Calgarian Anton Koch spent months on a project that pushed the limits of both his woodworking and engineering abilities, and at long last, that project is complete. Koch created a full-sized, rideable bicycle made entirely of wood — with a few small hidden screws at key stress points and ball bearings he packed inside the wheel hubs and pedals. On Tuesday, Koch gathered with friends and neighbours to witness the bike’s maiden ride. Some brought lawn chairs to their driveways as his grandson, Matteo Gagliardi, rode several laps around the block. “This is my Orville Wright moment,” Koch said. The retiree spent more than a year planning and building the bicycle, but wanted it to be more than a piece of art — it had to work. When CTV News visited Koch earlier this year, he was putting the finishing touches on the project, which he said was inspired by a wooden bicycle he saw for sale on eBay. The retired engineer designed his own version, using birch, walnut, oak and maple laminated together for strength. He crafted every wooden chain link by hand. His family initially had questions. “We all thought he was crazy once he started to pitch this project to us,” Gagliardi said. “But every day, we’d come over, we’d see the progress day over day, week over week, and it was really beautiful to see it all come together in his magnum opus.” Surgery over the summer left Koch feeling unsteady on two wheels, so he enlisted his grandson to take the handlebars. Koch’s biggest concern was whether the wooden chain would withstand the strain of riding, particularly on a slight uphill stretch. “I was thinking, ‘God, I hope this thing can make that many loops.’ But it did okay,” he said. For Gagliardi, the ride lived up to his confidence in his grandfather’s work. “Every component is wood, so it’s not it’s not as if there’s shock absorbers or anything in there, but it rides pretty good. All in all, I was very impressed.” Koch’s granddaughter Amelia Gagliardi said the project was ambitious even by her grandfather’s standards. “Something like this was a crazy feat, but if anyone could do it, it was him.” The bicycle completed its laps, although Koch’s attention to detail left him with one small improvement to consider. He heard a clicking sound from a connection in the wooden chain touching the fender. Koch’s said another, narrower chain he had already made might resolve it. “But hey, it went okay. I was happy,” he said. For now, the bicycle is headed for a quieter setting: Koch’s living room. He plans to keep it there for a year or so before considering where it might go next, possibly as a charitable donation. He is open to suggestions. “I was just tickled pink to see my grandson Matteo making it down the road and back a few times,” Koch said.
