Nick’s wooden bikes are fixing more than the environment

It all started with a broken fence and a friendly neighbour.

“My fence had blown over, and my neighbour kindly said I could wait until the summer to repair it.”

These are the words of Nick Coates, Founding Director of Southampton-based BEAMZ.

“By the time I came to repair it a limb of a bush had grown in the way. I cut this off and when I sat down I noticed how the bark had peeled off it and underneath was an incredible structure which had bulged beautifully around the knots.”

Over the next six months the wood dried out.

“As an engineer, when you hold a material in your hands you can instantly feel when it’s light, stiff and strong enough to be used for something. I realised in my hand I had an excellent piece of structural material which had literally just grown in my back garden.”

Nick, who has a degree in engineering product design, started looking into it further. He remembered an example in one of his university textbooks comparing bicycle forks made from different materials.

“It turned out wood could be nearly as strong as metal under certain circumstances, but they had assumed it couldn’t be formed into required shapes needed for a bicycle without cutting it into planks.

“It occurred to me that if you could make wood into a structural section, i.e. a tube, then it would be up there with the very best engineering materials you can get.

“When wood dries it halves in weight and doubles in strength, which is good fortune for humanity.”

And so, in 2014, Nick set to work to create a bicycle out of Hampshire-grown hardwood, using a New Forest Council grant to create the first prototype.

“On our bikes the larger poles are hollowed out as tubes.

“Using the natural materials means many of the issues which occur with wood, such as weakening due to the direction of the plank not following the grain structure and knots, are eliminated.”

BEAMZ aim to use as many natural and sustainable materials in the construction of their bikes as possible, using hemp fibre to reinforce the joints and a natural oil to finish.

Where this isn’t possible, they try to use recycled materials.

“We make some of the metal fittings from old Audi wheels which are often available at local scrapyards, melting them down using sustainably grown charcoal and converting them into drop outs.

It’s not just the planet Nick is out to fix though.

“As a social enterprise, we exist to make a positive impact in the world. We have three main visions: combatting climate change, boosting wildlife diversity and awakening wellbeing.

“Part of our remit is to make bicycles, and part of our remit is to provide wellbeing-inducing activities for volunteers. The things we’re doing are all very good for people’s wellbeing.

“Many of the tasks we’ve been doing for thousands of years have been taken out of our hands by machines. Putting those back restores people who are struggling with day to day life.

“My dream would be to one day create a social enterprise franchise, with local organisations making their own bikes out of wood grown in their area.

BEAMZ’s hardwood poles are created using a method called coppicing, which uses the shoots that grow after a broadleaf tree is cut down.

“I believe in local production: using local material to make bikes for local people made by local people. When you spend a pound it goes to someone else who spends it again, an economy is money going round and round and it does the most good when it circulates locally.

“I also want people to value the bikes we make. When you first get something it’s all shiny and new and you feel enthusiastic about it, then it gets its first scuff and after a while it goes down in your estimation.

“But you probably have some possessions you’ve had for years and you’d go to any length to keep them. We want to create that feeling around our bikes so they last for a very long time.

“People are emotionally conditioned to always want something new, but we can’t afford to continue living like that. Having fewer, but nicer, things which we keep for longer is where we’re trying to go and that’s what I dream of creating.”

BEAMZ is currently looking for volunteers to help with this vision, including community coordinators and people with financial experience.