Our Story
We teach people to build bamboo bicycles. In workshops, prisons, schools and homes — across 36 countries, since 2012.
4,000+ builders worldwide · Investec Beyond Business 2025 · FT, BikeRadar, Design Museum
How It Started
Teaching people to create bikes.
In 2012, James Marr opened a small workshop in east London with a simple idea: teach people to build bicycle frames from bamboo. No welding. No factory. Just bamboo, natural fibre, hand tools, and patience.
The first builders came for the novelty. They stayed for what the process did to them. Something happens when you spend 30 hours making a machine with your own hands — you finish it differently to how you started. Engineers, teenagers, retirees, people serving time in prison, parents who'd never picked up a hacksaw.
The frames have been places. Kate Rawles rode one 8,288 miles from Colombia to Tierra del Fuego and wrote a book about it. Another was ridden from London to New Zealand, crossing the Pamir Highway in winter. They tour. They race. They do the school run.
What started as a weekend workshop now runs in prisons, schools, and corporate teams alongside the London studio and home-build kits shipped worldwide. The material hasn't changed. The goal hasn't either: prove that anyone can build a bicycle, and that building something with your hands still matters.
"If we want people to choose sustainable options, we need to offer something genuinely better than what polluting products can be."
-- James Marr, Founder & CEO, Bamboo Bicycle Club
Our Global Community
Builders, riders, and communities across 36 countries since 2012
Our Journey
13 Years of Building
From a single workshop in East London to workshops, prisons, schools, and homes on six continents.
The Beginning
Bamboo Bicycle Club founded in London by James Marr and Ian McMillan. James brought bamboo bicycle-building skills learned in Canada to share with others.
First International Builders
Builders from Germany, France, and the Netherlands travel to London. Kit demand grows from outside the UK.
DIY Kits Launch
After 2 years perfecting the process, home build kits launch — enabling people worldwide to build their own bamboo bikes. Featured in Huck Magazine and Inhabitat.
Design Museum
Featured in the Cycle Revolution exhibition at the Design Museum London. Live building demonstrations and world's first aerodynamic bamboo bicycle unveiled.
World First
Created world's first 3D printed bamboo bicycle in collaboration with Oxford Brookes University — pioneering new manufacturing techniques.
Schools Programme Launches
Southbank UTC runs the first structured school programme — 30 bikes built over two years, integrated into the Design & Technology curriculum.
Kevin McCloud's Green Heroes
Selected at Grand Designs Live for eco-friendly product design and sustainable manufacturing innovation — recognised alongside leading UK green brands.
International Education — Kenya
Munich workshop team teaches bamboo building in Kenya, transferring skills to local artisans. Knowledge-sharing model taken international.
Social Enterprise
Bamboo Mobility Project CIC registered — our social enterprise arm delivering OCN-accredited courses in sustainable manufacturing to prisons and schools.
OCN Level 2 Accreditation
OCN London Level 2 accreditation in Sustainable Manufacturing achieved — a nationally recognised qualification available to all programme participants.
Kate Rawles Completes 8,288 Miles
Environmental advocate Kate Rawles completes her Colombia → Tierra del Fuego expedition on 'Woody', her BBC-built bamboo bike. Zero frame failures.
Toulouse Opens & Rwanda Partnership
Toulouse workshop opens as BBC's third franchise location. Rwanda partnership launches with Urumuri — building local bamboo bicycle manufacturing capacity.
Today
4,000+ people trained across 36+ countries. Investec Beyond Business winner. Financial Times feature. James Timpson government endorsement. And we're just getting started.
The People Behind the Bikes
From East London to Toulouse to Amersfoort — united by a shared belief that building something with your hands changes how you see yourself.
James Marr
James learned bamboo bicycle building in Canada before returning to London to share the knowledge. He founded BBC in 2012 with Ian McMillan and has since built programmes recognised by the Financial Times, the UK Prisons Minister, Investec, and Kevin McCloud. He leads BBC's mission to make sustainable craftsmanship accessible to everyone.
Toulouse Workshop
BBC's French home, opened May 2024, bringing bamboo bike building to the heart of cycling country. Workshops run in French and English. France is BBC's highest-converting international market.
Amersfoort Workshop
Our Dutch workshop serving the Netherlands and surrounding regions. Home to a thriving community of European bamboo bike builders.
Recognised By
Recognition & Awards
Investec Beyond Business
2025 Winner — £24,000National recognition for Build to Bond — OCN-accredited bamboo bicycle building in prisons.
Kevin McCloud's Green Heroes
2018 — Grand Designs LiveSelected for sustainable manufacturing innovation.
Design Museum London
2015–2016 ExhibitionCycle Revolution exhibition with live building demonstrations.
OCN London — Level 2
Nationally AccreditedLevel 2 qualification in Sustainable Manufacturing.
London Design Festival
Official PartnerOfficial partner status for design innovation.
Featured in:
Trusted by leading publications
If we want people to choose sustainable options, we need to offer something genuinely better than what polluting products can do — not just ask them to make sacrifices.
Ready to Build Something?
Whether you want to build at home with a kit, join a London workshop, bring bamboo bike building to your organisation, or explore a franchise — we're here.