Commuter build by Alex

What made you decide to build a bamboo bike?

Thought it would be fun to build my own bike as my Gravel/Commuter bike. When looking into what would be needed to build my own bike, we already had 90% of the tools required for a bamboo bike vs about 10% of tools for a steel bike.

Did you enjoy building the bicycle from scratch and would you recommend the experience?

It was good fun building the bike from scratch. It combined skills from building furniture and those time i have had to glass dings in my surfboard.

What did you find most difficult about your bike build?

Apart from picking paint colour. Trying to make sure that the back wheel was exactly lined up with the front wheel. I think we sent almost an hour with a laser leveler to make sure everything was perfectly lined up.

What was the easiest part of the build?

Peeling the tap off after all the joints had dried. Partly cause of the excitement to see the finished product and partly because it was the part that had the least amount of thought required.

How would you describe the ride of your finished bike?

Puts a smile on your face. The way I built it up was to have a simple bike to commute around that can take all the gravel short cuts (the scenic route), which it does extremely well. Absorbs the worst of the road vibrations while still reacting well under power.

What would you improve about the build experience or your finished bike?

I think the one thing I would improve is have the dropouts setup to be able to use the sram UDH. This bike being a single speed it doesn't really matter. But with the prospect of building another bamboo bike, i would definitely want a UDH, easier to find spares and also compatible with the new sram transmission derailleurs.