Chris and Jessica Kudla, owners of Normal Bicycles, which makes high-tech bicycles out of molded plywood. The couple recently moved their business from Normal Avenue in Buffalo, New York, to Cove Road on Vashon.
The owner of this bike supplied reclaimed mahogany from his hundred-year-old dining room table for this build, making it both special and unique.
By VeloNews, April 2020
Peloton Magazine
Inspired by the idea that wood could make for a better and more unique ride by “reducing shock and vibration for the rider,” Chris Kudla created Normal Bicycles in the basement of a 140-year-old house in Buffalo, New York.
Chris and Jessica Kudla are the husband and wife team behind the hardwood-framed Normal Bicycles (named for the street in Buffalo, New York, where their company is located). Read Article
By Mountain Bike Action, July, 2019
Philly Bike Expo 2019
Buffalo, New York sits at the northeastern corner of Lake Erie, where the Niagara River begins its journey downstream to the famous falls, and is best-known for chicken wings, football and massive winter snowfalls. Read Article
By Bina Bilenky, September 2019
A wooden bicycle has been reviewed a few times with us, but it still remains special. We came across another one, this time from Normal. Read Article
By Hendrik – Chief Editor, November 17, 2019
WGRZ – Most Buffalo
A house was built on Normal Avenue in Buffalo in 1879. More on that later.
Buffalo and the bicycle share a rich history. It was 1891 when the George N. Pierce Company introduced its first bicycle catalog.
By the late 1890s, a hungry public was eager for a mass-produced bicycle that was safe, fashionable and affordable. Read Article
Although wooden-frame bikes may not be a common sight out on the street, they’re plentiful at events such as the North American Handmade Bicycle Show. So, what makes one stand out there? Well, it helps if it’s made in a non-traditional manner – which is the case with Normal Bicycles. Read Article
By Ben Coxworth, Mar 20, 2019
Welcome to 1×10, where we ask 1 inspiring human (ok, 2 this time) 10 questions about how they are using cycling as a force for good. Read on to learn more about co-founders Jessica Vreeswijk Kudlaand Christopher Kudla of Normal Bicycles (instagram), makers of beautiful and fast wooden bicycles, using sustainably-sourced wood. Jessica is a bike mechanic and runs the business and Chris is a frame builder and chief engineer. Read Article
By John Kim, Mar 12, 2019
Catching up with a dynamic duo at Normal Bicycles
Ever since we first wrote about Normal Bicycles – a designer and builder of wooden bike frames on the East Side of Buffalo – I’ve been itching to take one for a ride. Yesterday that dream came true. Owners Chris and Jess Kudla invited me to come test out their Urban Scout Belt model, which turned out to be one of the smoothest bike rides of my life. Read Article
By Newell Nussbaumer, Jan 26, 2019
'Normal Bicycles' Are Anything But
At suite 118 at the Foundry in Buffalo, you can find a local couple creating Normal Bicycles. But, these bikes are really anything but. Read Article
By Breanna Fuss, Nov 20, 2018
"Scrappy entrepreneurs" are making wood bicycles Normal in Buffalo
Imagine you’re riding your bike around the Queen City. You’re wearing a helmet, of course, and taking in all the sights, sounds, and smells of life buzzing around you. The air is crisp, and you’re wearing a windbreaker over your fleece jacket. You smile because you are doing something you love—cycling—in a place you love—Buffalo, of course. Read Article
By Cynthia Machamer, Nov 2, 2018
Made in Buffalo: Normal Bicycles' wood-frame bikes get rolling
Chris Kudla’s hobbies are woodworking and cycling. The mechanical engineer found a way to combine his two interests. He launched Normal Bicycles, making bikes with wooden frames, last year with his wife, Jessica. Normal Bicycles started in the basement of the Kudlas’ home, on Normal Avenue in Buffalo. They moved the business into the Foundry, a business incubator on Northampton Street, in September 2017. Read Article
By Matt Glynn, Nov 2, 2018
Built in Buffalo - Normal Bicycles
Buffalo was once a hotbed for bicycle manufacturing. The city was chock full of bicycle builders, and bike part manufacturers. That was when cycling was prominent throughout the city, and the nation. Today, boutique bike manufacturers are making a comeback. Buffalo is blessed to have a couple of bike builders, one of which is Normal Bicycles. Read Article
By Newell Nussbaumer, Aug 7, 2018
Normal Bicycles is anything but the Norm
In their small space in The Foundry, a maker’s incubator, on the East Side of Buffalo, I pick up the single speed that Jess rode on the Annual Can-Am ride. It is slightly heavier than my track bike. But it has brakes. How is it possible that a wooden bike isn’t as heavy as a steel mountain bike, like Huffy heavy? Read Article
By Rebecca Reilly, Aug 29, 2018
