Bamboo frame

Thinking of building a bamboo bike frame, will probably cut drop outs, bottom bracket etc. from another old frame, anybody had a go? Ive got some bamboo thats a good size. Any advice welcome.

http://www.calfeedesign.com/bamboo.htm

http://www.instructables.com/id/How-to-Build-a-Bamboo-Bicycle/

Yeah cheers for that. I repair a lot of surfboards, just wondered if fibreglass would be compatable to join steel to bamboo?

"lard hamilton" - lol

where are you based as have a 10'6 in need of a little tlc

what bamboo you got
ive thought of doing one before but not got round to it

idealy you need to get hold of the strongest bamboo you can find, i read a very good article about this somewhere, il have a look on my stumbled favourites on stumbleupon and see if i can find it

take a look at http://www.bmeres.com/ .. he is an incredibly innovative and very helpful guy .. i built a carbon frame using his how-to as a reference and he was very helpful with questions i had along the way

Ive got a 12 foot length of well aged bamboo, oooh get me! Got a couple of old frames that I could sacrifice. Cheers!

Commie, I'm based in Cornwall.

pity... I will stick to my suncure for the time being!

mate a bamboo frame would be sweet

I made a wooden bicycle recently! - more pics if you interested http://boards.core77.com/viewtopic.php?t=18830

I bought BB shell, drop-outs, and head tube from ceeway (really helpful guy too) check out - http://www.framebuilding.com/index.htm for that!!then you don't have to butcher another frame!!

the BB and Head tube were just bonded into the wood with good old Araldite this has held up for the short amount of use the bike has had, it wasn't designed to be used!! I think the fiberglass should hold the BB but I would be really tempted for reinforce it with something (maybe some bolts hidden beneath the fiber glass)

Hope this is useful, if I can help with any other info just send me a message!!

yes sweet but dont go anywhere near and panda enclosures!

Is that wood treated in anyway? Tanalised, steamed. will it warp or get woodworm catch fire? looks great.

the two main curves on the frame are actually a laminated from lengths of 4mm ply, so they should avoid warping alright, the seat post may be a worry in years to come as it is just an oak post. no extra special finishes as yet so woodworm may be a problem in years to come, as for catching fire in afraid I don't think I can pedal quite that fast sir!

Bamboo is the fastest growing plant on Earth. Some species have actually been measured to grow over 4 feet in 24 hours, might want to bare that in mind when you're working out what size to make it.

Hmmm, after looking at many ways to build frames i may go down this route, anyone else got any more links? the BME websites pretty nice, think il build a jig like that. . .

Oh and does anyone know where i can find the properties of different bamboo species?

So did you build a bamboo bike?

He did, but it was stolen.

He did, but it was stolen eaten.

fixd

Saw a fixed bamboo bike locked up in between the National Hospital for Nervous Disease and Great Ormond Street a couple of weeks ago - belong to anyone here?

I lived in hong kong as a teenager, and they'd make all their scaffolding out of bamboo - even for 20+ storey tower blocks. There's a much recounted (urban myth?) story of side-by-side skyscrapers, one with metal scaffolding and another with bamboo scaffolding. Apparently a typhoon hit, and only the bamboo scaffolding survived owing to its' flex.

Anyway, back on topic - has anyone tried a bamboo bike?

Anyway, back on topic - has anyone tried a bamboo bike?

http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/2009/jun/22/bamboo-bike

http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/2009/jun/22/bamboo-bike

Curses! I usually pride myself as being Avant-Guardian - i.e. discovering The Next Big Thing® a week before there's a weekend feature on it.

No-longer-ahead-of-the-curve FAIL.

Blimey, my old man used to go on about bamboo frames...I thought he was takin' the ****