Design: Road bike
Build: Home build kit
Duration: 10 hours
Location: Oxford, U.K

What made you decide to build a bamboo bike?

Ethical and a challenge.

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

I absolutely enjoyed the build. I didn’t rush it and it took me around 10 hours to build! I would (recommend it)! Although I recommend the workshop build for first timers as I found the home jig hard, the support was very good though.

What did you find most difficult about your bike build?

Believe it or not, using the home jig flat. I found it hard to visualise the other side of the frame and was constantly worried about the positioning of the rear triangle spacers on the home jig.

 

What was the easiest part of the build?

Wrapping the hemp and shaping the bamboo.

 

What advice would you give to other bamboo bike builders and what would you improve if anything?

If your considering building a Bamboo bike then go for it.

 

How would you describe the ride of your finished bike?

Very comfortable but a bit skittish/whippy (sideways movement) on the rear triangle at speed and on uneven roads. I guess this is my building skills and I'm also a fairly heavy guy so I will in the future wrap the whole of the rear triangle to stiffen it up a bit.