Riding your way to college or office on a bicycle makes you swell with pride about your contribution to a greener planet? Agreed that you can conserve fuel and save energy and also cut back your gasoline bills. But the path to a more greener earth doesn’t end here. You can go one step further with this Bamboo Bicycle. Bring the fastest growing plant on earth and generating more oxygen than the equivalent stand of trees, this grass (I’m sure you are aware that it belongs to the family of grass) is used for building of bicycle frames. Applying modern frame building techniques to an idea from over a century ago brings to life the astonishing natural properties of bamboo. Extremely strong wood fibers can resist up to 5kN/cm2 and steel can resist at most 37kN/cm2 whereas the outer fibers of slim bamboo tubes have tensile strengths of up to 40kN/cm2. Bamboo is therefore an ideal material for bike construction where stiffness and strength to weight ratios are important.
Steel, aluminum and titanium frames all require high levels of energy to produce, from extraction to extrusion, before being suitable for bicycle manufacture. Carbon fiber also requires a lot of energy to produce in its controlled oxidation, carbonization and graphitization.
The maker, Calfee, also asserts that it is appropriate for everyday use and for racing. The vibration damping is a performance advantage on longer rides, reducing fatigue and shock associated with carbon frames.
Each frame is built to order and every frame is a unique. Tubes are selected for the weight of the rider. The geometry of the frame can be any of our usual geometries: Pro, Tri or Cross. Or you can even order a customized one.
These eco-friendly bikes have also won 1st place in the open class at the Great Western Bicycle Rally’s Concourse d’Elegance show. If there were an award for “Bicycle with lowest carbon footprint” (least amount of carbon dioxide emissions in the production of the frame), this frame would win, hands down.
Not too safe for your pocket though! Only the frame for the Bamboo Pro or Tri or Mountain will cost about $2700 while the Bamboo Custom will set you back by $3,200.
Via Greenworkplace
Comments
That bicycle may be made of bamboo, but it definitely is not green. Prices usually reflect the resources used in production. Something that costs so much, much have taken a lot of resources to produce.
Unless the company is just ripping you off, and selling cheaply produced stuff for ridiculously high prices. In which case, why are you supporting it?
Remember, human labor is a valuable commodity. The cost of these bicycles is in skilled human labor.