Bamboo XC Bike

BambooJames

Bamboo bike looking race ready by J_Hphotos, on Flickr

Fairly new to this forum, so I figured I'd show you all my Bamboo XC bike!
I mainly do endurance/marathon events and it's perfect for that, any questions just ask!

Frame: Bamboo tubing with flax fibre lugs
Fork: Fox 100 32-F
Bars: Truvativ Team Stylo
Seatpost: Bontranger XXX
Saddle: Specialized Phenom
Drivetrain: Shimano XT
Brakes: Shmano XT
Wheels: Shimano XTR
Tyres: Schwalbe Rocket Rons

Weight is aprox. 22lbs/10kg

cat_with_no_tail

Iiiiiiiiinteresting!

Never seen one in real life. You one of their team riders then?

I understand the concept of them, and the marketing bumf surrounding them, tensile strength, stiffness, vibration damping etc etc but I'd love to get my hands on one to try it out properly and see for myself.

How does the bamboo cope with water absorbtion for example, and extreme cold? Basically, UK conditions.

I know it deals with all those things in "the wild", but that's before it's turned into a bike.

22lb is a pretty good weight too. How much does the frame weigh?

so.
many.
questions....

EH_Rob

I presume having a silly beard and wearing sandals is compulsary

cat_with_no_tail

EH_Rob wrote:

I presume having a silly beard and wearing sandals is compulsary

you've got to wonder why it's not got 29" wheels

ilovedirt

Did I see this at XC BUCS this year?

BambooJames

ha, no beard or sandals on me!
And yeah part of the race team. We're all sort of spread around the country doing different things (so yep will have been at BUCS)

All the bamboo is treated before building to make it 'use-able'. This will be my first winter with it though, so we'll see how it does.
Great thing is, any scratches, etc can be easily sanded down and re-varnished. keeps everything nice and shiny

Frame is about 4lbs I think, so pretty comparable to metal

Oh, and I believe a 29er maybe coming soon....

edhornby

I've seen one in the flesh (could be from a different producer) which was a track frame, only the 'lugs' in the frame on the one I saw were more overbuilt than that one - yours looks much neater.

How are the tubes bonded ? is it a bamboo head tube and how do the BB/headset/frame ends manufacture ?

BambooJames

ah yeah, must have been a different producer. 'Bamboo Bikes' is the only BS EN certified in the UK though and there have been a fair few different versions to get them right!

Kind of hard to answer your other questions without treading on a NDA.... check out the website though: http://www.bamboobike.co/why/

the_moodster

I rode one of these at the bike show at the nec last year. I hope it doesn't sound like damning with faint praise but it just felt like a bike. Didn't flex spectacularly or make any funny noises, in fact the carbon one I rode after it was creaking like a very creaky thing

BambooJames

I think a lot of people see it and assume it must be completely different to anything they're used too, and are scared to try and trust it. But as you say ' it just felt like a bike', that's because it is!

As soon as you hit some trails though, the different ride characteristics do become apparent (much link switching between alu/carbon/steel/ti, you're gonna notice a difference)

I much prefer it over anything else though. I actually just sold my steel hardtail because I wasn't riding it anymore!

chez_m356

Giraffoto

chez_m356 wrote:

This is the main problem with bamboo bikes - getting eaten by pandas. Until this is sorted out I'll stick to Aluminium



Please note that the chances of getting a bamboo bike eaten by a panda in the UK is pretty much identical to the chance of getting a broken aluminium frame welded up and back on the road in a couple of hours, which is generally touted as the advantage of aluminium/steel over carbon

mrmonkfinger

seriously out there and sorta cool in a tree huggin hippy kind of way... man.

Frame: Bamboo tubing with flax fibre lugs

reminds me a lot of pictures of early CF frames - regular tubes (made of CF) glued to metal or CF lugs


how long have bamboobike been going?

allthegearnoidea

ooooh a bamboo bike! was onluy looking at them on the net the other day,
interesting looking bikes, would love to see one in the flesh!

whats it like to the old steel frame??

supersonic

Naturally grown carbon fibre!

BambooJames

haha, love that picture! I'll be sending that to rest of the team

to answer some questions...

bamboo bikes I think have been going for about 4 years but only really picked up proper production and became viable last October, so not too long!

compared to steel... its hard to describe. Its similar to the deadening effect of steel but much much more. Some people have said its like a short travel full suss. I wouldn't go so far as to say that, but it is close!

like I said before, we are all over the country attending events, etc I think we're doing some demo days soon and there will be a bamboo bike at the cycle show, so if you see one come say hi!

naturally grown carbon fibre

Yep, pretty much! the flax fibre is very simmilar just a much bigger weave. Its wrapped on the joints and is where most of the strength is!