# Self Build Bamboo Bike Frame Kit Build Thread



## chriswoody (12 Oct 2017)

So I've decided that I needed a Winter project to keep me amused in the evenings and what better project than a home built bike? However, I've built several bikes over the years using off the peg components and decided this time that I fancied something a little different. So I'm going to be also building the frame using Bamboo.

It's actually a home build kit supplied by the Bamboo Bicycle Club in London. I've been intrigued by Bamboo as a frame material for a while and when I saw that there were home build kits available I decided that it would make an ideal Winter project.

I'm going to be making a single speed road frame and I'll document it all in this thread. It will be a slow build over the next months, but I want to take my time and enjoy it. I'm in no rush to get the bike on the road.

The guys at the Bamboo Bicycle Club have been really good to deal with as I've placed my order and had a few questions here and there. It arrived packaged in a sturdy box and hopefully contains all I need.












There's a set of plans and a comprehensive instruction book, beautifully illustrated and containing over 140 pages. Daunted? Me? never!






The all important Bamboo, there's also a couple of spare tubes in case of mistakes.




A box containing the dropouts, BB insert, headstock and the frame jig amongst other bits.






The Hemp and Resin to create the all important lugs.






The last box contains the most important part of all, a bottle of celebratory beer.

So far I've just made a start on setting up my work table and set up the frame jig.





It's been fairly straight forward so far, but I've only set the jig up, the next step will be to cut and shape the Downtube.

So I'll update this thread as I move along.


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## Andrew1971 (12 Oct 2017)

I will following this thread because I have been tempted aswell something different
Andrew


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## Smokin Joe (12 Oct 2017)

Sounds fascinating, please keep the updates coming.

I'd ask to have the thread moved to General Cycling, it would get a wider audience.


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## chriswoody (12 Oct 2017)

Thanks folks, nice to have some people following.



Smokin Joe said:


> Sounds fascinating, please keep the updates coming.
> 
> I'd ask to have the thread moved to General Cycling, it would get a wider audience.



I was pondering where best to stick this, maybe I will ask for it to be moved there.

So tonight I spent a happy hour fettling the Down tube. The Down tube is the largest diameter piece of Bamboo and needs cutting to length and mitring to fit the BB shell at one end and the head tube at the other. The kit supplies a piece of plastic pipe of roughly the same diameter as the aforementioned tubes as well as a piece of 40grit sandpaper. So nothing for it but to sand away at the end of the tube until you have the correct profile.






All the while test fitting against the BB shell to try and get the snuggest fit possible.






Once that ends finished, measure the down tube against the jig and cut the tube to length, then it's back to sanding the end of the tube to fit the head tube. The key with this mitre is making sure that it's at 90 degrees to the mitre on the other end of the tube.






Still a bit of work to do, but we're getting there.


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## Heltor Chasca (12 Oct 2017)

But this is our food...

https://goo.gl/images/GzDtwK


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## stewie griffin (12 Oct 2017)

Brilliant Chriswoody, looking forward to following this. 

Enjoy the build.


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## TheDoctor (12 Oct 2017)

No no no I really don't need another bike. She'll kill me to death!

How much is the kit?


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## Tangoup51 (13 Oct 2017)

TheDoctor said:


> No no no I really don't need another bike. She'll kill me to death!
> 
> How much is the kit?



Only £260 for some. That said, considering Bamboo is supposed to be a.. "cheap" material and that building things up yourself (like kit cars) tend to be less expensive than pre-built ones... Haavvee to still question the price somewhat, but maybe im missing something


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## raleighnut (13 Oct 2017)

Looks fun, better than a model kit.


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## chriswoody (13 Oct 2017)

TheDoctor said:


> No no no I really don't need another bike. She'll kill me to death!
> 
> How much is the kit?



I had to do some hard negotiating with the wife over the last few months as well, I've got a feeling it's going to come back and haunt me one day! This one was £260 and that was without forks.



