Are Bamboo Bikes Actually Any Good?
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- čas přidán 28. 07. 2024
- When you think of materials for bike frames, bamboo is not one that would immediately come to mind, but as a popular construction material throughout history and one of the most sustainable plants on planet earth, maybe we should be thinking differently? Si meets with Emily Chappell, the creator of this amazing bamboo bike, to hear why your next bike should be made from bamboo!
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Leave us a comment below! - Sport
The bobbly bit as Simon referred to is the 'leaf nodal ring' in plant talk, if anyone is remotely interested 😜
I wasn't until you told me but now I'm still not.
Thanks.
Thank you! Properly naming things so we can notice them and talk about them is important.
Leaf nodal ring!
Im naming my next experimental electronic Euro pop band that.
and hers me thinking its in reference to his ankles
Thank you!
No I’m not, but thanks. I enjoy useless knowledge 😂
I built a bamboo bike back in 2015. It's still going strong and up until a recent job change I did my 30mile commute on it every day. Been hit by cars, potholes and generally misstreated as a commuter bike often is when winter hits but it's brilliant!
Knock on wood that it keeps riding!
@@JasonDBike floats in the rain too!
Good to hear Alan!
@@BamboobicycleclubOrg it was one of your home build kits. Love it!
What's it like in the extreme cold?
I commute year round and that includes snow and ice with grit all over the roads as it thaws. Interested to know if it would be damaged by the cold or salty grit.
I built my bamboo single speed with the Bamboo Bicycle Club a few years ago. Mostly used for commuting, but it has now done about 12,000 KM and is still going strong
Looks like the ideal material for kids' bikes. LIght, strong, and since rider weight will be low, it is stiff enough. I think it would be a great product if they could make kits that just required assembling the wheels and saddle and sold in a box. The problem with many toddler bikes is that they are made of gas pipe steel an are too heavy.
It’s not a cost effective material for kids bikes because of its cottage industry nature. Too much labor input etc. Aluminum is a better choice.
The incomparable E. Chappell who got me into cycling 6 years ago via her fantastic blog and adventures. Her books and speeches are also peerless. Chapeu.
Bamboo bikes are great, until you meet a pack of hungry pandas.
Why is gcns comment section spamt with this kind of people?
Just pandas.
Fortunately they're well on their way going extinct, so that won't be a problem for long.
Bloody panda's, send em back I say!!
@@mangethegamer You're wrong. They aren't even classed as endangered anymore. People are breeding these evolutionary dead ends back into survival.
Give it a few years they could represent a valid threat to our bikes.
One of the above is pure sarcasm, the other has actual truth content.
Realizing that Simon just looks like he’s riding a small bike he stole from Deceptive Dan.
I tried one of these, once : I"m still bamboozled by it !
🤣 We love bamboo puns - they've really grown on us!
Bamboo? Shoot.
Good to hear
Is there a book about bamboo bikes? I enjoy a good reed.
Are the axles bamboo skewers??
Had a bamboo road bike that I built as a review for a magazine feature back in 2016. It's great, been touring across the country and ridden in horrid weather and the editor who was a gorilla rode it in a sportive event. The only thing that's gone wrong is the steel bottom bracket insert came unbonded, easily fixed by cutting some slots in it for the epoxy to grab onto and shoving back in. It had pretty budget stuff on it as I got it ready quickly but it was lovely to ride, exactly as they say here. I will say though, you ain't going to put it on the compost at end-of-life, as the West System marine epoxy is horrid stuff. Maybe greener glues will be available in future?
I made my own bamboo single speed and I love it. Definitely agree that it is not the frame of choice for introverts, I get a lot of questions about it and stares but I think that they look beautiful and they do ride really well. You do also get a lot of sentimental value to it too, while I also really love my main aluminium gravel bike, it doesn't quite feel as special to me as my own homemade frame.
If you're thinking of making one for yourself, they look even more beautiful in single speed, no cables and perfect chain line.
