Audi is joining a long line of car manufacturers that have reached out to bicycle specialists to create their own range of two wheelers. Being that the brand with the four rings is renowned for the use of aluminum in its cars, you’d expect Audi to employ the lightweight metal on its bicycle series. But that’s not the case as the Ingolstadt automaker teamed up with Renovo Design, a firm famous for its wooden frame bikes.
The all-new Duo bicycle from Audi sports a monocoque frame made of hardwood. According to the automaker, wood offers “the smoothest ride of any bike frame material thanks to its superior ability to absorb shock and vibration”. Audi says that the weight per cubic inch of wood is about one-fourth the weight of aluminum, meaning that the duo is lighter than most bicycle frames, adding that it also offers "equal or superior stiffness, durability, and toughness to an aluminum frame".
Other highlights of the Audi Duo bicycle series include a belt drive, aluminum and carbon fiber components, disk brakes and LED lighting, as well as woods selected to match the look of Audi vehicle interiors.
The series comprises of three bikes, the Duo City, Duo Sport and Duo Road, all of which are hand-made at Renovo’s Portland, Ore., studio. As you'd expect, none come in cheap as pricing for the three models (including shipping & handling) are set at $6,530, $7,350 and $7,460 respectively.
