Fitting Bottle Racks
Workshop Wednesdays, Series 01, Episode 05
Frame Inserts - Fitting Bottle Racks with James Marr
🔴Recorded live on Wednesday, October 28th, 2020 at 5.30 pm (GMT) in London, U.K 🔴
A popular request from our community for a live demonstrationon of fitting bottle racks on bamboo frames. So for our fifth #workshopwednesdays live session, James did a live demo of installing a bottle rack on a bamboo bicycle frame and discussed best practices during the install.
▬ Contents of this video ▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬
0:00 - Intro
0:52 - Tools needed
1:46 - First step, crack open a beer! 🍻
2:27 - Measuring and marking the bottle cage fixings
4:00 - Preparing for drilling with tape
4:45 - Final markings on the tape for the bottle cage
5:25 - Drilling in the bamboo
6:50 - Fitting and gluing the inserts in to the frame
10:19 - Insert fixings in to the bottle rack
10:42 - Use tape to add pressure for a better bond
11:17 - Summary of all steps
11:45 - Questions from the live audience
12:18 - Details and tips on the insert used
13:12 - Sign off
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Our live #workshopwednedays videos will help you to learn more about bamboo bicycles, tips and tricks on how to fit components, maintain your bike and how to be creative with bamboo. Hosted by James Marr, a bicycle designer and an engineer, James goes live every other Wednesday to help you learn about building a bamboo bicycle and takes your questions and announces promotions and deals of the week!
🪡 James' workshop apron was made by Georgina Habgood https://www.instagram.com/geeorrrge/ from denim deadstock. She is hoping to make the sewing pattern available for free soon.
✏️ Graphic design and titles by Hasan Waliany https://www.instagram.com/herby_werby/
If you’re building a bamboo bicycle frame, need help or would like to learn more about our Home Build kits, have a look at this link: https://bamboobicycleclub.org/products/lugged-kit-frame
Best way to learn about us is by visiting our Club News for detailed build reviews by our community of bamboo bicycle builders: https://bamboobicycleclub.org/blogs/club-news
"The whole goal of Bamboo Bicycle Club is to make bike-building accessible to everyone."
The BBC Fitting Bottle Racks tutorial covers the full range of cage mounting options available to BBC frame builders — from threaded boss installation to clamp-on solutions for tubes where boss drilling isn't practical.
A bottle cage on a bamboo bicycle needs the same consideration as on any other frame, plus one bamboo-specific factor: bamboo tube walls vary in thickness between the node sections (dense and thick) and the inter-node sections (thinner and more variable). Always check wall thickness at your intended drilling location with a drill bit or probe before committing to threaded boss installation.
For down tube boss installation: mark your position (typically 100–120mm from the BB shell), centre-punch carefully, drill with a 4.2mm bit, and tap M5 threads using a hand tap with cutting fluid. Apply threadlock to the boss threads before installation and torque to 2–3 Nm. For bamboo tubes with thin walls (under 4mm at the drilling point), use a T-nut or threaded brass insert bedded in epoxy instead of a direct thread tap.
Seat tube boss installation follows the same process but with greater care about position — the seat tube narrows toward the seat collar, and boss placement too high can conflict with the seat post. Keep seat tube bosses at least 60mm below the minimum seat post insertion mark.
"Founded in London in 2012 by James Marr, bamboo is said to have ideal properties for bike construction with its 'excellent vibration dampening effects', resistance to stress and durability."
Clamp-on cage mounts are a perfectly valid alternative for bamboo frames, particularly on existing frames where retrospective drilling is not desirable. Use mounts with a rubber gasket to protect the bamboo surface. The tutorial video covers all options and demonstrates installation on a completed BBC frame.