Only Si would worry about his drag coefficient whilst cycling at 5 mph with his arm extended to take a selfie video. LOL
Lol no shit
Love this SOOOO much! I first heard about bamboo bikes around a decade ago, as more of a one-off or novelty, but I always thought they were a fantastic idea, especially for getting a bike with the compliance and road-dampening characteristics without totally braking the bank. But the part that really gets me (being someone who is 6'3" with a 32" inseam) is the customizability of being able to build it to fit YOU!!! What a Fan-Freakin-Tastic concept! I truly think I might look into doing this for my next gravel frame!
Thanks!
Thanks Emily and Simon, this was really informative. Pretty much and question I wanted to ask was covered. Cheers.
This bike is beautiful !. Congratulations to Emily. Great job.
I'm making bamboo bikes since 2007, to resolve the flex "problems" I fixed using laminated wood+carbon fiber on chain stays and vacuum bag for the junctions. Hand-layup joints with vinyl tape compression it is not enough for get a good resin and carbon fiber ratio on composite laminate, works but not the best results.
Nice to see Ashton Court, miss the Festivals from back in the day!
No my mate got robbed by a Panda for his bamboo bike 😕
🤣
@@gcn I think they're to blame for the lack of stock getting through from China too. Nothing against pandas but they're born bandits with black eye masks on.
i've spoken to the police about this - apparently it's panda-emic
Unlikely as Pandas eat predominantly varieties of the fargesia species of bamboo,which isn’t at all suitable for construction as it only produces relatively thin and whippy culms (canes to the non botanical nerds).
How about Italian-made kids bikes - you could brand them as “Bambooni” 😃
1. Any bike is a good bike ... and 2. IKEA should start selling them.
I'm not sure if they're any good but I've seen a couple of bamboo bikes here in Thailand where I live. Bamboo is everywhere and they even make scaffolding and ladders out of it!
Had a fantastic experience riding a bamboo hire bike around Manila on a guided tour by "Bambike" who make and repair the bikes for hire or sale plus organize the guided tours of the old town... Brilliant.
Where in Manila though? I would love to experience riding a bamboo bike. I've always been intrigued about it ever since I saw a video on TikTok about a guy in Visayas, I think, making a bamboo bike of his own, and riding it around Visayas.
Bambike has a website. :)
In Intramuros, Manila.
The knobbly bits on the bamboo are called nodes
Well commented!
Proud to be subscriber from North caloocan 😃❤ Philippines 🇵🇭 iloveyou gcn ❤
In the 70's I visited a guy making bamboo fishing rods. He machined strips of bamboo that were then glued together to give the tapered section he was looking for. I wonder how well this technique could be applied to a bike frame - the tube sections could then be any shape, though the joins might be a problem to make well.
I have built 2 Bamboo bicycle frames. Built the second only to make the joints look better than the first. Practice makes it better. Sold them both.The first because I didn't need two. The second was sold with other bikes because I moved and had to reduce my bicycle count. Have heard from the owners and they are still being ridden. Bamboo is amazing! I repainted and stained my commuter bike to look like bamboo. Fooled my co-workers until they tapped it and found it was aluminum.
Given the amount of epoxy and paint on there I centainly wouldnt think it would be good on the compost pile.
Yep, its a compound. But you need way less energy to convert for it. Recycling wise with all the laquers you need to really make it rott resistant i think its close to a broken carbon frame
Per the video the “welds” are apparently mostly hemp, so there’s that. However AFAICT only the frameset is bamboo, and fork, wheels, drivetrain, bars and seat post are all either alloy or carbon, so there’s also that.
Well done for finding something different but relevant and not a 'super bike' great video
Loved the GCN film, interesting material especially for off-road. Although the lab was very naughty, all frames had a weak spot at the bottle cage mounts...... Bamboo bike didn't have bottle cage mount, naughty naughty very naughty
Agreed!
Great bike, can we see more with Emily please? She would be a great person to know more about.
I wonder how it would hold up in a Canadian winter... Was -13 today and my steel frame Kona doesn't do well beyond -25.
Bamboo bikes are really cool, I had a single speed one for a while. I will say they are not built for the bridge gaps in Chicago, broke the frame in a couple months of living there.
it wasn't built well
@@jasononions189 it wasn't built great, but Chicago bridge gaps will break anything that's not a perfectly built aluminum frame or a chromo. They're pure evil.
I would love a bamboo road bike. What fun!
Would love to watch you build your "adult" bmx. That could be a build series.
