Many people wonder if wood is strong enough to survive being treated and ridden like any other bicycle We’ve proven this with lots of real world riding with thousands of miles logged on Connor Wood Bicycles. We’ve been in races, such as the legendary Leadville 100 mountain bike race in Colorado and are racking up more and more miles every day. We’ve also done some lab testing and will continue to validate the strength and durability of these frames.
In order to be qualified to run a Gates belt drive with a Rohloff Speedhub we had to submit a frame for testing to ensure that there wasn’t too much flex in a frame and that it was strong enough to support the tension of a belt without deflecting dangerously. This is a real test and real bikes fail it. Every year, bikes made from titanium, carbon fiber and other materials do not pass. We did! Here are the test results from this experiment. The test was performed for Gates by Spot Brand Bicycles, in Golden, CO.
Test- to determine if the submitted frame has passed the required stiffness parameters to use the belt drive system with the Rohloff hub.
Company/Frame information:
Name: Connor Wood Bicycles
Contact: Chris Connor
Frame Type: Touring
Frame size: 56cm
Frame material: Wood
Dropout type: Sliding Vertical
Testing information:
Weights applied: 8760g, 8720g, 8660g
Center to center testing distance: 440mm
Testing conducted by: Ian Sallee
Testing results:
The frame tested (picture below) has passed the required deflection amounts in the X and Y directions for use with the Rohloff hub.
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Date: 4/18/2013 |
FRAME STIFFNESS MEASUREMENT |
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Test # 1 |
passing standards at maximum weight: |
Quotient X: is greater than 5.3 kg/mm Quotient Y: is greater than 26.5 kg/mm [ ie. X Quotient=(weight/X measure)/1000] |
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Frame model / Size |
# |
Wt (g) |
X measure (mm) |
Y measure (mm) |
X Quotient |
Y Quotient |
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|
1 |
Brand: Connor Wood Bicycles |
1 |
8760 |
1.45 |
0.24 |
6.04 |
36.50 |
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| Model: |
2 |
17480 |
3.15 |
0.54 |
5.55 |
32.37 |
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| Style: Touring |
3 |
26140 |
4.76 |
0.96 |
5.49 |
27.23 |
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| Material: Wood |
1 |
8760 |
1.41 |
0.26 |
6.21 |
33.69 |
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| Size: 56cm |
2 |
17480 |
3.00 |
0.59 |
5.83 |
29.63 |
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| Dropout style: Sliding Vertical |
3 |
26140 |
4.55 |
0.83 |
5.75 |
31.49 |
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| Frame break: SS/Dropout |
1 |
8760 |
1.40 |
0.27 |
6.26 |
32.44 |
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| Test length: 440mm |
2 |
17480 |
2.95 |
0.60 |
5.93 |
29.13 |
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|
3 |
26140 |
4.50 |
0.87 |
5.81 |
30.05 |
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Connor Wood Bicycles -- Wood bikes from Denver Colorado. 