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Some bikes are chosen for their weight, others for their performance or the reputation emblazoned on the down tube. And then there’s Émeline Parizel’s bike. A gravel bike with a wooden frame, born in La Rochelle at Ateliers Gonnel, before becoming the canvas for Mathilde AT. A local, socially conscious, unique, and colorful bike, entrusted to a cyclist who has long preferred exploration to performance alone. And just as a work of art isn’t necessarily destined to remain hanging on a wall, Émeline has already taken it on a 175-kilometer ride during the 24h Longchamp.
By Jeff Tatard – © Photos: Thomas Michard (@Thomaspourquoi)
Émeline Parizel has already cycled from Paris to Athens: 4,000 kilometers in 40 days. That journey even inspired *Émeline and Olympe*, a children’s picture book.
A web project manager, bike commuter, bicycle traveler, and organizer of the Cyclo pour le Climat Paris, she has a pretty clear vision of what cycling is all about: exploring what lies ahead rather than just trying to go faster. So naturally, when she discovered Ateliers Gonnel and their wooden frames, something clicked. “It immediately became my dream to ride one someday!”
A few years later, the dream took on a rather unlikely form: a Gonnel Embrun, built from wood and transformed into a one-of-a-kind piece by La Rochelle-based artist Mathilde AT of Atelier Salé. A bike that Émeline doesn’t actually own, by the way. Ateliers Gonnel entrusted it to her. And even before she’d discovered what it’s really like to ride it on the trails, she’d already found the perfect way to describe it: “A conscious choice and a work of art on wheels!” Welcome to 3bikes’ Bike Check #009.
What? What’s your bike like?
“It’s a wooden bike!” It’s hard to think of a better way to start. More specifically, it’s an Embrun from Ateliers Gonnel, size M. Its wooden frame is equipped with a Shimano GRX 820 12-speed groupset, featuring a 40-tooth single chainring paired with a 10-51 cassette. The wheels are 35-mm Shunt carbon rims, and the fork is carbon. In its current setup, Émeline rides with 30-mm road tires and TPU inner tubes, since the bike was given to her in August with a setup intended for the 24h Longchamp race. The pedals are SPD. It weighs about 10 kg.
An Embrun frame kit is priced at 4,000 euros, not including assembly or custom color and paint options. But reducing this bike to its technical specifications would be to miss the point entirely. Because this Embrun exists as a one-of-a-kind piece in this form. It is the result of a collaboration with Mathilde AT of Atelier Salé, who has transformed the wood into a true canvas for art: green, blue, yellow, pink, orange, abstract shapes, and intentionally exposed wood blend together across the entire frame.
Émeline perfectly sums up her favorite piece: “What makes this bike unique is that I’m literally riding a work of art!” And for once, the expression isn’t metaphorical at all.
Why? Why this bike?
Because even before she rode it, Émeline had been dreaming of it. “As soon as I discovered Ateliers Gonnel and their wooden bikes, it immediately became my dream to ride one someday!”
She talks about the nobility, beauty, and natural character of the material, as well as the local production and the commitment of the project’s creators. But here’s the thing: Émeline already owns a carbon gravel bike. And her approach to cycling aligns quite well with her convictions: there’s no way she’d buy a second bike simply because she likes it, when the first one still works perfectly. “It’s unthinkable for me to buy a second bike until I’ve worn out my current one beyond repair.”
So meeting the co-founders of Ateliers Gonnel at Vélo in Paris opened another door: that of a collaboration. The bike is on loan from the brand. Émeline didn’t put together the spec sheet herself and trusted Gonnel to choose the components.
However, she knows exactly what she’s looking for in a bike: two almost contradictory qualities—the ability to ride very far while remaining nimble enough to have fun when the ride becomes shorter and more spirited. Long-distance riding without feeling like a cruise ship. Responsiveness without sacrificing comfort. In short, exactly the kind of balance she now hopes to discover with the Embrun.
How? How did you put it together?
For now, Émeline and her Gonnel are still in the learning phase. And it got off to a pretty radical start. She received the bike in August. She rode it very little before lining up at the start of the 24h Longchamp.
As a result, some adjustments were simply made… during the race, between stints. “This bike and I are still getting to know each other.”