Would you consider getting a bamboo bike?
No, because I already build 3. Can absolutely confirm Emilys experiences on comfort though. And by using basalt or carbon fiber for the joints you can make it a bit more aero and lighter as well.
i definitely want one. hopefully the paper bikes described in William Gibson's novels will become a reality soon.
It might grow on me
Planning on doing a fat bike through this company... Hopefully they have fat bamboo in stock 😁👍🏾🎍🎍🐼
Yes, built one this year. Thanks to James at Bamboo Bicycle Club for working with me on my custom compact bamboo long-john cargo e-bike. Safe to say that with the exception of a "tall bike" and a tandem recumbent tadpole, this bike is the best for having people ask you about your bike.
Thanks Si and Emily.....very cool. Peace
I wonder if you have to prune it occasionally to prevent ‘chute à vélo’?
Fascinating! Do you have to oil it so it doesn't dry out and crack? or is it coated in something that stops it drying? ...and what's it like off road gravel/MTB? It sounds really strong so I guess it would be good off-road?? Love the sustainability side of it too! No rubbish 😃👊🚴♀️
Thanks. The bamboo is sealed to maintain the moisture levels. We do a lot of bikes for off road and gravel.
@@BamboobicycleclubOrg ah that explains it, cool thanks 😃👊
I would love to try out a wood gravel bike 🚴
If it would have been like available for my bike
I probably would have chosen bamboo. 😃👍
Having been to, say, Hong Kong and seen multi-story bamboo scaffoldings on the side of skyscrapers, this is hardly surprising. I’m actually a bit surprised no one has tried to scale this up to a commercial enterprise.
I think I would buy and use a bamboo bicycle!
That's cool. Looks very natural
Can it change geometry
.. after few rainy days?
still stiffer than the sl-7, and its not called flex its called compliance
While stationed on Okinawa back in 1976, I used to be amazed how the construction crews used bamboo as the scaffold material even in a Typhoo it was still standing. If they could get the weight down I would think maybe I should maybe think about getting one, also I like they used "hemp" to wrap the joints, wink wink,LOL!
I bet the scaffolders thought it was all just a storm in a tea cup
@@johna7075 they worked bared foot, made rope from bamboo that they used to tie everything together. I used to climb them till I got chased off by 3 guys.
@@johna7075 Nice one John... that same thing occurred to me. You only get an Oooh with a Typhoon I guess.
Here in Philippines they call it BAMBIKE short of Bamboo bike
Know any suppliers?
Perfect bike building material for the jungle countries.
Si, it's been a minute. Have you built that bike yet? I'd love to see a series where each of you build one of different styles.
Cool idea. I wonder what would happen if you grew bamboo in a restricting tube. I wonder if it would grow in aero shapes?
Ultimately the most eco thing you can usually do is buy something decent and then keep it forever, just replacing the parts that wear. They should offer slightly more durable carbon frames, a few hundred grams heavier that are totally OTT bulletproof. Then you can buy one that is a perfect fit and never buy another bike. Bike manufacturers might not like that but they could take up reconditioning frames, respraying etc.
Yep... apparently you CAN grow aero tubes just as you described!
If it was a bit more refined, like plies of bamboo and some black paint and a little less Gilligan's Island, it might take off. Would be interesting to see Trek or someone make one. It works for longboard skateboards.
Get a gravel bamboo bike Si, we'd love to see you suff--I mean do more long gravel rides!
Yes! Ride the next ultra race on a bamboo bike... so we can compare if it actually races faster than a carbon bike.
It would be interesting to see it at a sportive
"insert bamboo joke & got bamboozled here"
now that that's out of the way, that's a pretty cool bike!
Now I want a Bamboo fixie
Welcome to come and build one!
I wish they would just sell the finished bikes. I don't want to have to build it, but would buy one.
Ali express has plenty of frames and full bikes.
Hey Si good video as always. Have a look the difference between asocial and antisocial or you really meant antisocial. Lol😂😂😂😂
I'd love a Bamboo Bike. Rode next to somebody on a charity ride a few years ago who was riding a Bamboo Bike and holy smokes I asked them soooooooo many questions.
