COIMBATORE: There is no doubt that necessity is the mother of invention! Otherwise, this city-based interior designer wouldn’t have come up with wooden bicycles.
Last year, when P K Murugesan, 33, searched for a new frame for his bicycle that was damaged during transit, he couldn’t find one. This led him to design a frame for his bicycle using engineered wood or plywood.
In the process, he decided to modify his bicycle completely using wood, except for the crucial parts such as the handle bar and the seat. “I started it as an experiment. Also, as I had interest in environmental issues, I thought making a
wooden bicycle would attract people’s attention (to bicycles), as they are one of the most important ways to tackle vehicular emissions, which account for a significant portion of global emissions,” Murugesan, who has been a cyclist for 10 years now, says.
As he expected, when Murugesan took his wooden bicycle out for a ride, it grabbed people’s attention. “People started stopping me on road and asking me about the cycle. Many wanted one made for them,” he says. This and the traction it received on social media, gave Murugesan the idea of starting a firm to make wooden bicycles.
It took Murugesan around 15 days to sketch the design and fabricate the first wooden bicycle. “It cost me around Rs 25,000 to make the first one. But I am planning to improve the design, which would bring down the cost to Rs 18,000,” Murugesan says and adds though he has got several inquiries so far, his plan was to make a batch of 10 bicycles first. He also has plans to register his design and start a firm.
In the first wooden bicycle he made, Murugesan says he has used the tyres of city terrain bikes, which are suitable to ride only on paved surfaces. “In the forthcoming design, I am planning to use multi-terrain bike tyres which would be suitable for long rides too. I am also planning to incorporate a seven-gear assembly, an adjustable seat and a quick release front wheel,” he says.
Except for the parts such as the tyres, wheel rims, handle bar, seat, gear assembly, front fork and crank assembly, which he would purchase and assemble, Murugesan says the entire body of the cycle would be made with wood. “The cycle now weighs more than 30kg. I am planning to use a hollow frame rather than a solid one to bring down the weight to around 15kg. Also, I am planning to engrave the name of the buyer on the wooden frame,” Murugesan says.
While wooden bicycles are already present in some European countries, their cost in India starts from Rs 1.5 lakh. Murugesan says he believes his innovation would be an affordable alternative in both the health and the environment fronts.
P K Murugesan rides his wooden bicycle