Bamboo bikes aren’t a new idea. Made in 1906, an example of the American Bamboo Bike resides in Prague’s Technical Museum. At the time, an average bike weighed between 30 and 40 pounds. The bamboo frame was light but too flexible.

But sometimes an idea has to wait for its time to come. And now bamboo bike pioneer Craig Calfee is demonstrating how the wood can be used as a viable and eco-friendly alternative to metal in cycle construction.

Bamboo is a wonder material. The fastest-growing plant in the world – it can grow as much as three feet in a day – it needs little water and few pesticides and fertilizer. Its underground rhizome root system continually regenerates the plant when the stalks are cutIt’s also extremely strong as witnessed by the bamboo scaffolding used in Hong Kong to build skyscrapers.

Iit traps more carbon than slower-growing plants whilst also producing 35 percent more oxygen from carbon dioxide than trees and more effectively binding soil to prevent erosion. So it’s great for global warming – so long as natural forests are not cleared to grow it.

And so to Craig Calfree. He usually makes bespoke cycles out of such materials as carbon fibre. .

“Look at nature”, says Mr Calfree, “a lot of my work’s already been done. Here are these straight , resilient tubes growing out of the ground”. His factory makes about 130 bamboo bikes a year now. The frames weight 4lbs. Although this is heavier than carbon fibre frames, they are still lighter than steel and have exceptional vibration damping qualities. The heaviest thing about the bamboo frame is its price tag: a whopping $2500!

However, like Trevor Baylis and his wind up radio, Mr Calfree is using his knowledge of bamboo bike construction to help the people of Africa.

This is what he has to say on his website:

“Calfee Design is working towards assisting entrepreneurs in the developing world to make their own bicycles out of locally sourced bamboo. The reasons to do this are so strong that it would be foolish not to try:

1.Bicycles are in great demand as a major labor savings device. Transporting water, people, food and other items is six times more efficient.

2.Bamboo bikes cost less than inferior imported steel bikes.

3.Bamboo is plentiful and does not need to be imported as a raw material. Bamboo is easy to grow and can be cultivated in dry areas with minimal irrigation.

4.Bamboo bikes require a significant amount of labor to produce, providing skilled employment and an apprenticeship model that helps youth find opportunity.

5.Bamboo bicycle production is not easily done in large factories. This keeps large industrialized countries from getting into the business and competing on an unfair level.

6.Making Bamboo bikes does not require electricity or a large investment in equipment.

In Ghana, he has established a micro-industry making bamboo bikes for local use. You can see the importance of his work in the video below. His bamboo bikes make a real difference to the people who use them.

Spreading the word about bamboo bikes, Mr Calfree’s been looking for other producers, whom he calls “bambooseros”. He found Zambikes, a company set up by two Californians and two Zambians which aimed to build bikes tough enough to handle the local conditions.

One of the founders,Vaughn Spethmann, 24, told the BBC that the idea for the venturel started with a game of football.

“We were here on a university field trip and we organized a match against some locals. Afterwards, we asked them what they did, and they said: ‘Nothing’. They didn’t have jobs.

“So we decided to come up with a business which would be a source of employment and provide a useful product.”

The result was the Zambike, a rugged, yellow machine designed to cope with the local terrain. This was followed by a tough cargo bike, a bike trailer and a bike-drawn “zambulance”, now in use at ten clinics around Lusaka.

Mr Calfee wanted a bike that would be much more affordable in the US than his bespoke machines. He wanted to export Zambikes to America. But he also wanted a simple production process that did not require complicated and expensive machines.

Wood glue holds the frame in place, whilst one of the mechanics binds the joints using sisal – tough cord made from plant fibre soaked in epoxy. The only problem is that it takes a week to make each bike using this method.

Calfee is confident that the Zambike’s price tag – $475 (£290) for road or mountain bike frames, and more than $900 (£550) for a complete bike – will be attractive to US buyers. He says:
“After all, buyers are helping to get self-sustaining businesses off the ground in developing economies, and they’re getting a unique bike into the bargain.”

Zambikes’ Operations Co-ordinator Divilance Machilika agrees, saying:
“I can see these selling well in America. They’ll like them because they’re natural”.

But these bamboo bikes create other benefits for the community. Zambikes offers in the form of business coaching or discretionary loans to its employees help them build businesses. Rather than charging interest, the company asks them to demonstrate that the investment made in them is benefiting their community.

All I can say about bamboo bikes is, I want one!

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