Tangoup51 said:


> Only £260 for some. That said, considering Bamboo is supposed to be a.. "cheap" material and that building things up yourself (like kit cars) tend to be less expensive than pre-built ones... Haavvee to still question the price somewhat, but maybe im missing something



It's a fair question and something I pondered as well, however, I think in the grand scheme of things it's a good price. It wouldn't have cost a great deal more for an off the shelf steel frame from the likes of Surly, however, you can't put a price on the enjoyment and satisfaction you get from building your own frame.

I'm not sure what species of Bamboo it is and hence how hard it is to source, but it's certainly not your Garden cane variety of Bamboo. There's several steel inserts as well, the head tube, seat post, rear dropouts and BB. They all conform to modern size standards and I believe that they are manufactured by Reynolds. There is also an accurate plan of the frame, a comprehensive instruction booklet and an accurate frame jig, not to mention the hemp, glues and resin supplied. There's a lot of design and development gone into this along with excellent after sales service. They even offer Skype calls if you get into a real pickle. The Bamboo Bicycle Club is a small concern, operating out of a London workshop so their economies of scale will be far different to a large manufacture, so overall I think it's a fair price.


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## Tangoup51 (13 Oct 2017)

chriswoody said:


> I had to do some hard negotiating with the wife over the last few months as well, I've got a feeling it's going to come back and haunt me one day! This one was £260 and that was without forks.
> 
> 
> 
> ...



Sadly its true; the bamboo used in those frames is old and has been made to work for this purpose; that said, alot of manufactures of bamboo like to point out how friendly bamboo is to the environment compared to steel frames and what not; stating its a cheaper and renewable source of material, yadadayadaaa; still costing on par with steel (or actually more in a good few cases) which to me; contradicts the whole "cheaper and more renewable material" argument.

Despite what you get for the price, you have to remember, they're saving alot of money by cutting out labor required to make the frames for you. - The cost of that labor is going to be way more than the cost of supplying you with the basic frame alignment kit, some aftermarket resin and Cut-to-piece metal. I imagine the cost of a high quality steel / alloy frame would be significantly reduced if it just came as individual tubes and not welded perfectly either.

Aftermarket care is something to be expected; not something you have to pay for either. So, I still maintain that £260 + Hours of your labor to build a "cheap and renewable" frame.. Kinda weird.

Oh, and actually I did find DIY bamboo kits as cheap as £160 as well, which had decent reviews and provided everything you needed as well, so maybe you paid 40% more for better quality steel inserts..? or more likely excessive packaging, beer & skype calls.

Bamboo isn't anything special in terms of the material; except, it's grown like a plant and is very renewable. - So its main trump card should be the price, hence, my "eh" attitude to the whole thing having such a price gap


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## raleighnut (13 Oct 2017)

Tangoup51 said:


> Sadly its true; the bamboo used in those frames is old and has been made to work for this purpose; that said, alot of manufactures of bamboo like to point out how friendly bamboo is to the environment compared to steel frames and what not; stating its a cheaper and renewable source of material, yadadayadaaa; still costing on par with steel (or actually more in a good few cases) which to me; contradicts the whole "cheaper and more renewable material" argument.
> 
> Despite what you get for the price, you have to remember, they're saving alot of money by cutting out labor required to make the frames for you. - The cost of that labor is going to be way more than the cost of supplying you with the basic frame alignment kit, some aftermarket resin and Cut-to-piece metal. I imagine the cost of a high quality steel / alloy frame would be significantly reduced if it just came as individual tubes and not welded perfectly either.
> 
> ...


Eerr, Bamboo is a plant, well the one growing in my back garden is.


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## Tangoup51 (13 Oct 2017)

raleighnut said:


> Eerr, Bamboo is a plant, well the one growing in my back garden is.



bamboo is a plant? growing in your backgarden?  well don't throw that + a bottle of epoxy at me and charge me £260


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## Drago (13 Oct 2017)

How do the tubes attach to each other?


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## raleighnut (13 Oct 2017)

Tangoup51 said:


> bamboo is a plant? growing in your backgarden?  well don't throw that + a bottle of epoxy at me and charge me £260


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## Tangoup51 (13 Oct 2017)

raleighnut said:


> View attachment 378485



Sold.


