a Wooden Bike Be Eco-Friendly? Pardee Seems to Think So

Pardee Bikes recently started a campaign on Kickstarter for a wooden city bike and by the looks of it, the project will come to fruition very soon.

The bike has a frame made of American Hard Maple and comes in two versions, single-speed or three-speed. The wooden frame makes the bike lighter than average metal city bikes, with the bike weighing 25.5 lbs. (11.5 kg). Pardee claims its two-wheeler weighs a pound less than your regular metal bike and has half the weight of a rideshare bike.

Three sizes are available for the Pardee bike, ranging from 5’3” to 6’2” (162 to 188 cm).

Pardee says the bike is not just light but also durable, with the frame consisting of 38 strongly pressed layers of maple. The strategically placed alloys and the fact that the wood distributes impacts along its cellular structure makes the bike resilient to shocks.

The natural, minimalist but beautiful design of the Pardee is not the only advantage of the wooden bike, according to its creators. The project is also supposed to be a way for the company to reduce its footprint because the bike doesn’t require intensively processed metals and chemical treatments to be built. The raw material used in the Pardee bikes grows naturally, nurtured by the sun. We’re not sure that trees would agree with that logic, but who asks them…

Pardee Bikes already managed to achieve its $25,000 goal on Kickstarter and raised almost $30,000, with 30 days to go in the campaign. Those who pledge $1,049 will get the Pardee bike $350 cheaper than its retail price. A water bottle and a t-shirt are also thrown in as bonuses. The estimated delivery date is August 2021.