Road Lugged Frame Build Kit
Our premium road kit joins the bamboo with pre-formed carbon-fibre lugs instead of hand-wrapped tow — lighter, stiffer joints and a cleaner finish that looks like a custom frame-shop build. You still get bamboo's all-day vibration damping; you just get it on the lightest, stiffest, sharpest-looking frame we make.
1-year kit warranty · 14-day returns on unopened kits · ships in ~2 weeks
Build your own — and help fund a place on our Build to Bond prison programme.
- No power tools required — just basic hand tools
- Illustrated manual + 15+ hours of step-by-step video
- Lifetime community of 4,000+ builders for support
- Cycle to Work accepted — save through salary sacrifice
What you'll need at home.
Whether you want to build a bike, run a programme, or back the mission — there's a door for you.
Basic hand tools
A hacksaw, files, sandpaper, a measuring tape — no power tools. Everything else is in the kit.
A bit of space
A sturdy table around 1200 × 600 mm and a spot the frame can sit undisturbed while joints cure.
A few weekends
15–25 hours across a couple of sessions. No rush — bamboo is forgiving and most mistakes are fixable.
Four stages, across a few weekends.
Whether you want to build a bike, run a programme, or back the mission — there's a door for you.
Set the geometry
Set road geometry on the jig — the pre-formed lugs locate every tube angle for you.
Join & wrap
Bond the tubes into the pre-formed lugs and leave to cure — no free-hand fibre wrapping needed.
Cure
Leave it for a full cure — that's where maximum joint strength comes from.
Sand, seal & ride
Sand smooth, seal the bamboo, fit the headset and bottom bracket. Adventure awaits.
Bamboo's ride feel, carbon-lug precision.
Pre-formed carbon-fibre lugs give cleaner, stiffer, more uniform joints than hand-wrapped tow — a lighter frame that looks like a custom frame-shop build. You keep bamboo's natural vibration damping, and the frame is compatible with all major road groupsets.
Smoother for longer
Natural fibres soak up the road buzz that aluminium and carbon pass straight to your hands — so you finish a century fresher.
Lighter, stiffer joints
Pre-formed carbon lugs are lighter and torsionally stiffer than a hand-wrapped fibre joint — more of your power reaches the back wheel. Our bamboo is independently flex-tested at Swansea University.
Built by you, fixable by you
No mines or smelters — just bamboo, a jig and hand tools. A frame you understand is one you can maintain and repair for years.
Greener by far
Bamboo regrows in 3–5 years — a rapidly renewable grass, grown not mined. Combined with flax and bio-composites, a real alternative to carbon.
The carbon lugs give it a really clean look. People think it's a custom frame shop build, not a home kit.
Road Lugged Builder · Home kit build, UK
In the kit — and what you'll add.
Whether you want to build a bike, run a programme, or back the mission — there's a door for you.
Rated by the builders who made one
Whether you want to build a bike, run a programme, or back the mission — there's a door for you.
Ten years on, every joint is still sound and the frame is strong. I ride it daily and did the Dunwich Dynamo — 180km — on it. It handled it effortlessly.
Taro Tsuruta · architect, 10 years on his bamboo bike
Built to fit you
Your frame's size is set on the jig you build on — so pick the size that matches your fit, then fine-tune with seatpost, stem and saddle.
| Measurement | Small | Medium | Large | XL |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Rider height | 160-170cm | 168-178cm | 178-187cm | 185-193cm |
| Seat tube (C-C) | 48cm | 52cm | 56cm | 58cm |
| Top tube (effective) | 52cm | 54cm | 56cm | 58cm |
| Head tube | 12cm | 14cm | 17cm | 19cm |
| Stack | 54cm | 56cm | 58cm | 60cm |
| Reach | 37cm | 38cm | 39cm | 40cm |
Being between sizes is normal: build the smaller one. Outside these sizes? Build a custom frame.
Before you build.
What are carbon lugs, and how are they different from the standard road kit?
On our standard road kit you wrap each joint by hand with carbon-fibre tow and epoxy. This flagship kit instead joins the bamboo with pre-formed carbon-fibre lugs — ready-shaped carbon sockets the tubes bond into. They give a cleaner, more uniform joint, a lighter and stiffer frame, and a faster, more forgiving build. It's the same endurance road geometry and the same bamboo ride feel — just the premium construction.
Are carbon lugs really lighter and stiffer than wrapped joints?
Yes — that's the whole point of the lugged build. Pre-formed carbon lugs are lighter and torsionally stiffer than the equivalent hand-wrapped fibre joint, so more of your power goes to the back wheel and the finished frame is the lightest road frame we make. You still keep bamboo's natural vibration damping for all-day comfort — you're sharpening the joints, not deadening the ride.
Is it stiff and efficient enough for fast road riding?
Very strong for its weight. Bamboo is a light, hollow natural composite and every joint is reinforced with carbon-fibre, giving a high strength-to-weight ratio. Our bamboo is independently tested at Swansea University. Builders ride these frames daily and tour continents — with proper care they last for years.
Why is the lugged road kit more than the standard road kit?
The pre-formed carbon lugs are a premium component — they cost more to produce than a reel of carbon tow, and they deliver the lighter, stiffer, cleaner-finished flagship frame. You're paying for the lug construction and the result. If you'd rather hand-wrap your joints and save, the standard Road kit is the same geometry and ride feel at a lower price.
Will the frame survive years of big road miles?
Yes. Frame failures are very rare across the 4,000+ bikes built since 2012, our bamboo is independently tested at Swansea University, and many of our earliest builds are still ridden daily years later. Seal it, dry it after wet rides and store it indoors and it'll give you years of riding.
What makes it different
Whether you want to build a bike, run a programme, or back the mission — there's a door for you.
No welding, no workshop
Build the whole frame on your kitchen table with basic hand tools — everything else is in the kit.
Everything in the box
Bamboo, the jig, metal fittings, resin, fibre and 15+ hours of step-by-step video — you only add the components.
Every kit funds learning
Your build helps fund accredited skills courses in prisons and schools. You learn a skill — so does someone else.
Watch the build, start to finish
Build film · a Bamboo Bicycle Club community build
Every kit ships with 15+ hours of step-by-step video. Here's a taste of what you'll do.