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## Milkfloat (13 Oct 2017)

Drago said:


> How do the tubes attach to each other?



Hemp cloth, epoxy and prayers.


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## chriswoody (13 Oct 2017)

Tangoup51 said:


> Aftermarket care is something to be expected; not something you have to pay for either. So, I still maintain that £260 + Hours of your labor to build a "cheap and renewable" frame.. Kinda weird.
> 
> Oh, and actually I did find DIY bamboo kits as cheap as £160 as well, which had decent reviews and provided everything you needed as well, so maybe you paid 40% more for better quality steel inserts..? or more likely excessive packaging, beer & skype calls.



Well at the end of the day you get what you pay for and no, there was no excess packaging on here. I was the one who put their money where their mouth was and bought it and I personally think it was good value for money. I've no wish to over analysis this, I just fancied an interesting challenge for the winter and create something unique and original.

So back on topic:



Drago said:


> How do the tubes attach to each other?





Milkfloat said:


> Hemp cloth, epoxy and prayers.



Well, it's a little more than that, there is also glue involved, but thats the general principle. There's currently a friend of a friend who's cycling round South America on one of these, so I've a lot of faith in the process.


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## Smokin Joe (13 Oct 2017)

As you got the frame building jig with it, a future project could well involve buying a set of steel tubes and a welding kit...


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## screenman (13 Oct 2017)

Funny how costs pop into so many topics in here, personally it looks good fun and good value.


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## reacher (13 Oct 2017)

I believe theirs some Australian dude who tears up an down climbs matching a lot of the pros out training, on a bamboo bike, skinny guy eats the leaves from trees an not much else


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## chriswoody (13 Oct 2017)

So in an attempt to get this thread back on to it's intended track here's tonights small piece of work.

I've moved on to the seat post now and the first job is to select a suitable piece of Bamboo from the pile. Firstly it needs to be close to 30mm internal diameter, secondly you need to pay close attention to where the nodal wall is (The "Bulkheads" that run across the bamboo). Basically the longest section without a wall you can find, will allow you to insert enough length of seat tube. 

Because you can't clamp a seat post into Bamboo, they also provide a metal sleeve in the kit, that sits inside the top of the seat post. The instructions are a little incorrect here though. They state that 150mm of sleeve should be inserted into the post and a further 20mm should protrude for bonding with the hemp later. Not only does this not allow for the seat post clamp, but the sleeve itself is only 150mm long!

So I decided to place the seat post clamp on the sleeve, then leave a gap of 15mm to the top of the seat post tube. I then taped the sleeve into the tube, so that I could place it on the plans and determine the length of post I required. Once I marked this off I trimmed the post to length and then preceded to mitre the end so it would fit the BB shell. 

















So I just need to notch this post now so it fits against the down tube and then were done and can move on to the top tube.


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## Nigelnightmare (13 Oct 2017)

First discrepancy!
Before doing anything, contact the bamboo bike club and ask them about it.
See what they say,
It could be that the wrong insert has been packed for your kit.

Keep's your back covered.


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## chriswoody (20 Oct 2017)

Ok about time for an update I think. 

The Seat post sleeve is really not a concern, there is more than enough insert in the Bamboo to do the job it's meant to to.

So before moving on I took a long hard look at the work that I'd done on the down tube and decided it really wasn't up to scratch, the mitres were not straight enough on the Head tube and BB. So I took the hard decision to bin the tube and start again. Luckily there's a spare main tube in the kit for just such an occasion. So I've spent lots of time this last week carefully measuring and sanding a new down tube. I went a lot slower this time and tried to not make the same mistakes as before. Pretty pleased with the fit this time.






The real key is making sure that it is truly at 90 degrees to the BB mitre and the last one wasn't. This one though is spot on.

Next it was back to the Seat tube. After the end of the tube is mitred to fit the BB shell ,it needs cutting to fit over the top of the Downtube. Again slow and careful was the order of the day.






propped up on the BB shell it fits really well:











So there we go, a lot of effort and only two tubes completed! I'm enjoying myself though and I'm in no rush. Hopefully the top tube won't take so much effort.


