We entered the press room and thanked God almighty it was air conditioned. Upon entering the room I was struck by the presence of this cool wooden bicycle. Not knowing this (mainly because we don’t pay attention that much to the rundown), turned out at that time they were having an internal launching from Sikusiku Studio, a local wooden bicycle maker. There were several people in the room, and us entering the room seemed to be a bit of distraction for them. But after receiving the access card I stayed there, not because of the air conditioned room, but rather because I was genuinely interested by these bicycles.
I have seen several other wooden bicycle from the internet or in person, but for me not a lot of them seem actually well made. I would consider some of them to be too homemade, if you catch my drift. They’re cool and very creative products but I can’t really imagine seeing myself riding one, let alone owning one. But this one is different. It was almost in the end of their launching session, but I listened to them for a while and the next day I visited their booth to dig a little more info about their bicycles.
At first I thought they were manufactured somewhere around the middle of Java, where usually all the wood whisperers are found. But to my surprise it wasn’t the case, these guys are from Depok, just outside Jakarta. They have develop this bike for around four years, creating the formula to make it possible and had done a bunch of testing and R&D work by themselves. In fact, they are currently still in the process of perfecting their final product, but because of the occasion of JCC 2018 they decided to show us all earlier.
I keep saying wooden but it’s actually made from bamboo. A resource that are of high abundance in Indonesia, which is one of the reason why they use this material. To make it stronger and possible to follow their design intention, the bamboo was first processed to turn it into some kind of plywood form. I bet they must have been try many formula of material and adhesives to be able to achieve this. After it turned into a plywood-like form, the possibilities is almost endless. They can cut it, machine it or even bend it like this crazy looking one called Semar.
But what I was mainly interested in was this one, the road bike (well it actually runs a fixed hub). I really love the simplicity of it and if you look closely you can see how all the joints are mated together. The drop out is still made of steel, and it’s understandable because with its shape and being one of the crucial stress points it may be not possible at least for now to use bamboo. A lot of the other part except the frame are still using an off the shelf part, and in way, I prefer it this way. Because for me one of the key of a good design or product is knowing when to stop. If you are not confident (yet) to make a bamboo crank why would you risk safety and efficiency to make one?
Speaking of stopping, Sikusiku Studio has no intention to stop developing. Because I overheard them at the launching that they are currently on development of other innovations to make their products better. One of which is a hollow frame. Yeah hollow, just like the average bicycle’s steel tubing, and like your heart when she left you. Sooo, It may sound crazy but I love the idea. It’s mainly to reduce the weight because currently the bike is sitting in almost 8 kg for the frame. They are also planning to develop a wooden wheels as well!
Last but not least, the price? It’s not cheap. At least for me with my fresh graduate’s pay check. It’s around 25 million Rupiahs and you have to wait around a month to have it specially taylored to your desired specifications. It may sound like a lot of money, but you know what? If I had the means I would most definitely cop one. After all, this is a cool niche product. If you order one, the possibilities is endless, they will fit the bike to your measurement, you can choose any combination of crank and hub, any wheels, riser or drop bar, Brooks or Selle San Marco saddles, you can even carve or laser print your ex’s name who’s made you hollow in the frame.
All in all I had been genuinely impressed by this bicycle. I really hope the best of luck in their future endeavors for the guys and girls over at Sikusiku Studio. It was really nice to see local brand put this much effort and passion to their product. Hope all the plans that you guys has can be realized. Also please do check them out in their Instagram ( @sikusikustudio ) to find out more about their work. And thank you to Jakarta Custom Culture for acknowledging our local hero and giving them a chance to be in the spotlight.