Pretentious show off or a serious alternative in the world of bicycles?
“Green minds”, sneaky entrepreneurs are searching for new solutions, methods. Although there’s nothing new under the sun: all new is good forgotten old.
First time the World to see the bamboo bike was in far 1894 in London. Nevertheless, cyclists did not get a chance to experience riding the wooden transport – it never went into mass production. Development of the industrial metals is to be blamed..
The doors to the bamboo cycles for masses were open again in 2000’s in poor regions aiming to help these areas to thrive or at least to support them.
Nowadays bamboo bicycle industry is starting to wake up, but you should be very lucky to find somebody crossing roads with one of them.
Why? What are the reasons for considering the shift from the “metal horse” to wooden one?
Firstly and unsurprisingly, is the cost issues. Bamboo is a cheap material. Secondly, its durability qualities are immense, especially in the ratio to the weight. It is easy to crack a carbon frame, but it is nearly impossible to imagine to crack a bamboo one. Well, it may be not as light as carbon, but it is stronger than titanium and lighter than aluminum. Average bike is around 3 kg. Its absorbing qualities are 4x of carbon, allowing for a fantastically smoooooth ride. Plus, it is a sustainable material.