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## JhnBssll (21 Oct 2017)

This looks like a lot of fun - great value I would say!

Dangerously tempting... maybe a project for next winter


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## bamboobicycleclub (23 Oct 2017)

nice to see how the kit is all working out! If you want to see a frame built over a few minutes you tube channel - 
View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k79tmYj9Cxk&list=PLwWOIQDjpzQ1YcK-ZJTQ-eTesaeIX1tyE


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## chriswoody (23 Oct 2017)

bamboobicycleclub said:


> nice to see how the kit is all working out! If you want to see a frame built over a few minutes you tube channel



Good to see you pop in and follow along! I've watched those videos numerous times, a good way to clarify a point or visualise the next step. 

Well I've managed to finish cutting and shaping the top tube and here it is lying loosely in place. The next step is to glue the three tube's into place, but there's a fair bit of preparation work to do first.


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## fixedfixer (24 Oct 2017)

Looking good 

I'm enjoying this build thread.


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## Cycleops (24 Oct 2017)

Looking good. I guess the acid test is if the joins stay together. Do you apply any reinforcements?


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## confusedcyclist (24 Oct 2017)

Tangoup51 said:


> Bamboo isn't anything special in terms of the material; except, it's grown like a plant and is very renewable. - So its main trump card should be the price, hence, my "eh" attitude to the whole thing having such a price gap


My motivation for buying this would be experience, not price.

It's a bit daft to factor in the "price" of labour in what is essentially a hobby project. Comparing a industrially manufactured product with a DIY wood alternative is a bit like comparing ASDA's smart price white loaf (which is essentially 75% sawdust) with homemade organic sourdough bread.


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## Tangoup51 (24 Oct 2017)

confusedcyclist said:


> My motivation for buying this would be experience, not price.
> 
> It's a bit daft to factor in the "price" of labour in what is essentially a hobby project. Comparing a industrially manufactured product with a DIY wood alternative is a bit like comparing ASDA's smart price white loaf (which is essentially 75% sawdust) with homemade organic sourdough bread.
> 
> ...




I was referring to the entirety of bamboo uses as a bicycle frame, not within the confines of a hobby kit. So you might want to check your quoting.

Bamboo frames can be more than just someones "hobby project" on the weekend, they have alot more potential than that. 

And as for the price - Do you think its daft to factor that in to the one frame material that is more renewable than the alternatives? Infact, that should be its main selling point, but it's not. - Irregardless of what reason, it's contradictory to the majority of the selling talk of a bamboo frame. - How it's more renewable, cheaper and what not. 

Which is, what i was going on back there.


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## Drago (24 Oct 2017)

Is it more renewable? It'll never be melted down and the material re used.


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## chriswoody (24 Oct 2017)

confusedcyclist said:


> Comparing a industrially manufactured product with a DIY *wood* alternative is a bit like comparing ASDA's smart price white loaf (which is essentially 75% sawdust) with homemade organic sourdough bread.



Technically Bamboo is a grass and not wood. 



Cycleops said:


> Looking good. I guess the acid test is if the joins stay together. Do you apply any reinforcements?



So the stage I'm at at the moment is to glue the front tubes together. This provides some strength to the joints, but also helps to keep the front triangle in place while I build the rear triangle. Then once the rear triangle is cut and shaped, that too is glued into place.

After that comes the Lug binding. Essentially I have a large hemp cloth that is cut into bandage like strips and soaked in resin. Then you wrap these around the joins before soaking them in more resin. They extend out from the ends of the frame tubes by up to 10cm. The resin and hemp cloth can be seen in the photo below:







As for the strength, well there are BMX's and mountain bikes out there built from these kits and a friend of a freind, Kate Rawles is currently riding around South America on one. http://www.outdoorphilosophy.co.uk/life-cycle/
There's a lot of info on their website about the lugs and chemicals used. I figure as long as I follow the instructions I should be OK!


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## chriswoody (24 Oct 2017)

Tangoup51 said:


> I was referring to the entirety of bamboo uses as a bicycle frame, not within the confines of a hobby kit. So you might want to check your quoting.
> 
> Bamboo frames can be more than just someones "hobby project" on the weekend, they have alot more potential than that.
> 
> ...



