Thoughts on bike design

Even though this is a bamboo bike kit, there is still a lot of design and component selection to be made.  I think the aesthetic I am looking for is a very natural one with an element of tech.  I've been very much in love with the look and feel of single speed bikes - with their simplicity and sparse lines.  On top of that, I have gotten into gravel riding.

Putting all that together, I decided on a single-speed cyclocross concept with a very natural look.  To better theme it in my mind I decided to call it the Booda Bike (hence the blog name).

So for more details ...

The Wheels
I want to use cyclocross type wheels for the gravel, which means I think I want 700c x 28-35mm tires on it.  I want a disc brake on the front, but for now leaving a disc off the back to keep it clean and simple.  I got the dropouts with a disc mount so I can add this later (if that is even possible).  The challenge with disc brakes on this bike is that the wheel hub spacing in the back is 130mm, where typical cyclocross hub spacing (where disc brakes are typical) is 135mm.

I looked into having wheels built exactly as I wanted (Surly hubs, velocity rims, black spokes), but ended up at a total cost of about $650.  I found I could get similar or better quality, giving up some of the exact specifics (like black spokes) and being able to get away with a wheelset for about $370.  O could probably drive that down to almost $200 farther if I feel the need.

The Fork
I was going to get a simple aluminum or steel fork until a friend pointed me to Whisky Parts (http://whiskyparts.co/).  They have a totally sexy, yet under stated carbon fiber fork called the Whisky No. 7 Carbon Fiber Disc with a matt finish.  Given I could save $ on my whees, I felt I might be able to justify this.

Whisky No. 7 Carbon Fiber Disc

 
Just before ordering I realized it had a 1 1/8th to 1 1/4 tapered steerer.  I needed a 1 1/8th straight.  I pondered ordering another  head-tube that would match the fork.  But the extra cost, expensive fork and extra work to size and integrate seemed like more than I want.

Then I found an equally sexy cyclocross disc fork by Lynskey, a well known titanium bike maker.  It matched my specs and was much lower cost than the Whisky.  So I went with the Lynskey.

Lynskey Endurance Carbon Disc Road Fork

Disc Brakes

I still need to sort out the brakes. 

Handle bars
Although cyclocross bikes are always drop bars, I am going to use straight bars - in part because I have drop bars on my cyclocross and fixie now and bull horns on my single speed.  I think the straight bars will be good for gravel rides.  I like the leather grips Bamboobee has

Other Stuff
Cranks and Pedals are still open on the list.  I suspect I will get some nice natural brown wheels.  I love the Brooks cambium saddle, although it is a bit pricey.

I plan on making a custom head-badge in either wood or metal - but need to sort out an image and design.  I might do the same with the stem cap.  My wife has been doing a lot of leather work, so I think I will have her show me how to make a leather bike handle like this...

So lots to figure out.  As I select specific items and zero in on specs, I will share.

The Bamboo Bike Kit Arrived!

The bamboo bike kit I ordered from Bamboobee came last week via DHL.  It took just 2 days to make it.  Opening it was a bit like opening an Apple product.  Packaging created to make the process and experience.  There was not a lot of tape or things to fight through.  Just a simple box sealed in plastic.

When I opened it, there was no styrofoam, no bubble wrap, no fighting.  The kit was laid out beautifully in front of me.

 The smaller boxes, which were nicely labeled were just more treasures to open.

 I can tell by the design of the packaging, the jig cut-outs and the way the bike goes together, that Sunny is not new to packaging design.  If he is, it must be in his genes.

The DIY Bamboo Bike Frame Kit transaction experience

As I mentioned in the last post, I chose to order a bamboo bike frame kit from Bamboobee

Before I ordered, I asked a few questions about the frame options via email.  I soon came to learn that Sunny, the founder and main proprietor, was the primary contact.  It was fun knowing I was talking directly with the founder.  Even though they are located in Singapore, the interactions were very responsive and customer focused.

Next I ordered online.  Bamboobee uses Paypal for payments.

Before they ship, you get a survey which asks you some more questions about your frame and some extra parts.  Bamboobee provides many of the additional parts needed to round out your bike – like fork, handlebars, seat and post, brakes, pedals and crank, etc. (all but the wheels). I chose to get a frame with dropouts that would work with disc brakes.

Another thing to note is that they cannot ship the epoxy, so you need to order it independently.  It seems the gold standard is West Systems - http://www.westsystem.com/ss/. I ended up purchasing mine on Amazon.  I also opted for Bamboobee's epoxy working kit (gloves, sticks, cups, apron, etc.)

It shipped via DHL so it arrived fairly quick.  The experience of opening the box worth another blog, so I will save that for next time.

How do I build a bamboo bike – the search

First off, with 4 bikes (a Jamis 29er for mountain biking, a custom Whisper Cyclocross bike, a rebuilt single speed and a rebuilt fixie) I was not sure I could justify building another bike – even if it was a bamboo bike.  My wife was actually pretty supportive of me doing it, but I was feeling excessive.  Then I learned my daughter fit on my single speed  - and with my son soon behind, all my bikes would have reasons to be rode. I had excess inventory!

So I started doing some research on how to build a bamboo bike.

I found some great resources on Instructables.  Here are a few

http://www.instructables.com/id/How-to-Build-a-Bamboo-Bicycle/

http://www.instructables.com/id/Bamboo-Bike-Frame/

http://www.instructables.com/id/How-I-built-a-carbon-bike-frame-at-home-and-a-bam/ 

http://www.instructables.com/id/Building-a-Carbon-Fibre-Bamboo-Bicycle-From-Scratc/

Outside of instructbles, this was a great reference

http://www.cameronbrown.ca/blog/2013/01/how-to-build-a-bamboo-bike-part-1-plannin-things-n-fetchin-stuff/

I found some references that used old bikes to handle much of the structure including the seat and wheel stays.  I wanted to start a little more from scratch.

Then I found a blog that opened up the world a bit

https://bamboobike.wordpress.com/

From there I could find places to buy parts and bamboo as well as other great info.  The most interesting find in the blog was a place to buy bamboo specifically for bike building

http://bamboohabitat.com/bamboo-poles/#Bamboo%20For%20Bikes

While searching I found out there were places to buy bamboo bike frame kits.  For my first attempt I liked the idea of starting from a kit.  I would learn some of the basic and have a place to get the right materials.  At the time I wrote this, Calfee was still talking about kits, but did not have one yet.

Here are the few I found…

• http://bamboobikesupplies.com/collections/all
• http://bamboobee.net
• http://bamboobicycleclub.org/kits-for-bamboo-bike-building/
• http://www.herobike.org/collections/our-kits

Based on price and the fact that I found Bamboobee.net via kickstarter (I am an entrepreneur) I leaned toward Bamboobee. 

I want to build a bamboo bike

This blog grew out of the desire to build yet another bike (I built two single speed bikes out of old ten speed frames found by a friend over the past two years).   While pouring through bike porn to determine some of the components I wanted for these bikes, I stumbled onto some bamboo bikes built by Calfee Designs.  At that point I knew I needed to build my own.  

http://calfeedesign.com/products/bamboo/

It turns out that the strength-to-weight ratio of bamboo is quite good.  It also provides some of the dampening characteristics of carbon fiber frame.

Check out the bike testing video here: https://vimeo.com/6930129   

Two years later I am now starting.  This blog is my own personal journal for the build.  I don’t see it stopping at just this one.