Bamboo bike is big hit at IFB2016
AN innovative sustainable bamboo bicycle concept is wowing delegates at the International Festival for Business 2016.
East London company Bamboo Bicycle Club’s machine is being displayed at the ‘Innovation is GREAT’ stand alongside great British design feats including Bridget the Mars Rover and Hannah White’s ‘Speedbird’ boat at IFB2016 at the Exhibition Centre Liverpool until July 1.
The Bamboo Bicycle Club has spent five years engineering a blueprint to allow people to self-build bamboo bicycles during guided workshops, with home build kits and in schools.
The business started in the Brecon Beacons, Wales where founding engineers James Marr and Ian McMillan tried and tested bamboo frames, glues, jig-set ups and designs.
The club continues to collaborate with universities to research new and innovative techniques.
The club welcomes people of all abilities and encourages the sharing of skills and experience, helping riders realise their dream of owning a self-built and sustainable bamboo bicycle.
A community has built up around the club as customers influence designs and developments. Frames have been built for all conditions including mountain bikes, hybrid and road bikes, tandems, fatbikes, stunt bikes and world touring bikes.
Some of the more ambitious designs come from collaborations such as the sustainable rear-loaded cargo tricycle built with UCL students for use by farmers in developing agricultural industry, and touring bikes built with two Doctors Without Borders for a charity cycle from London to Singapore that were designed to survive the harshest of climates.
Earlier this year, TV presenter Kevin McCloud chose the club’s DIY Home Build Kit, which guides customers through creating their bespoke frame, for his Grand Designs Live ‘Green’.
He said: “Bamboo is officially the fastest growing plant in the world, which should make these the fastest bicycles in the world: light, hollow-tube construction, supremely engineered by nature. But they are not too fast to buy. You have to join the club and build one yourself.”
These home build kits are hugely popular and exported globally as the club continues to increase its community around the world. The kits are also a valuable educational resource for teachers looking to introduce students to a sustainable DIY project.
