Bamboo Home Built

Here's the bamboo frame I made in (and outside of) my apartment in Asheville, NC. All the main "tubes" are made of kiln dried black bamboo. The joints are made of post heat cured carbon fiber composite. All internal metal frame hardware is titanium.

I've been using it messengering since January '08, subjecting it to fairly harsh treatment. It's super comfy, absorbs a lot of road shock, but is a tad flexy laterly.

No real problems so far. I did have to patch a couple of cracks that formed. Bamboo cracking is from radial tensions and from unequal expansion due to moisture transfer, and in this case doesn't affect the strength of the "tube". But it is important to patch to avoid water getting in. I used hemp and epoxy to patch.

This spring I will be building another fixed bamboo frame, but this time will make it even better.
I may be doing a frame building workshop at the Fixed Gear Symposium (related to Fixed Gear Gallery) in Traverse City, MI in August, especially if there is enough advanced interest. Contact [email protected] if interested.

Keith Young
Asheville, NC