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Rattle can paint job. I'll build it up this Monday.

That looks MAGIC!
Both these bikes look great.

I'm very excited about this thread - and inspired.
What do you think you spent all up - roughly?
I see in one of Allen's pics that you used a piece of wood for the jig - did you fit the whole frame like that? Nice one!

Are your frames quite light? Or about the same as metal?

As a complete frame-building novice I am trying to gauge what I'm in for...
surprises I'm certain!

Can't wait to see Allen's with wheels on!

looks super sharp allen, good job! really pro!

Thank you.



$ all total? I bought enough to build several bikes, there were tests that ate up materials, etc.

For one bike estimated (with shipping):
Bamboo $55
Epoxy glue $30
Epoxy resin $45 (enough to do a couple of bikes)
Hemp $15
Head tube, bottom bracket shell, dropouts, etc. $40

Total=$190ish


I did make a jig on top of the table in that image. A very simple jig, I used some threaded bar, nuts, and fender washers to hold the bottom bracket shell and dropouts above the table. I then used blocks of wood (cut with a v in the top for the bamboo to rest) under the bamboo to hold it at the correct height off of the table.


I have not weighed the frame, I'm not going to go so far as to call it light, but it's not a pig either.
Once built up the bicycle is going to weigh a ton though (racks and so forth).


I don't have a way to fit the headset, gotta go to the LBS for that, but here is how far I've gotten with the build this afternoon.

what kind of hub is that in the rear?
looks nice! you could fit a large-ish rack over the back wheel!
nice handlebars and grips too!

wakamole: i spent about $80 us dollars on my frame, then anoter $120 on parts to build it up
my complete bike weight 18lbs, but it is a fixie with no extra stuff on it at all. my IRO is reynolds 631 steel and weighs the same (actualy .5lbs more!). I would guess bamboo frames are similar in weight to aluminum or higher-end steel ones.

I can fit a rear rack, and will later today.
Rohloff hub (took it from another frame of mine).
The handlebars are Albatross bars, the grips were a gift.

Learned a few things during today's build.

I can't use my front disk brake. Given that I've built it with an effectively tall head tube and wide handlebars, the hose to the caliper is too short and the rack really gets in its way.
Cantilever brakes on the front too I guess.

My chain is very close to touching the seatstay where it mates to the dropout. All hail a drimmel tool, fixed that.

lets see!

You guys are doing some pretty cool work!

Chiapas did you use a home-made frame jig? I like the "home-made" look of your unbuffed lugs.
Have you started on the next one?

Allen you have to tell us how that thing rides - it looks awesome!

wakamole,

Will Watts has a few good images of his jig here.

And Craig Calfee has some good images of his set-up from his African Bamboo Bike Project here.

thanks Allen

heres a giant picture of my jig, sorry no time to re size right now
the next bike is underway! i am going to try hemp twine, should look neater but still preserve the "home made" look

Gracias Chiapas me gusta tu bici!

I'm glad the jigs don't have to be too complicated.

It looks like you used round tubes to join the drop-outs to lugs INSIDE the bamboo where Allen used flat ones cutting through the wood?

I was thinking of salvaging bits from (well hacking bits off really :-) ) an old bike for simplicity drop-outs, seat tube, head tube etc.

How's yours holding up Chiapas?

I'm thinking of a bit of an "urban-terror" bike for cylce paths, curb jumping and a bit of offroad. Like a lightweight mountain bike with semi-slicks and a rack for general use.

Allan would you consider a bamboo rack? - Possibly a bit too "Gilligan" ?

That is awesome looking.

i got my dropouts and seat tube-bit from a broken bmx frame. i am now making a cargo bike with a big huge bamboo rack in back, ill post pics in a week or two...
the first bike is holding up great after about 900km of rough city riding. it is fast and twitchy as hell thanks to its track geometry. cant wait to throw a real track wheelset on there!

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...

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...