Aardwolf

I had no idea this was a thing until I spotted it in the (UK) Guardian this morning:
https://www.theguardian.com/building...extra-eco-mile

Turns out it's been around since 1894: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bamboo_bicycle
And there's even a build your own club: https://bamboobicycleclub.org/

Can't say I'm convinced though, they only seem to use bamboo for bits of the frame



Now I'm thinking how would a 'wooden' drive train work ?
I'm thinking maybe knotted string instead of a chain.

Edit: No idea what section this belongs in.

noimagination

Calfee makes bamboo frames. I think there are a couple other builders who will work in that material.

coupster

Built my own a couple of years ago from a kit from a now defunct non profit. The head tube, bottom bracket shell, top of the seat tube and the dropouts are steel. The rest is bamboo held together with carbon fiber wrapping as lugs. Also built the wheels and leather wrapped the seat and handlebars. The bar ends are champagne corks.
Its a 105 10 speed with a single chainring - didn't want to futz with a FD. Its marginally heavier than my Cannondale Carbon Synapse and 'might' be a tad more comfortable and compliant over rough surfaces. It definitely gets attention and starts lots of conversations. It was challenging fun to build and is in active regular rotation.

icemilkcoffee 

It would go well with these wood rims

Lambkin55

Keep it away from Pandas!!!!

Aardwolf

I'm now wondering if you could grow bamboo through a former to make drop bars.
Apparently the British Navy did something (very slightly) like that with oak trees a few years back to make timbers for ships.

Must be almost time for my medication

msu2001la

I'm holding out for bamboo derailleurs.

Camilo

Here's some pictures of a bunch of them I saw for sale in Vietnam a couple of years ago. I also seem to remember that Calfee (?) had a kit that included the use of a jig for assembly, and the joints were made from cast (as in broken bones) material (?) which could then be used as-is or painted.

Aardwolf

You could limit it by number of conventional (eg metal) parts allowed.
I'm going to suggest only the wheels are metal, possibly using a hub gear on the back, adapted to work with knotted string.

Broctoon

Yes, Calfee sells the kits that you can use to assemble a frame yourself. I don't think they use lugs like the picture above. I believe they just have a cylindrical head tube and bottom bracket shell (plus some kind of provisions for axle dropouts and seat post clamp). The bamboo tubes are mitered so they'll fit together snugly without use of fancy lugs. You join them by lashing with tape that is manufactured from knitted fiberglass strands and pre-impregnated with water-activated resin--exactly the same stuff used for orthopedic casts. It works, although it's not the most elegant method... wait, we're talking about joining pieces of bamboo, forpetesake.

These frames are a bit on the heavy side, strong enough to do their job, and kind of ugly (unless a Fred Flintstone or Gilligan's Island aesthetic appeals to you). Really just an exercise in construction methods viable for people in third world countries, as most of us have access to stronger and lighter frames for the same cost or less.

I've thought it would be fun to make one, just for the novelty of it. I've seen casts put on (worn several of them myself over the years), so I know it can't be too difficult, from the standpoint of the fiberglass handling skills.

veganbikes

I had a co-worker who had issues with his Boo Bicycles road bike and they sent a couple replacements because they would swell and break but he eventually just said screw it, too many problems for practicality. The idea is cool but I think the wood bicycles from companies like Renovo are cooler (I know Renovo is no longer in the biz)

JayKay3000

Twmpa cycles makes a fully wooden frame:

https://www.twmpacycles.co.uk/

Frames start from about £3.000 or a prebuilt from 'as low as' nearly £6.000

But, given enough care a metal bicycle could last a lifetime.

Lazyass

I read about them years ago and have wanted one ever since. It got a very good review.

https://www.cyclingweekly.com/review...amboo-pro-road

Erzulis Boat 

I dabbled in the bamboo/wooden frame building exercise back in the 1990's, and have pretty much kept up with the developments since.

When constructed with wrapped joints, they look the part, but are typically heavy (relatively) and muddy the waters on the ride quality.

Bamboo is very strong as long as the stalk isn't violated. What that means is that as a "tube" it remains resilient and stiff, but if it is split along it's length, it breaks very easily. Cut a slit lengthwise on a section (or even a deep scratch) and you can crush/snap it without any apparent effort. Design accordingly.

With all the components added to the frameset to make a complete bicycle, it's basically eyewash on being "green" or whatever.

The new kits that have the carbon pre-formed lugs are where it's at for bamboo in my opinion. You eliminate the wrapped unions that are heavy and detract from the ride quality. By inserting the bamboo into the carbon lugs, you isolate the properties of the bamboo in a predictable manner. The compromise is that you have to reduce the diameter of the bamboo for insertion, so you lose an element of the outer structure, but because (if fitted correctly) you end up butting it on an external shoulder, all is not lost. You do lose the capability to alter the geometry, so that is a minus in some regards.

Bamboo bikes are very popular now.

geoffr

saw this in San Francisco

TomM

That’s nice.

jaxgtr

I saw one in for service in my LBS a few weeks back, but this one was a mountain bike setup It had the wrapped lugs, and I so wanted to take it for a spin to feel how it rode, but whomever owned it must have been a giant. It was obviously custom sized as it was probably a 67cm-ish frame. We have some pro football players here that ride, and I am wondering if it was one of theirs.