Bamboo ⊕ Bicycle

Bamboo is a great material, bicycles are great vehicles, but the Quixotic search for a Bamboo Bicycle is a continuing tragedy.

Longevity. It is the missing attribute of a bamboo bicycle, but it is trivial in much of the cycling world. People ride 20 year old bikes as casual hand-me-downs. Hundred year old bicycles are still sturdy. You can watch even older Penny Farthings cycle around YouTube. This is possible because steel, for all its harsh associations, just works, and just lasts.

Bamboo bicycles have been attempted for a long time, but for all its natural strength, that material is just not suited to long miles and repetitive strain. You may find an 1890's bamboo bike in a museum. You won’t find one cycling on YouTube.

Improvements have been tried over the years, soaking up incredible hours of perspiration and inspiration. The net result has been to sheath the bamboo in high tech fiber and epoxy, making it in effect a fiber bike with bamboo where the air should be.

Don’t build a bamboo bike. Apply your creative energies elsewhere. Ride steel for longevity or carbon for performance.