Bamboo Composite Road Frame January 2007
This is the first bamboo composite road bike frame in the world. It is made from pure bamboo fibers.
Although the look of the frame is similar to a classic carbon composite frame, the similarity stops there. Instead of carbon fiber, this frame was built using bidirectional fabric woven "near" to my requirements, from pure bamboo fiber. At this point, it is an experimental material and I wanted to test it for use in bicycle construction.
I built the frame using the same method used for building my first carbon frame, there are several layers of bamboo fabric embedded in epoxy resin. As the strength of bamboo fiber is lower than that of carbon, I had to overbuild the frame (soon I will write a comparison of the mechanical properties of this bamboo composite with carbon, aramid and fiberglass). So, the overall weight is fairly heavy at 1750 g (3.86 lbs).
The front triangle is stiff enough, but the chain and seat stays are a little flexible, not really suitable for racing, but stiff enough for recreational or city riding. I would like to build another frame combining both bamboo and carbon fabrics to engineer both stiffnes and compliance in to the frame.
I would like to make further research into the field of natural composites, use various natural fibers and biodegradable resins to build a truly "green" bike frame. I hope I can find some funds for these projects...