Wasn’t going to watch the video until I saw Si was presenting it
I def wanna see Si build the bamBMX
Absolutely Marvellous !
That's look really cool.
Really cool
Next GCN video. Can Hank Everest on a bamboo bike?
Happy to offer a frame!
Do a Full Suspension Bamboo frame :D
Has been done
Earthbound Bikes
That makes me want one!🙋🏽♂️
Sean Conway bought a bamboo bike for his record cycle, run and swim around UK coast attempt. It fell apart after about 4 days. Nuff said.
Unfortunately he didn’t build it himself he imported a unaligned frame from Vietnam.
Bamboo! sounds like fun
is there a rim brake internal cable routing version lol
There is a dude here in Philippines making some of these from local bamboo. Its made to order for 9000 php
on one of them he made the joins carbon fiber resin. in one of em its like a seamless bamboo frame
Sounds awesome
@@gcn Yeah man. idk exactly what province. gotta paste the source right here. Jurt stumbled upon him while searching for vintage bike restorations
czcams.com/video/ZrobgcUpeog/video.html
Blake made a frame, you can too!!
Bobally bits. Lmao😎💯🤣
Cool concept.
I love it for the simple reason it's unique.
Standing out from the crowd is a great ownership kudos.
9:05 ... These... Are called knots... And not necessarily are specific language... Is simple wood slang. 😋✌🏼
Hope the UCI approves the bamboo bike for riding on cobblestone paths in competitive road racing
Seems like a viable solution for commuter/city bikes. Only not proper for performance bikes.
Well..... It's technically still a carbon bike
I must admit I found that utterly... 'bamboozling'! Surprised Si' wouldn't come up with that 'cracking' joke...🙃
Locked me out of the option as soon as she said "everyone will want to come talk to you."
I guess the bamboo used for bike could be the same specie as bamboo fishing rod, which original growing from Kwang-Dong province, China, it's known to be the strongest bamboo specie....just guess.
Any chance of a bamboo Brompton?
how about material fatigue? how much will last using it during years.
How about water damage? humidity and oxidation?
How about small rocks hiting the frame when they get fired under your wheels?
Some bamboo frames are 130 years old so the material will last. The frame must protected like all materials used in exterior environment and this prevents damage from water. In our experience rocks have not damaged frames and the good think about bamboo is it can be easily repaired.
I've owned a bamboo Calfee for over ten years. It's my main bike. It's been used to commute to work, club rides, brevets and even two 1200k's. It's been ridden a lot - it still is ridden a lot. No problems with fatigue. The maker guaranteed it for ten years. I've had it longer than that. I am a bit concerned about how long the bike will last. I'll find out. The weakest link might be the hemp and resin joints, but I've had no problems. The clear coat has chipped an worn away - I might send it to Calfee to refinish.
I live in California where the weather is very mild. I don't have to deal with freezing weather or high humidity. I've only noticed one problem. On really hot days ( 90 degree plus) the front derailer doesn't work well. I assume the bamboo expands in the heat.
As other have said it's comfortable to ride. The material soaks up a lot of road noise and is well suited to the long rides I like to do. The comments about this being a conversation piece are true.
GCN was so late to introduce the bamboo bike
I once made a bike out of spaghetti, my wife didn't believe I could. You should of seen her face when I rode pasta.
haha, took me a minute. Had to go back and read it in a British accent
you know id actually be interested in a bamboo frame but how expensive would it even be, you know its very sustainable yes but i bet its fairly expensive and who even makes them? or is just a one off?
I got a beautiful gravel frame from a small Ugandan maker, Boogaali. £400 plus £200 shipping iirc. Add in your choice of forks, wheels, handle bars, BB, headset, seat post, saddle and groupset. Reckon mine came together at around £1600 total. Could be loads more, or less of course. Ridden 2000 miles on it since March, including a couple of gravel sportives and super happy with it. Not the lightest frame, but no question at all, it's plenty tough and very comfortable. Check them out!
Is the fork bamboo too
Wood is essentially organic carbon nanotubes what i would worry about is the impact resistance
Bamboo is a relatively strong material, in Asia it's also used for scaffolding, while mainly hot galvanised steel (and from time to time aluminum, but it's more expensive) is used in industrial countries for this purpose.
