perhaps all of the above?
2010-09-20 14:44:57
20
Bamboo Bike Rant
Brooklyn's Bamboo Bike Studio will be here next month instructing a chosen few on how to build a bamboo bike. I was curious as to the bike community's take on this. work of art? hipster self indulgence? environmental scam? too cool for words? I gotta admit that a 18 lb handmade semi-organic bike has an appeal. but the $1000 price tag is s stumbling block. JF
2010-09-20 14:31:43
$1000 for a bike building class. Not a bad deal. Take a look at what it cost to take a steel frame building class. Then look at what it costs for a Ti frame class.
All bicycle frames are completely recyclable except for carbon fiber (and they are working on that). So the environmental aspect is non existent.
It is art, all bike building is art.
I would love to own a bamboo bike.
2010-09-20 14:54:25
Bamboo bike sounds like a very uncomfortable idea - wouldn't you feel every single bump & vibration down to the core?
2010-09-20 14:56:44
+1 @Jason. Framebuilding instruction of any kind is Not Cheap.
Also, check out the various offerings of Calfee Design for some snazzy bamboo bikes. Per their marketing copy, bamboo soaks up road buzz and vibration better than carbon.
2010-09-20 16:09:08
It's the hipsters! It's the hipsters!
Read all about the Bamboo Bike Studio: http://www.urbanvelo.org/issue18/p58-59.html
$1000 for a custom frame is a deal, nevermind that it comes with an education.
2010-09-20 16:42:20
Hmm.. anyone know how well they perform under load and stuff? like bottom bracket flex, noodling.
2010-09-20 16:46:00
@jason All bicycle frames are completely recyclable except for carbon fiber
I'm thinking that bamboo is compostable, but I doubt it is recyclable.
2010-09-20 16:47:33
Didn’t they have bamboo bikes on Gilligan’s Island? I bet the professor did not charge $1000 bucks to build it…
2010-09-20 17:16:10
@Mick: lol, you a probaly right. would it compost even after applying some type of polyurethane?
2010-09-20 17:36:59
I just read the article the brad posted. Those frames are NOT eco friendly. They used a large amount of carbon fiber in the joints. That stuff is not recyclable and does not decompose. It is forever. It is also very dangerous to work with. That is why most carbon components are made overseas, OSHA does not exist over there.
Steel is real, completely recyclable. Most of the steel we are using today is 2nd or 3rd generation. Meaning it has been recycled 1 or 2 times already.
2010-09-20 17:49:30
@Mick - nice pick-up. Bamboo is not recyclable - because it is a grass it is renewable. (Kinda splittin hairs, I guess.)
2010-09-20 18:03:19
2010-09-20 18:49:06
We need to figure out a way to make a bamboo frame that can be planted in the ground when it has lived its life, and new bamboo shoots will grow from it....
2010-09-20 20:52:30
Maybe you could tap it for resin, like syrup from a maple tree.
2010-09-20 21:22:55
We definitely already talked this one to death.
http://bike-pgh.org/bbpress/topic/eco-friendly-bamboo-bicycles
2010-09-20 22:02:33
It may not be recyclable, but making stuff is fun, especially stuff you can use. Plus the proceeds go towards helping folks in Ghana make bikes so that they have transportation so that they can get jobs. I think its a pretty good deal when compared to other bike-making workshops. There is still space in the class, too, if anyone is interested.
2010-09-29 20:04:59
I want a bamboo plant that when properly coaxed and tended, will grow out of the ground in the shape and dimensions of my perfect frame size...like a well groomed bansai, but with horizontal dropouts.
2010-10-01 12:07:33
I have no idea how Calfee's vision turned out, but I know he was at least thinking about it.
http://www.wired.com/gadgetlab/2008/09/growing-bamboo/
2010-10-01 12:54:30
I think a more environmentally friendly solution would be to find a used steel frame or complete bike at freeride or craigslist and fix it up.
You don't even have to recycle it, just re-use something that already exists.
2010-10-01 13:43:43