Powdercoated deep-V rims? Pfft. How about hand-hewn wheels and handlebars?

One of Tom Ritchey's neat little side projects: The Rwanda Wooden Bike classic. In Rwanda, the weak supply stream for bicycles has led locals to build bikes -- scooters, really -- out of wood, and these cool rides are used for fun, for work, for commuting, basically for everything.

Ritchey and a friend have helped organize a race series in Rwanda that includes a Wooden Bike marathon, a singlespeed work-bike race, a professional road race, and a modern mountain bike race.

We've been clowning about a recent rash of wooden frames (silly bamboo bikes and concept tandems) but these are the real deal: hand-hewn from raw timber.

If there is any justice in the world, the hippest fixie-riders in New York and San Francisco will start showing up at the Saturday Night Ride on one of these sweet steeds.