bamboo bicycle club: build your own commute

 

Promoting local manufacturing, DIY, and independence, Bamboo Bicycle Club’s Bamboo Gravel Bike Build Kit revolutionizes our relationship with cycling. Designed by James Marr, the kit allows users to take control of their commute and become a maker of their own vehicle, allowing them to construct their own sustainable built bicycle in their front room.

 

Featuring a robust recycled aluminum frame, complemented by bamboo poles, and with a connective lug design, the bike offers a handmade quality, extended design life, and recyclability. By combing the lug with bamboo, it offers a natural vibration dampening and resolves the current bicycle market’s lack of flexibility and high costs. As the riders travel on their commute, the bike moves and reforms alongside them for a more connected ride.

 

all images by Adam Gasson | video courtesy of Bamboo Bicycle Club

 

 

combining aluminum and bamboo construction

 

Despite being more sustainable and of higher quality, bamboo bicycle frames are difficult and time consuming to build. The frame can traditionally take up to 80 hours to take shape, and the bamboo can be difficult to join. Unlike timber and metal which can be easily manipulated, it needs to be combined with another material using epoxy resin and a composite like carbon fiber or flax. For the Gravel Bike, designer James Marr of Bamboo Bicycle Club joins the materials with lugs made of recycled aluminum — great for creating a custom frame with consistent design and performance. The pre-made connections speed up the build progress by 75% as well as creating a more sustainable and durable project.

 

‘We choose bamboo as it is easily accessible and grows in most countries and is easy to build using just hand tools. As it grows, it uses 30% more CO2 than conventional timber. Once built into a bicycle it has stronger tensile strength than steel and offers a unique ride with superior vibration dampening,’ writes Marr.

revolution in cycling building a bicycle 1
a traditional bamboo bicycle made with resin and flax

revolution in cycling building a bicycle 2
modular dropout allows the frame to be setup with any gearings

revolution in cycling building a bicycle 3
drop stays for an improved ride, with fittings for racks and mudguards

revolution in cycling building a bicycle 4
each bike was built within 80 hours

 

 

project info:

 

name: Bamboo Gravel Bike Build Kit
designer: James Marr / Bamboo Bicycle Club

 

 

designboom has received this project from our DIY submissions feature, where we welcome our readers to submit their own work for publication. see more project submissions from our readers here.

 

edited by: ravail khan | designboom