Dhe Waldwiesel.E from the Magdeburg-based manufacturer Urwahn looks strange. Where in conventional bicycle frames the seat tube seeks to join forces with the down tube and chain stay on the bottom bracket shell, there is a gap in this frame. Instead, the top tube meanders downwards with an elegant curve, takes up the seat post over a short distance, bends again, splits and ends at the dropouts. With such a formal language, the frame looks like a sculpture, especially in the rear part. Is that art? Yes and no, because on the one hand the primal delusion is a feast for the eyes, on the other hand the makers have by no means forgotten the motto “Form follows function”.
It is less surprising that this organic construct works, but rather the fact that it is a steel frame. While carbon as a material has long opened up new scope for design, the possibilities with steel appeared limited. This is only made possible by a special 3-D printing process in which metal powder is built up in layers and fused with a laser. This is how Urwahn manufactures the connecting elements for the frame. The straight tubes are made of deep-drawn CroMo steel. All parts are put together by hand at Rotor Bike, a frame builder from Leipzig, who is also responsible for the flawless grinding of the torsion points.
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