Bamboo Bike
The advantages of using bamboo as a construction material have long been recognised in Eastern Countries such as China and Hong Kong. The quick-growing grass, capable of growing 60 centimetres a day in the right conditions, is a strong, light and flexible raw material. Increasingly, Western companies, such as the Bamboo Bike Studio, are taking advantage of this readily available resource and adapting it to their manufacturing process.
The custom-built bamboo bicycle is rigid enough to stand up to daily wear and tear, but also flexible enough to absorb the punishment of bumpy tarmac or off-road tracks. Working steel and aluminium into a bike frame is a job for a skilled metal worker, whilst manufacturing and shaping carbon fibre is an even more technical process. Bamboo requires only woodworking skills to cut and assemble, making it possible to build your own custom bike given the correct instructions and guidance.
From a resource that is renewable and easy to produce, to a great product that you can learn to build yourself in a weekend workshop, the bamboo bicycle is a prime example of green entrepreneurship. The Bamboo Bike Studio also aims to establish working bamboo bicycle factories in Developing Countries, offering not only vital jobs but a means of improved transport to local people.
Written in association with WasteCare waste management.
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