@@simonm1447 I understand that it is very structurally strong but I would be concerned with say it crashing into something with an edge
@@coreygolphenee9633 In this case I would estimate bamboo is even stronger then than a typical carbon fiber frame, because the thickness of the material is higher, carbon fiber frames don't like it at all if the tubes get a hit from the side.
You can test this by hitting a piece of bamboo with a hammer, it's surprisingly strong even if you hit it from 90 ° from the side
Pretty and quite cool bike... But "built it yourself" sounds much easier than it really is..
But.. super nice idea....
I like how British colleges seem always doing the fun projects
Of course Simon wants one. N+1
Bamboo Bike:Fast,Responsive, Comfortable to ride,absorbing road bumps
Panda🐼:Yummy
Just as long as some wiseguy doesn't come along with a tiny saw...The joints are the easy place to cut with bamboo.
Nice novelty item
here in philippines, many people make bambooo bikes
Don't lie to yourself and others with "environmental concerns" - a bamboo bike is just cool, nice to have, and cheap custom. And there is nothing wrong with having nice things.
EDIT: This vid is NOT sponsored. GCN really went off the rails on their own spreading misinformation without consulting Bamboo Bicycle Club to get a better understanding. Please do not hold Bamboo Bicycle Club in a bad light for GCN's actions.
_However_ if your concern is REALLY the environment, steel or alu are still your best best for a bike that isn't going to shed microplastics for centuries in a landfill. You cannot infact compost a bamboo bike. The epoxy resins aren't biodegradable. (Unless some breakthrough in materials science has emerged since I last checked.) It's the same reason you can't recycle a carbon fiber bike - epoxies aren't recyclable.
Thank you!
Also "epoxies aren't recyclable"....yet.
Given advancements in bio tech, its just a matter of time.
@@marcalvarez4890 I keep an eye on things that are "Just a matter of time" but don't rely on them.
I literally just made a post saying the same thing. Unless it's directly compared to carbon, it's more or less faux green marketing wank. You can build a raw aluminum frame, have no harsh paint coatings as aluminum doesn't require it, and the entire thing can be 100% recycled.
If you watch the documentary, they mention that they use vegetable glue and hemp rope for the joints.
Obviously some of the parts are still metal and rubber (chainrings, tires, bearings etc) but it's a long way towards.
@@galenkehler I do not have GCN+ as I do not plan on signing up for any subscription-based video services. Every single bamboo bike I have seen has the joints wrapped with some kind of rope or twine and then epoxied over. If it used purely "vegetable glue" for more than a fixer while it was being assembled, it would be unsafe to ride as it would rapidly degrade with moisture. Eco-marketing is still marketing.
If you want the coolness of a bamboo bike, go for it. But don't be tricked into thinking it's somehow better for the environment.
How do you maintain the frame though? When wood gets too dry it cracks, when it's moist it rots.
like everything else made of wood, you apply a protective coating of some sort. We've been build wooden boats for millennia and they're fine.
It is not wood, it's grass.
Bamboo don't cracks when it gets dry, since it's hollow inside. A wood with the core inside would Crack, that's why sawmills usually cut logs in the middle of the core if they make beams of the logs.
Like any material in exterior environment the bamboo is sealed with a varnish.
Amazing that nobody gave it a go with bamboo back in the 19th century. There they were on their iron tubing bikes not knowing they could have cut the weight by 50%.
Bamboo bikes were first patented in England by the Bamboo Cycle Company and introduced to the general public on 26 April 1894. A US patent was applied for in 1895, by August Oberg and Andrew Gustafson, and granted in 1896. ~Wikipedia
@@langsor awesome, had never heard about it…! Have any examples survived..?
Lot of wind there, eh Si
Please check this brand "Spedagi".
Bamboo bike from Temanggung City, Indonesia.
what about bamboo components too?
Really like it but I wouldn't buy one unless it was a lot cheaper than alu/carbon AND was clearly the best environmental choice. Not the case right now I don't think.
If you care about the environment, steel or alu are the best options. Especially used ones. Epoxy aint good for the environment. I still think it looks cool and they supposedly ride nice but the fake environmental concerns from people pushing these suck lol
@@Aubreykun Aluminium is extremely bad for the Environment