Wood Is the Elastomer: Why We Don’t Need Zerts, Decouplers, or Anything Else

A frame in progress, partway through the layup

Somewhere along the line, the bike industry decided that comfort was a problem best solved with complexity. Little rubber inserts. Pivoting seatstays. Proprietary elastomers with fancy names and even fancier failure rates. You’ve seen it-Zertz from Specialized, IsoSpeed from Trek, and a slew of other decouplers and dampers meant to “tune” your ride.

We went a different direction.

At Celilo, we work with wood not because it’s flashy or nostalgic, but because it solves problems in a simpler, smarter way. Wood is a natural vibration damper. It doesn’t just mute road chatter-it absorbs it, diffuses it, and turns it into something your body doesn’t even notice. No inserts needed.

This kinda stuff ^ is where it shows

Nature’s Elastomer

Wood’s structure is cellular-a network of tiny tubes and fibers that flex just enough under load. That flex is what makes wood both strong and compliant. It’s nature’s version of an engineered elastomer, and it works beautifully on a bike. The kind of subtle give that takes the edge off long rides, washboard roads, or beat-up city pavement? It’s built right into the grain.

Simpler, Better

When we design a frame, we don’t start with the question of how to bolt on comfort. We start with the material. Wood flexes where it should and holds firm where it needs to. Once we’ve tuned the geometry and layup to work with that natural response, there’s no need to complicate things. No pivots to creak. No inserts to fail. No seatstays pretending they’re not attached. With carbon fiber and Kevlar, (which is a little bit more flexible than carbon), reinforcing the wood we can highlight the compliance but make sure we still make a snappy, responsive bike. 

You’ve Got to Ride It

If you’ve only ever ridden metal or carbon bikes, it’s hard to explain just how different wood feels. It’s not mushy or dead-it’s lively, grounded, and quiet. There’s a connectedness to the road that doesn’t punish you for every crack and pebble. It’s the kind of comfort you don’t notice until you switch back to something else and wonder why everything suddenly feels harsh.

We can talk numbers and materials all day, but the truth is: you’ve got to ride it to believe it. Once you feel it for yourself, we think you’ll get it too.