A while back I noted that I ran across a bamboo bike and we were contacted by several people with ties to the fast growing wood. A reporter that put together his own bike contacted us and we did a post on his experience.
Jon did note the following in his story:
The bike's joints are wrapped in a stringy, ribbon-like carbon fiber that soaks up the epoxy. It looks like it's held together with black electrical tape after the epoxy dries overnight. You spend much of the second day filing the "lugs" smooth.
When I saw the bamboo bike in the wild I did notice that the joints are, um, kind of gnarly looking. I actually would not mind having gnarly joints, but I know my wife would likely not be into it.
Photo Credit to Joe Zorillia via NPR
Another individual involved in bamboo bike building contacted and submitted the following text and pictures. Thank you for contacting us Jacob. If anyone has experience with one of Panda Bicycles we would love to hear from you. Grow on!
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My name is Jacob Castillo. I am one of the co-founders of Panda Bicycles, a Fort Collins, Colorado based bamboo frame building company. The idea was born out of a Master’s in Sustainable Business Program at Colorado State University in late 2008. Since then we’ve had a great response by people all over the world. We use the strongest species of bamboo on the planet, which we source from a sustainable farm in Yucatan Peninsula, Mexico.
We’ve designed our bikes for cycling enthusiasts, weekend warriors, and urban commuters. The supple responsiveness and superb vibration dampening of the steel/bamboo combo makes our bikes especially well suited for people that spend a lot of time in the saddle. Like most hacks, we started out of the back room of my house- much to my wife’s chagrin- but have been fortunate enough to grow into our own shop. We affectionately call it The Greenhouse", because it is where we "grow" bikes.
Our steel joint design is patent pending and our manufacturing process is proprietary. To our knowledge, we are the only ones in the world constructing bikes the way we do. Our design and process are what yield the superb ride characteristics and elegant aesthetic that our bikes possess. I'd love to share more about our company and our bikes with fellow hacks out there. In the meantime, you can see what we do at www.pandabicycles.com. Thanks.
All pictures below are credited to Darren Mahuron of Summit Studios.
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Calfee bamboo bikes are super sexy.... bamboo, Ti and hemp/epoxy. They even make tandems....
Posted by: T.S. | 08/29/2011 at 02:26 AM
I love my Panda! It's the most beautiful bike I own (and I've got a lot). It's got a supple ride that is very comfortable while still responsive. Get one!
Posted by: BrianD | 08/30/2011 at 01:55 AM