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Want to build a bike but not too hot at welding? Try a home-made bamboo bike with this kit insteadBamboo bike kit.png

Want to build a bike but not too hot at welding? Try a home-made bamboo bike with this kit instead

Build your own, then ride it in under three days with full bike kit
by Sarah Barth
Sat, Nov 01, 2014 18:40
14

If you’ve ever wanted to handbuild a bike but lacked the welding kit and framebuilding skills, look no further than this build your own bamboo bike kit.

Bamboobee, crowd funded on Kickstarter, has smashed though its $15,000 funding goal, with 118 backers pledging $169 in start-up funds in return for eventually receiving a DIY bike kit.

The company has doubled its funding to almost $33,000 and customers who’ve already bought once can earn a discount of anything up to 15 per cent by referring friends to the site.

The kit comes with a self assembled frame jig, as well as the tubes cut to your preferred frame size. The makers estimate that the bike should take around three days to fully assemble and set, as shown in this video:
 

 

Three sizes are available: Small for those of around 5ft 7in or below, medium for those around 5 ft 7in to 5ft 11in and large for anyone above 5 ft 11in.

Due to shipping legislation the only ingredient not included in the kit is the epoxy solution needed to bond the tubes with the hemp fibres used at the joins.

Shipping is estimated to begin in February 2015.

For more information click here.

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14 comments

Avatar
truffy | 10 years ago
0 likes

Just because it's beautiful:

rix wrote:

P.S. Why hemp? Pre-cut sheets of carbon fiber or fiberglass would make more sense...

This might interest you...

Quote:

Lugs are made of hemp fiber, blonde in color. As is the case with all Calfee frames, we use a plant based high performance eco resin to create the required matrix. Importantly, we discovered that bamboo and carbon fiber have different rates or thermal dynamic expansion. Our early bamboo frames used carbon fiber, instead of natural fiber, to join the tubes and many of the joints failed over time.

Avatar
zanf | 10 years ago
0 likes

Bamboo Bicycle Club run workshops the other side of town to build your own frame.

Think I'd rather do that than a flatpack one.

Avatar
ike2112 | 10 years ago
0 likes

I like the idea of a bike made of grass.

I don't like the idea of a bike held together with glue.

I'd also have no idea what sort of grease to put on the 'chain'...

Avatar
Flying Scot replied to ike2112 | 10 years ago
0 likes
ike2112 wrote:

I like the idea of a bike made of grass.

I don't like the idea of a bike held together with glue.

I'd also have no idea what sort of grease to put on the 'chain'...

No carbon for you then? A bike made out of glue!

I fancy the bamboo more than carbon TBH.

Avatar
Al__S replied to Flying Scot | 10 years ago
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Flying Scot wrote:

No carbon for you then? A bike made out of glue!

Rather simplistic way of looking at it. There's quite a difference between the 2-pack consumer grade epoxy that you'd use for this and the prepreg or infusion resins used to make frames.

Mind you, there's huge variation in prepreg resins. You can be sure that the stuff the high-volume, low cost frame manufacturers in the far east are using is much simpler in formulation that the stuff the likes of Trek use.

Source: I work in resin formulation.

Avatar
rix | 10 years ago
0 likes

I would build it, because it looks like a fun thing to do! 1

I would not ride it, because it looks like very dangerous thing to do...

P.S. Why hemp? Pre-cut sheets of carbon fiber or fiberglass would make more sense...

Avatar
armb | 10 years ago
0 likes

I'm a bit dubious about their "World's First" claim:
http://bamboobicycleclub.org/store/customkit/

Avatar
Pub bike | 10 years ago
0 likes

The link has some more pics and the FAQ contains the frame spec. It is only available with 127mm rear dropout spacing, so that suggests single speed or NOS rear hub if you want to use the derailleur attachment on the dropout. No mention of a fork or how long the fork should be, recommended trail etc.

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frazered | 10 years ago
0 likes

Can anyone fathom was the final frame is supposed to look like?

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nortonpdj | 10 years ago
0 likes

Why?

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aslongasicycle replied to nortonpdj | 10 years ago
0 likes
nortonpdj wrote:

Why?

Fun!

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Gkam84 | 10 years ago
0 likes

Do you have to sign a wavier, when you attempt to build this frame and then try to ride it, if it falls to bits and you smash your face open....on your head be it...

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Konstantine | 10 years ago
0 likes

Being allergic to DIY 40 Why 7 would I want to do this 102 or this 20 to myself?

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Accessibility f... | 10 years ago
0 likes

That looks like a fantastic idea, the only thing that puts me off is that if I wanted to DIY a frame, it would be to the dimensions set on my frame fit (I had one recently for a custom steel frame courtesy of Mercian Cycles).

Perhaps they could "rejig" the jig so the fixed points were moveable, and the tubing modifiable with a hacksaw?

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