Our fenders begin their life as thin sheets of all natural veneer. All four varieties of bamboo come in 1/40th inch thicknesses in full four foot by eight foot sheets. While the length of a Plank fender was largely decided upon for aesthetic and practical reasons, waste was another important factor. Each 4,096 square inch sheet is trimmed into strips for Full Fenders and Planks with less than 20 square inches of excess. Not bad!

For Plank fenders, we glue six layers together for added rigidity. The Full Fenders are assembled from five layers for more flexibility, allowing for the graceful curve that should adorn and enhance your bicycle properly. Both styles are cold-pressed, meaning they are put under extreme pressure through mechanical jigs.

While the rough fender will hold it’s shape only a few hours later, we allow them to dry 24 hours before trimming. Leo (the bandsaw) does this job incredibly well, giving the fenders their straight edges and unique curved profile at each end.

Sanding comes next, and lots of it. Each fender is hand sanded through several steps, each reducing the coarseness of the sandpaper, and increasing the surface quality of your fender. This process may be the largest visual change, as the fenders go from curved pieces of wood, to truly beautiful fenders in a short period of time.

Finally, we end with two coats of oil, and two coats of shellac. The oil we use is an all natural penetrating oil that is derived from a few naturally occurring oils and supplied to us from just down the street. A quick sanding in between coats ensures your fender is smoother than that freshly paved road it will be gracing. For additional waterproofing, we apply two layers of all natural shellac as well too. If you don’t know how incredibly interesting (and environmentally friendly) shellac is, take a look here.