In particular, she discovered that the frame’s unique design doesn’t allow for a long seatpost. So she had to trim it very precisely to get the right height.
For Longchamp, Émeline is also bringing some of her personal gear: her handlebar extensions, her Garmin/Stoots mount, her pedals, and the saddle from her own bike.
And then there’s this detail that’s absolutely useless for performance—and therefore, of course, indispensable: 3D-printed blue valve caps shaped like little animals. “It’s not aerodynamic, but it’s fun.” Maybe that’s also why this bike suits her so well.
Eventually, Émeline would like to return directly to La Rochelle, to Gonnel, to fine-tune the settings. She’s even considering a posture analysis to understand exactly what needs to be adjusted.
Her current hunch? Move the saddle back slightly and probably raise the stem. But she prefers to let the measurements speak for themselves before jumping to conclusions.
And since then, another modification has become clear to her: the fork. And this time, it’s not just an idea—the change is already planned. “So I can finally ride this gravel bike off-road and explore its full potential and capabilities on terrain worthy of the name!”
Because as paradoxical as it may seem, this Embrun—designed to leave the pavement behind—has so far spent most of its first kilometers… on the road. What comes next should therefore offer a radically different setting.
After 275 kilometers spent getting to know each other, Émeline will finally be able to put her Gonnel to its true purpose and discover what it’s capable of when the asphalt ends. In the end, the real Bike Check for this Embrun may be just getting started.
So what? How does it hold up in the field?
This is probably the Bike Check where you have to be most willing to admit: we don’t know for sure yet. And that’s exactly what makes it interesting.
Émeline has only ridden about 275 kilometers on the Embrun. Of those, 175 were covered during the 24h Longchamp, in a relay race. And most importantly: not a single real kilometer of gravel so far. So it’s impossible to attribute qualities to it on terrain she hasn’t yet explored.
On the road, however, she’s already getting a feel for it. “It’s high-performance, supple, and responsive all at once.”
The wood frame is obviously intriguing in terms of how it handles. Émeline has already noticed its ability to absorb bumps, right down to curbs and Paris’s sometimes decidedly imperfect road surfaces.
And there’s another surprise. Weighing in at about 10 kg, the Embrun isn’t even heavier than her carbon gravel bike. Now all that’s left is to put its gravel tires back on and head off the pavement. Because Émeline is convinced: that’s probably where this bike will really start to show what it’s capable of. “I’m honestly looking forward to discovering its full potential on gravel!” So we’ll have to wait for the ratings. And that’s just fine. A Bike Check can also be the beginning of a story.
Will someone steal it from you tomorrow? Will you buy an exact replacement?
No. Well… not yet. And the answer is perfectly consistent with everything Émeline just said. “Not for now, because I already have my carbon gravel bike. But yes, definitely, when the time comes to part ways with my current bike.”
There’s no way she’d replace a bike that works just because another one gets her heart racing more. But the day her carbon gravel bike truly reaches the end of its life, the Gonnel option will be given very serious consideration. This time, with her own money.
And probably with a trip to La Rochelle to build something perfectly tailored to her needs. “It’ll be a purchase from the heart.” In the end, that might be the most interesting response one could get when faced with a bike like this. Émeline doesn’t need to own it to want to champion it.
Émeline’s Bike Check
 A note from Émeline: “A conscious choice and a work of art on two wheels!” It’s hard to sum up this Embrun any better. Wood as the material, local manufacturing as the approach, and Mathilde AT to transform the frame into a one-of-a-kind piece. But what we probably like most is that Émeline definitely doesn’t want to turn it into a precious object. No sooner had she received it than it set off on a 175-kilometer ride at the 24h Longchamp. Tomorrow, it’ll hit the trails. And maybe go even further still. Because, after all, a work of art hanging on the wall wouldn’t really be Émeline’s style. |
Same concept. Another bike.
A bike. Four photos. Four questions. Four answers. Bike Check, the 3bikes series that’s less interested in what a brand says about a bike than in the reasons why its owner chose to ride it.
=> Learn all about Ateliers Gonnel
=> To discover the work of Mathilde AT – Atelier Salé and the artistic world behind this collaboration.
=> And here, if you want to check out all our other Bike Checks: All Our Bike Checks
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