Bamboo Bike

Reddit user [tkgarrett101] recently did away with expensive exotic materials for his bike frame and opted for a somewhat less processed form of natural building material, bamboo! The bike consists of a regular metal bike frame with a majority of the structural beams cut and replaced with bamboo poles. The bamboo is fit snug first with some expanding gorilla glue then tied in place with  hemp string and fiberglass resin. Instead of running cables along the frame the bike has coaster breaks brakes and a two speed hub, this also preserves the simplistic look of the whole ensemble. [tkgarrett101] says his bike is not so cheap, the overall parts cost was around 800 bucks (USD)! Plus it weighs a whole lot for a fixed gear. Plus the alignment is a bit off on the seat post. Either way this thing would surely turn some heads!

Too rich for your blood? Check out this cardboard bike, or if that green isn’t bright enough for you how about some glowbars for night visibility.

via Reddit

24 thoughts on “Bamboo Bike

    1. What I want to know, other than where the $800 went, is how much would it have cost if a free bike was used. Then the only materials needed would be bamboo, hemp, a respirator, and the fiberglass resin.

    2. Here we go, this was buried deep within the thread:

      From user: [Big_Ark]

      Frame – 100 (used)
      Fork – 80
      Rims – 100
      Spokes – 60
      Front Hub – 60
      Rear Hub – 80
      Crankset – 150
      Seatpost – 40
      Handlebars – 60
      Tires – 60
      Pedals – 30
      Chain – 10
      Tubes – 10
      Tape, glue, resin, rope – 50

    1. Indeed. For those not familiar, a fixed gear bike has no freehub – you don’t “coast” – when the pedals turn, so does the rear wheel, and vice versa. Used on track bikes, and for confusing bike thieves who aren’t expecting that.

      A single-speed is a bike that has one gear ratio, meaning no front or rear derailleur to shift. Simpler, less stuff to break, but limits your top speed or your ability to downshift for steep hills.

      A fixed-gear bike is a single-speed, but the reverse is not always true. You can’t have a coaster brake on a fixed-gear.

      Sometimes the rear wheel will have another sprocket on the other side and you can pop off the wheel, turn it around, and put it back on to change gears. Or sometimes it’s fixed on one side and a freewheel on the other. That’s a flip-flop rear hub.

    1. And to think, when I was a kid, all we ever had was coaster brakes. Nobody ever told me, “make sure your crank is always horizontal when you’re coasting, so you can brake quickly”. Got into a wreck because I was coasting with the crank vertical, and no way to apply torque. Worst invention EVER.

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