I can see what your getting at, leaving aside the cost of this kit for the moment. As you rightly point out, Bamboo is a sustainable, fast growing plant, which in theory should be relatively inexpensive. In theory it should be a viable alternative frame material to the more established materials, however, a quick glance around the net shows that they are still only a niche product. More importantly than that, they do seem to be expensive, probably stemming from the fact that they are quite labour intensive to create? There's an interesting post about joining Bamboo tubes here that makes me feel that mass production would be pretty tricky: 

http://bamboobicycleclub.org/bamboo-bicycle-joining-methods/


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## Tangoup51 (24 Oct 2017)

chriswoody said:


> I can see what your getting at, leaving aside the cost of this kit for the moment. As you rightly point out, Bamboo is a sustainable, fast growing plant, which in theory should be relatively inexpensive. In theory it should be a viable alternative frame material to the more established materials, however, a quick glance around the net shows that they are still only a niche product. More importantly than that, they do seem to be expensive, probably stemming from the fact that they are quite labour intensive to create? There's an interesting post about joining Bamboo tubes here that makes me feel that mass production would be pretty tricky:
> 
> http://bamboobicycleclub.org/bamboo-bicycle-joining-methods/



Personally, I do not believe labor intensity is a huge factor to why they're expensive. - Carbon would be considerably more tricky (and is) and small Chinese manufactures churn them out at very low prices. 

I mean after all, you have no experience working with bamboo before but you're doing a hell of a fine job, just provided with a small crate of the supplies. 

That's a good find with the article - I think Hemp with epoxy is the best way to go, the "disadvantages" aren't severe and can be worked around.


But, for any mass producing firm of these bikes (esp around china) I'd imagine they'd use carbon fiber and epoxy. - Two reasons for this, 

1) Is that the carbon material they can source can be very cheap.

2) It'd be easier to source the tools & workers with experience in that field of greater quantity. 


I actually believe that the reason bamboo bikes are expensive, is because it uses a specific type of bamboo (possibly grown in a specific way) or to a specific age. - So when they tell you it's Bamboo, it's a very loose marketing term, but probably really means "A very hard to grow type of badass bamboo"

But I could be wrong here, but either way you look at it, it's just not as renewable as a material as it might be laid out to be.


**Edit - I just realized that alot of those bamboo articles talk alot about comparing bamboo to other metals and carbon fiber and why Bamboo is superior in strength - but then you realize that the most important parts of the frame is held together with carbon and metal lugs?


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## Randy Butternubs (25 Oct 2017)

My instinct is that bamboo is probably the most expensive material in terms of labour.

Metal frames take a standard industrial product and can be assembled and welded by machine. Even welding/brazing by hand is quick when you have the right jigs.



Tangoup51 said:


> Carbon would be considerably more tricky (and is) and small Chinese manufactures churn them out at very low prices.



I don't know much about carbon-fibre construction but seeing as you are still working with a standard industrial product I Imagine it would be relatively quick. Even with wooden frames the wood can be precisely milled to the desired dimensions by machine or you can laminate thick veneers to make custom plywood in whatever shape/curvature you want.

With bamboo though you have to deal with slightly varying diameter from piece to piece and within a single length. Also varying wall thickness and nodal wall placement. Having to allow for this kind of variance usually drives up the build time enormously.

That said; the biggest reason for the cost of a pre-built bamboo frame is probably economy of scale. They are too niche to be cheap.

On a different note: I love the whole cloth-and-epoxy (a.k.a micarta) thing. It's really satisfying and can also be quite beautiful. Here's a shot of a micarta cleat from my friend's Mirror dinghy.






Epoxy is brilliant stuff. Unfortunately is not the healthiest to work with. I'm sorry if you already know this OP but it's best to avoid getting any on your skin and work in a well ventilated area. Above all, if you have to sand it make sure it is fully cured first.

