Bamboo bike

May 12, 2005 1:09 PM

Bicycle enthusiast Brano Meres constructed this bike frame from bamboo. I'm not sure how well it would hold up, but it looks pretty sweet. [via coolhunting]
posted by btwillig (15 comments total)

You ever take it off any sweet jumps?
posted by bardic at 1:22 PM on May 12, 2005

If you don't line bamboo, there is always wood. And here is a nice article on bamboo bikes.
posted by fixedgear at 1:31 PM on May 12, 2005

err, like bamboo...
posted by fixedgear at 1:32 PM on May 12, 2005

I saw this episode of McGyver. Or was it the one where he used a titanium bike to set a fire? Man, they were all great.

This bike does look totally cool, thanks for the post!
posted by fenriq at 1:38 PM on May 12, 2005

Some Asian countries still build scaffolding for building construction out of bamboo, so I'm guessing it's pretty strong stuff.
posted by moosedogtoo at 1:45 PM on May 12, 2005

seat looks uncomfortable.
posted by delmoi at 1:47 PM on May 12, 2005

Yeah... I had a bamboo rocking chair which I had in the backyard and then forgot about (held together with bamboo strips woven in and out of the frame) I left it outside in the elements for two years.... Most of the stripping had come undone... last summer I rediscovered it... It still supported me.. and I'm 210 lbs. The only reason I threw it out is that it looked like doo doo...
posted by Debaser626 at 1:49 PM on May 12, 2005

Another bamboo bike featuring an unusual frame design.
posted by darksquirrel at 1:51 PM on May 12, 2005

It does look sweet, but I'll wait for the bamboo Segway.
posted by brain_drain at 2:10 PM on May 12, 2005

How light would that frame be?!
posted by dreamsign at 2:33 PM on May 12, 2005

I'd be a little hesitant to take that thing off-road, but I have to say that it's quite an impressive project.
posted by clevershark at 2:48 PM on May 12, 2005

The overall weight is 1860 g (4.1 lbs).

Very pretty bike. As he and Zinn point out, bamboo was quite an early bike frame material. As with carbon, I imagine you can trust it completely so long as it was built with proper attention to detail.
posted by rotifer at 3:41 PM on May 12, 2005

Looks like bambooclette.at is out of business. I want an all wheel drive bamboo recumbent!
posted by BrotherCaine at 4:21 PM on May 12, 2005

That's a groovy ride, but you won't catch me putting my kid's bike seat on the back of it. And honestly, I don't think I could bring myself to really pound on it.

It's my understanding that Gary Fisher developed the Evolution headset (1 1/4" diameter) after a guy riding one of his bikes with a standard 1" head tube basically sheared off the front end of his bike where the top/down tubes meet the head tube during some descent. I don't recall if Fisher was a witness, or whether the guy sued, or what, but he got pretty mangled in the crash, and it prompted Fisher to increase head tube diameter size.

Long story short, I wouldn't go off-road on that bike for the same reason I'll never bungie jump -- you just never know....
posted by bicyclingfool at 10:00 PM on May 12, 2005

If you put a steam engine on it would you have a bamboo steamer?
posted by HTuttle at 10:08 PM on May 12, 2005