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Knox College graduate Chris Connor building a wood frame bicycle at his company, Connor Wood Bicycles.

Could Wood Be the Best Ride?

Knox Grad Builds Wood Frame Bicycles

Chris Connor of Connor Wood Bicycles.

I've always tried to see things from different angles; that's how I ended up doing wood bikes -- Chris Connor

Beyond steel, aluminum, titanium or carbon, the newest material for bicycle frames is the oldest -- wood. Some 200 years after the very first bikes were handcrafted from wood, 1991 Knox College graduate Chris Connor is a leader in the rediscovery of the strengths of wood as a material for bike frames.

A double major in political science and psychology, he talks about his educational and career experiences, from high-tech firms to making guitars to his current work at Connor Wood Bicycles of Denver: 

How did you get into building bikes?

The time I spent with my brother building classical guitars was pivotal in my figuring out how much I enjoyed working for myself and building things of functional beauty. Working with him was great since we both had so much to share with one another in building the business. It's hard to pinpoint specific influences or experiences that guide your path but building wood bicycles and building a business both call for very different skill sets. Fortunately I'd learned from school, work and the time with my brother how to wear the many hats it takes to build a company with a creative product.

At Knox I enjoyed the classes in visual arts, art history and photography alongside the classes for my double majors in Psychology and Political Science. Anywhere I could apply what I was doing in a physical output helped me learn. Having a well rounded education which tied together arts and humanities with sciences allowed me to become a better critical thinker and look at things through different lenses. I've always tried to see things from different angles and in a way that's how I ended up doing wood bikes. They have a creative side and are things of beauty, but also have to be technically accurate and functional. This dichotomy is what makes them special and may be why so many people seem to connect with them.

Since my time at Knox I worked professionally in high-tech marketing and did a lot with digital communications. I enjoyed this and was able to connect technology with creativity but wanted something with more of a physical result that I could create. I was an avid bike rider for sport and dabbled in all types of art classes, studying things like blacksmithing, glass blowing and ceramics. What I always came back to, though, was woodworking. There are a lot of great books on all these subjects and I've read extensively on them but there's no substitute for rolling up your sleeves and diving in. That's what it's about -- the creation. I realized that I could combine my love for cycling with the skills I'd developed in creating things that are functional and beautiful and what better way to do this than with a wood bicycle.

Favorite Knox experiences?

Prairie Burn: I participated in the prairie burn for a couple years. This was outside my area of study but found it a great hands on learning experience that was as thrilling (playing with nearly out of control fire) as it was educational. 

Psychology Lab: This was a great experience for seeing conditioning firsthand. It was a great class that taught teamwork (we worked in pairs) as well as clearly illustrating many of the principles we'd been studying in psychology. The class with Gary Francois was experiential learning that brought to life the real world application of what we'd been studying. I really admired my rat and was amazed how much he was able to learn. Now, if I can just find a way to motivate and reward my dog and kids similarly...

Photography: The smell of developing chemicals late at night in the basement of the science building still stick with me and bring back vivid memories of my time from Knox. I loved how this class got me out into Galesburg looking for material to photograph. I had some great adventures and explored fun places while learning about composition, contrast, lighting and exposure. I've tried to apply the skills I picked up in the class with Mike Godsil for taking good photographs today, when it seems like we're all taking photographs constantly.

There are a lot of great memories of Knox that have influenced me in the course of my life. During my time there I never would have imagined that years later I'd be building wood bicycles.

Do you have any tips for Knox students today, in terms of your own unique career experience?

It may sound cliché but study and do what you love. If it interests you, or you can find something fun and unusual about a subject, dive in and pursue it. Don't worry if something doesn't click right away - keep pushing and stay curious. One of the great things about a liberal arts education is that to make the most of it you need to explore a variety of disciplines. Tie these things together and learn as much as you can. Also, never underestimate the value of good writing! It's one of the best super powers you can have and will pay you back countless times over your career. 

Professionally, opportunities will present themselves and you can always tie your passions to the professional world. I've done a lot of things over the years and waited for the "aha" moment where I felt that I knew what I wanted to do with myself. It took 20+ years after college to get to that moment, but it came. And I had a great time learning along the way.

Photos: Top of Page, Chris Connor working on a Louisville Slugger Bat Bike at his business, Connor Wood Bicycles. Below, Connor; one of his bikes; with rider Robert Brudenell at the Leadville 100 mountain race.

  • Chris Connor of Connor Wood Bicycles.
  • One of the bicycles produced by Connor Wood Bicycles.
  • Chris Connor and rider Robert Brudenell at the Leadville 100

The Knox curriculum has a strong focus on working to apply your academic studies outside the classroom. How do you see that enhancing the traditional strengths of a liberal arts education?

I cannot stress enough the value of experiential learning. Tying knowledge to the physical world through experience, I believe, helps all types of learners identify with a subject in a way that cannot be attained in the classroom alone. Whether it's a field trip, an internship or an apprenticeship, or hands-on project, having an active role in learning connects the dots to all types of knowledge through experience. Additionally, some people who learn in different ways (like me), are able to better connect to a subject when actively participating in it.

I see that at the high school level, fewer schools are teaching "shop" or "trade" classes, which I believe is unfortunate. These hands-on classes can connect learners to all types of knowledge which can help in many other areas of their education and help them grow as learners. Math, art, engineering, physics, proportion and design are all right in front of you when you're building something. In higher education, opportunities to introduce experiential learning experiences can only make a program stronger and produce better rounded students who understand a subject in the many ways that can't be picked up in a classroom setting alone.

One of your bikes was ridden in a mountain race, the Leadville 100. Did race-exposure raise awareness or sales for your bikes?

Having race exposure has been great for a few reasons. Yes, it got great exposure and lots of people saw the bike. More importantly it showed that the wood bikes can truly perform as *bikes.* Wood isn't the next super- material that racers will seek out for their podium wins, but the race validated that they are strong and won't break even in the harshest of riding environments. Defying the misperception of their frailty is part of the magic and allure of my bikes and part of why people who do ride them have such a great experience.

Any similar plans to get your cyclocross model, the Axehandle, into a road race?

One of my riders has already run it in a some big charity rides, but is also hoping to take it to the Cyclocross Nationals this fall. So yes, it will get raced and get in front of a lot of people to see what wood can do. Every bike of mine is its own ambassador for wood bicycles and every time people see them out there doing what they do it shifts perceptions and will ultimately help me to get more of them out there.

I also recently completed a project building a bike for Louisville Slugger. The wood used in my bikes, white ash, is the same wood used in their baseball bats. They had me build a bike for them from baseball bat billets, which is now on display at the Slugger Museum in Louisville, KY. It's not getting ridden at the moment but thousands of people are seeing it and seem to be amazed.

On the other hand, do you think that wood bikes have potential to expand into the "every-day commuter" market?

Honestly, I think wood bikes will remain a niche product. That's a good thing though. They're unique and hand built and as much an item of utility as they are art. There are people who do commute on them today, but in order to get them out to the masses they'd end up losing some of their magic and appeal as a mass-market product. I hope to push the envelope with wood bicycles and get more people to accept them, but don't want to pump them out in a factory or outsource them for low-cost production. That's not what they're about.

The biking scene, locally and nationally, has changed a lot in recent years -- what was it like when you were a Knox student?

Most of my time in Galesburg was spent on campus, and since it's so compact I didn't need to ride to and from classes or anywhere else. For sport, I mostly spent time in the gym. A couple times I did borrow a friend's bike and did some beautiful rides in the area.

Published on August 07, 2015