Also, unlike all other glues it cures by an exothermic chemical reaction. This means if you mix up a large quantity in a tub it will heat itself up and set much faster than a small quantity. I've even heard of it melting through plastic containers when very large quantities are made. If you need to keep it runny for a long time you should spread it thin over a large area - the opposite of what you would expect from most other glues.


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## Tangoup51 (25 Oct 2017)

Randy Butternubs said:


> I don't know much about carbon-fibre construction but seeing as you are still working with a standard industrial product I Imagine it would be relatively quick. Even with wooden frames the wood can be precisely milled to the desired dimensions by machine or you can laminate thick veneers to make custom plywood in whatever shape/curvature you want.
> 
> With bamboo though you have to deal with slightly varying diameter from piece to piece and within a single length. Also varying wall thickness and nodal wall placement. Having to allow for this kind of variance usually drives up the build time enormously.
> 
> That said; the biggest reason for the cost of a pre-built bamboo frame is probably economy of scale. They are too niche to be cheap.



Sadly no, carbon is very hard to work with. You need to apply varying layers of the differing material multiple times over before vacuuming the air out of it and then heating it in especial oven that doesn't allow air to be trapped in th---- look, no one sells DIY carbon frame kits for a good reason, let's put it that way.

And while you raise good points about ensuring you install and properly cut your bamboo in the respective areas - someone with remote experience dealing with Bamboo frames could assemble one with experience alone - these things you can learn to understand. Even if you knew everything about Carbon frames, to build one you would need so much more than experience. - Bamboo, not much more.


Yes, but what is the reason for it being "niche" - why cant it get off the ground? I Contested it was to due with the type of Bamboo used, that isn't as easily obtainable and as renewable as sellers of bamboo frames like you to believe.

I could be wrong, but thats my penny overall.


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## Drago (25 Oct 2017)

So far you've used care and attention to obtain a neat result. I hope you continue this when wrapping the joints, cos I've seen some right abortions pictured on the interweb.


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## Gary E (25 Oct 2017)

If you have enough hemp/resin and you're not used to doing this sort of thing, make yourself a practice joint from the length of bamboo you discarded earlier. Take your time and even practice it dry to make sure you know exactly where each piece is going. The good thing about the resin is that it makes a really strong joint that is very tough. 

The bad thing is that it makes a really strong joint that is very tough (and it's a bugger to do anything with if you get it wrong)  good luck. 

I'm really enjoying following your progress and, for what it's worth, I think that for the enjoyment you (and those of us following this thread) are getting it's cheap at twice the price


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## chriswoody (25 Oct 2017)

Randy Butternubs said:


> I'm sorry if you already know this OP but it's best to avoid getting any on your skin and work in a well ventilated area. Above all, if you have to sand it make sure it is fully cured first.



Please don't be sorry, I did already know but there's no harm in repeating. It is good advice and I'll try to be as careful as I can. 



Drago said:


> So far you've used care and attention to obtain a neat result. I hope you continue this when wrapping the joints, cos I've seen some right abortions pictured on the interweb.



One of the things initially putting me off this idea was the frames I'd seen that looked like an accident in a parcel tape factory. However there are some frames on their website that have been finished beautifully, with the lugs sanded, filled, polished and painted. I'm going to attempt to go down this route and smooth the lugs and paint them white. Leaving all the beautiful Bamboo on show between them. How successful I'll be remains to be seen. There's some great advice both on their website and in their instruction manuals about how to achieve this, so in for a penny in for a pound.


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## Randy Butternubs (25 Oct 2017)

Tangoup51 said:


> Sadly no, carbon is very hard to work with. You need to apply varying layers of the differing material multiple times over before vacuuming the air out of it and then heating it in especial oven that doesn't allow air to be trapped in th---- look, no one sells DIY carbon frame kits for a good reason, let's put it that way.
> 
> And while you raise good points about ensuring you install and properly cut your bamboo in the respective areas - someone with remote experience dealing with Bamboo frames could assemble one with experience alone - these things you can learn to understand. Even if you knew everything about Carbon frames, to build one you would need so much more than experience. - Bamboo, not much more.



