My dropouts are flat, but I welded small pieces of tubing to them. Then roughed the "dropout" stay and slid them into the ends of the chain and seat stays who's insides had been roughed.

I would consider a bamboo rack, just the wood I have left is too large to look right.
If I do a rack I would consider using Tam Vong poles. They are solid and I think I may be able to use a thinner pole for a sleeker looking rack.

when are we going to see the complete bike Allen?
howzit riding?

I need to chase the bottom bracket shell, the LBS doesn't have the tool so I'm going to have to load it up and take it into Atlanta (a day trip). And I'm still waiting on new set of front brakes; was going to put a disk on the front but the hose won't reach, so I'm going with cantis fore and aft.

The suspense is killing me too.

Those bikes look fantastic - well done guys!
AllenG, Have you thought about making a bamboo kickstand? It would be a big improvement over the metal one.

Hey fellows - three questions:

What diameters did you end up using for each tube?

Where did you source your geometry?

What species of bamboo did you select - there are so many! And what qualities did you base your selection on?

As a complete novice I suppose I will just copy a bike I already have - a GT mountain bike - but any other resources are helpful.

Looks like I will have to buy raw fresh-cut bamboo here in Perth Australia and dry and treat it myself!

my main triangle tubes are all around 5cm
i copied an eddy merckx corsa extra by building my jig based on it
i selected two species of bamboo based on availability and proven stiffness and strength: phylostachys aurea and dendrocalmus strictus
make sure your bamboo is 4 years old and is cut at the right time!
look to bambooforums.net for good advice
good luck and post updates!

My main triangle tubes are ~1 3/4 to 2 inches, the rear triangle are 1 to 1 1/4 inch.
I ordered three times as many tubes as I would need to account for the chance of poor stock and mistakes.
Of the bamboo I ordered only 2 poles were unusable.


For deciding on the geometry I read Bicycling Science--David Gordon Wilson, Peter White's article "How to Fit a Bicycle", St. Sheldon's "Revisionist Theory of Bicycle Sizing" a few others and studied the geometries of my other bicycles.

In practice designing the frame consisted of drawing up the constants that I had to work with (the hubs are 14.5 inches off the ground, fork length is 18 inches, my BB is 12 inches above the ground because that is hight of the BB on my mnt bike), a few subjective fit measurements (I like a 31 inch standover, and a 24 inch effective top tube), and placing the tubes where they fit within those constraints. Similarly the rear triangle was designed around the rim and tire size. The chainstays are their length so that I could accommodate the balloon tires I am using.


I used black bamboo (Phyllostachy Nigra) because I had seen it used successfully in the past (Calfee & Daedalus).

Awesome
Thanks guys
Sourcing bamboo in Australia is prooving a bit tricky...

http://awcg.com/Allen/Bicycle/HeadTubeFacer.jpg
One step closer. Damn headtube facer/reamer cost enough to get its own drawer.

Still waiting for a fork mounted cable stop for the center pull brakes, and today I'm redoing my rack mounts. I did not rough the mounts (small threaded donut) and the epoxy could not hold them when I cranked down. I'm just going to rough them and re-epoxy them in place. If that does not hold the mounts, I'll hemp them into place.

i drool over your reaming tool!
here bike mechs just use a hammer and a woodblock
i wish i had a parks...

oh, and here´s a pic of my longtail in the jig:
http://img259.imageshack.us/img259/7545/img5611ww0.jpg

Spectacular, Chapaneco!

Did you bend the twin top tubes?

actually, d. strictus almost always grows with a slight curve, and all culms usually have the exact same curve! I just selected two even sized ones and took advantage of the natural bend. I have tried bending d. strictus using a strong camping stove, the same one I use for "combing", it is VERY hard to bend! much more so than the phylosyachys.

howz your bike coming along, have you sorted out the front brake yet?

I'm still waiting on the cable stop to come in, and I've been waiting for it to arrive before I take it to the LBS and have the bottom bracket set. Those are the only two things that need to be done on it though.

Work has been getting in the way a little bit.

Awesome looking bikes ChiapasFixed and AllenG! You both did great jobs.
I would love to make one sometime.

wakamole if you do make one, be sure to post pics and info on where you got the materials from.


Scott.

hey Scott and Wakamole, i will be spending a couple of months in Darwin this summer. i would like to make a bike or two while there. Please keep me posted on bamboo in AU, and lets stay in touch!

Skott
I'm in Perth too - if I get my act together you can come down and check it out - I'm having trouble finding appropriate bamboo - I may have to get it from SE Asia...

