Impact Stories

Kenya: teaching the build, not shipping the bike

BBC spent time in Kenya teaching community members to build bamboo bicycles. The goal was not to produce frames — it was to leave...

From sustainable AI to the seafront: Manish rides his bamboo bike London to Brighton

Manish is the founder of a sustainable AI company. He built a bamboo gravel bike because carbon fibre contradicted everything his business stood for....

The UCL engineering students who put bamboo under load

Over three consecutive years, UCL Mechanical Engineering Masters students partnered with BBC to build increasingly ambitious bamboo bicycles — culminating in a fully electric...

Claire rode hers daily for five years — then came back for a repaint

Claire rode her bamboo commuter bike every day in London for five years. Then she came back to BBC — not for repairs, but...

Justin Built a Gravel Frame at Home — and Was Still Riding It Four Years On

Justin built a bamboo gravel bike with BBC in 2016. Six years later, he took it on its first bikepacking trip. 'Built six years...

Mark built a free-ride 29er — and it keeps taking everything he throws at it

Mark built a bamboo 29er mountain bike with BBC and has been throwing it down the Surrey Hills for over two years — drops,...

A corporate team built balance bikes — then gave them to Brixton

A corporate team built bamboo balance bikes at BBC's workshop. The finished bikes were donated to Upcycle Brixton — getting children cycling in South...

Two doctors rode London to Singapore on bamboo they built themselves

Tom and Nicky rode 22,000 kilometres from London to Singapore on hand-built bamboo bicycles. Every component broke at some point. The bamboo never did.