Most people buy bamboo bikes out of sympathy, as the business is helping poor people. Most people don't really want to ride a bamboo bike for transport or exercise.
My philosophy is: Don't buy something you don't really want, out of sympathy.
If you pursue that concept. These people would be better off setting up a business making steel bikes, that people genuinely want to ride.
As we drift from making frames to social discussions- The bolded is making quite some leap of reasoning. Believe me when I say there are a lot of too rich people who buy all kinds of bikes, including bamboo ones. There are many jerks and self centered people who buy bikes, all kinds. And there are many people who like to pigeon hole others so they can feel good with their place in the world.
I've said for years that if it's purple poka dots that convince people to ride a bike I'll hand them the paint and brush. Bicycling is one of the activities that includes such a wide range of people. From the poor who can't afford other ways to get around to those who make more an hour then I get paid in a week. From those who only need to get to work and those who seek their sense of self through their riding.
In the "Grimy Handshake" Mike Feritino (wrong spelling) wrote of the winter in a bike shop and the type of customer who still has to get their bike serviced then. How these riders, who use their bikes for transportation, are often the more compelling and the more worthy customers and how the seasonal only riders (the vast majority of who we see in the spring/summer) were often more demanding and less appreciative. While he was still categorizing riders at least it was based on their character and not on their income. Andy