Bamboo Bike

[Tamara]

Dear Permies,

This is a link to an interesting article on a bloke making Bamboo bikes for use in poorer countries. Highly recommended.

http://www.latimes.com/news/local/la-me ... ome-center

Love Tamara

[scottie]

$2,700 for a bamboo bicycle frame!

Geez! Will it help me win the Tour de France!?

Scott.

[Logos_Flame]

I really like this idea. I think bamboo is vastly underutilized, it could replace wood in so many uses. i wonder what a bamboo bike built by hand without power tools looks like? i wonder how sturdy it is and how long it would last? intriguing.

[Logos_Flame]

here is a nice pic of a simple bamboo bike, low tech

http://www.americanbamboo.org/GeneralIn ... cycle.html


here we have a more hi tech version of a bamboo bike, along with someone's feedback on riding a bamboo bike for a year.

http://www.bmeres.com/bambooframe.htm

[Tamara]

Bamboo rediscovered (an Australian book by Victor Cusack) has a great section on building with bamboo - houses, furniture and the tools required etc. He has a good section on the different species of bamboo too - from decorative to timber.
Power tools are really just powered versions of old fashioned hand tools - drills, planes etc. I think a non power tool bike is highly possible.

I love the bikes in the links. I wonder what bamboo was used - we could start growing it as a cash crop!!!!!

Much love,
Tamara

[Logos_Flame]

i really do love this idea. I think growing the bamboo yourself would really be the way to go. First, if you grew bamboo with bikes in mind, you could select the specific species that would best fit as far as tensile strength goes. Also, you could harvest the bamboo at just the right time so that it was the exact diameter you need to fit into the bike hardware. There must be a method of treating the bamboo to increase strength and durability, such as with hemp oil and high heat or something along those lines.

also, you could multi utilize the bamboo, by harvesting and using the shoots.

Bamboo has a million and one uses, we have only scratched the surface.

[Tamara]

Bamboo is fantastic and there is a species for almost every climate.

I have heard that cows think that bamboo leaves are their icecream and that it feeds diatoms in water because it has so much silica! And then other things eat the diatoms etc.

Who is going to build the first bike?

Love Tamara

[Terra]

Got my attention
25yrs ago i did a couple of seasons on Tuna Pole Boats there was a few "Bamboo" poles and you had to be quick to get them they were super to use , the bamboo would absorb all the jarr of a 40 / 50lb fish hitting you at speed the fibre glass poles were not half as good .
I bet the soft flex in the bamboo bike frames would give the same effect and be a delight to ride . Thinking a bamboo bike with sidecar would be just the shot.
Terra

[Tamara]

I WANT a bike with a sidecar. I'll buy your first one!