In the lumber room of Max Samuelson’s 2,000-square-foot Cape May studio, there’s a collection of domestic and exotic woods, including a piece of yellow pine that, until a recent renovation, served as a support beam at Springer’s Homemade Ice Cream in Stone Harbor.
This is home of Woody Bicycles, founded by Samuelson in 2008. He sources mahogany, oak, tiger maple and other species from sawmills and lumberyards in Pennsylvania and sustainable forests around the world to make custom beach-cruiser, commuter, triathlon and road bikes.
“The first bike I made took hundreds of hours, and I swore I’d never do it again,” says Samuelson, 35, a Cape May lifeguard and former competitive mountain biker. His business marries his two loves: woodworking and biking. “I spent years and thousands of hours refining the process.” Now, he’s got it down to 40 hours per bike.
The process begins with a computer sketch based on a rider’s measurements. Samuelson then cuts his wood (or woods, if it’s a blend) into boards five-sixteenths of an inch thick. Using a computer-controlled router, he makes joinery cuts to weave the pieces into triangular shapes before stacking and gluing three to four of the triangles together for each side of the bike frame.
The wood isn’t merely for aesthetic purposes; its vibration-dampening capabilities ensure a smoother ride. The final product incorporates carbon-fiber cloth for tensile strength and aluminum tubes at junction points that allow the rider to upgrade various components. The bicycles are shaped, lacquered, buffed and assembled by hand.
The bikes start at $2,700 and can run thousands more, depending on components. At 29 pounds, the commuter bicycles are lighter than most.
Woody Bicycles are for sale (not rent) at Givens in Cape May and at Algie’s Place in Wildwood Crest. For a custom build, visit their website.
“It’s amazing giving new life to old wood,” says Samuelson. “You don’t get greener than that.”