I've thought about that. I'm afraid it would rot away at the tip too readily.

Had some time away from work today.

I've had a little trouble with the rear brake mounts. Alining them was troublesome and they slipped on me a few times. I removed the first set and replaced them with the ones that were on my mountain bike (took the canti mounts off of a disk brake fitted frame).

I also had difficulty with the rack mounts. They are small threaded donuts that I countersunk into the seatstays. They were too slick for the epoxy to grip them. I replaced them with nuts, and they are holding fine.

I have the shifter and the brake lines installed, they both work. I also have the headset in place, but I'm missing the cranks because I don't have the right wrench to install the bottom bracket. I'll take it into the LBS on Monday and should be riding this coming week.

http://awcg.com/Allen/Bicycle/X1/BrakeMount.1.jpg
The canti brake mount I was using.

http://awcg.com/Allen/Bicycle/X1/BrakeMount.jpg
The ones I'm using now.

http://awcg.com/Allen/Bicycle/X1/Closer.jpg
All but the cranks.

Tomorrow I'm going to cut some forms and make a jig for constructing the fenders.

Wonderful thread! I'm planning on building a bamboo bike in the next year or so.

Where did you get those special canti brake mounts?

flyingcadet

Snagged them off of my mountain bike, a Voodoo.

thanks, now I know who to bug and annoy to get some.

flyingcadet

Hey Allen, are you making the fenders out of bamboo? i am just now working on laminating some iron bamboo and bending some fenders for the cargo cruiser. this particular bamboo is really thik and laminates very well. how are you making yours?

I don't have the stock to make them out of bamboo. I'm going to be using some redwood that I salvaged out of the barn and cut into 1/8 inch veneer strips.

I'm cutting arches whose diameter is one inch larger than my wheels out of 1/2 inch MDF to make a form. I'll stack and glue them together to make an arch 2 1/2 inches wide. I'll use spring clamps to hold the veneer strips to the arch form, and a heat gun to help bend them.





The bike is now at the LBS getting the bottom bracket installed. I'm swamped with a print job so I may not be able to pick it up until the weekend.

ok, heres some pics of the finished cargo cruiser. i went with alleng's idea of using hemp twine, although i first wraped each lug in pure sisal fiber, as i feel that the twine does not absorb the resin into its core. so the twine is partially esthetic, although i am sure it adds strength to the lug as well.
http://img247.imageshack.us/img247/4...cruisersq0.jpg
a closeup of the hemp lugs:
http://img301.imageshack.us/img301/475/img5626gc7.jpg
both bikes can now be seen at work on the streets of san cristobal
http://img99.imageshack.us/img99/5696/img5629ti8.jpg
http://www.bikeforums.net/%5BIMG%5Dh....jpg%5B/IMG%5D

Those look fantastic Chiapas
How's the ride?
How heavy is that cargo-cruiser???
Looks like it could haul a truck!

That is truly astounding. Beautiful bike. I'm in awe.

How does it ride? And how does it compare to the first one?

the ride is nice, i really enjoy the coaster brake and the high-cadence spinning! we have tested it with upards of 150kg on the rack (two big guys, plus rider) and it still handles well, although if it had that much dead weight youd have to be careful not to tip it too far to one side and not be able to controll the weight. Still, 60kg of dead weight can be esaily managed. unloaded, it handles alot like a mounain bike, and is surprisingly fast (if you really spin the 32 tooth chainring). The bike itself weighs around 15kg, or 34lbs, but this will be reduced by changing the cheap-as-can-be rims, which we will soon.

Chapaneco,

I posted a link to your long bike in the Utility sub-forum's homemade Xtracycle thread. You should post some images of it there, it's getting a great response.

I got my bike back from the LBS today (did not have the right tool for chasing & facing the bottom bracket shell). It's complete and rides wonderfully. Hasn't made any noises as yet, but it still has less than two miles on it. I'll post some images of the complete build after my camera charges.

I'm going to sum up the build this way: It was a profound learning experience, I enjoyed it enough to do it again. My next frame will be built mostly the same, but there will be several changes as well. It is my first frame and I'm proud of it, but it is not a perfect bike. I'll tentatively say so far it is adequately built, but no problems have cropped up. I expect it will show its faults as it ages and its final fate will probably be to hang on the wall, but I hope to get a couple of good seasons from it.

My next frame is going to be a double top tube road bike, I'll document its construction more closely than I did with the bomber.

Chapaneco, appreciate you for letting me share this thread. You've given me a lot of inspiration, and I thank you for that.

--A