True, but if something requires high skill and expensive machinery (it is "difficult") it means that it is beyond the reach of the amateur but does not mean it is not commercially viable. Vice-versa if something can be done without special tools or skills (it is "simple") it _is_ within the reach of the amateur but is not _necessarily _commercially viable.

Put another way: anyone can buy a few chisels and a mallet and have a go at woodcarving. It is "simple" (not the best example I know since good wood carving requires tons of skill). Despite this you never see woodcarving on mass produced furniture as it takes too much time and is not perfectly repeatable.

On the other hand: _doors._ I know how to make a traditional solid-wood door, a (good) veneered door, or a combination of the two. I recently took a chisel to a commercial house door a friend had bought in order to cut the mortise for the lock and the rebates for the hinges. As I dug through it I observed, deduced and was astounded by its complexity of construction. Over the particle board substrate were interlocking, overlapping layers of veneer, solid-wood lipping, inlay where decorative grooves would be machined, reinforcement where the lock would go etc. It was mind-boggling that something so complex was not only commercially viable, but much cheaper than a simpler door made from more expensive materials. With the right tools and the process nailed down it was possible to efficiently turn one standard product (veneer of a precise thickness and precisely dimensioned wood) into another much more complicated one on an industrial scale.

I could be wrong but I imagine that carbon fibre frames can be made fairly cheaply for the same reason despite the skill and fancy machinery involved.



Tangoup51 said:


> Yes, but what is the reason for it being "niche" - why cant it get off the ground? I Contested it was to due with the type of Bamboo used, that isn't as easily obtainable and as renewable as sellers of bamboo frames like you to believe.



I think you get a vicious cycle where a product is niche because it's expensive and expensive because it's niche. To break the cycle you need big investment, or for your product to be demonstrably better _or just different_ than the competitor's. If, for the sake of argument, bamboo frames are 'just as good' as metal ones but no better and no cheaper then they are going to struggle to get off the ground since metal frames are so established. Carbon fibre became popular due to the (real or perceived) performance advantage.

Belt drive bicycles seem like a good example of this to me. As a layman, it seems like they should not be inherently expensive and that they offer some nice little advantages compared to a chain. I think they haven't become mainstream partly because the advantages over chains are too minor for the products to take off and become cheaper.

You could well be right about needing special bamboo though. I know that the strength of hardwoods varies greatly depending on the growing speed and conditions.


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## chriswoody (26 Oct 2017)

Thanks for all the kind words and comments folks. It's good to see the thread is of interest to people. 

Now I've hit a bit of a major problem and could do with some input. I've been having some problems with the bottom bracket shell. Basically I decided to trial fit an old bottom bracket into the shell to double check which side was the drive side. I really don't want to bond the shell in and then find it's the wrong way round. So I had real problems with the right hand cup (Drive Side) and ended up destroying the shell threads  . So the Bamboo Bicycle club sent me out two replacements. 

So there I am again checking the new shells and still no joy. So I'm thinking maybe it's the old BB I'm using. So today a shiny new Shimano one arrived, 28mm English Threaded, just like the BB Shell. Gently trying both sides of the shell I've got the left hand one fitting like a charm, but the right hand one refuses to go in. Now I'm a pretty competent home mechanic generally and I'm well aware that the Drive Side (right hand) is an anti clockwise thread. It's even marked on the cups themselves but there's no way it's going in and I don't want to force it. I've tried each shell in both sides, I've even compared photos of clockwise and anti clockwise threads to determine which side is which of the shell.

I'm going to email the Bamboo Bicycle club, but I'm wondering that 3 different shells have the same issue. Is it me? am I being an idiot here and doing something wrong? The photo below shows the right hand cup and the full extent that it will go in:






Any thoughts or help would be greatly appreciated.


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## raleighnut (26 Oct 2017)

chriswoody said:


> Thanks for all the kind words and comments folks. It's good to see the thread is of interest to people.
> 
> Now I've hit a bit of a major problem and could do with some input. I've been having some problems with the bottom bracket shell. Basically I decided to trial fit an old bottom bracket into the shell to double check which side was the drive side. I really don't want to bond the shell in and then find it's the wrong way round. So I had real problems with the right hand cup (Drive Side) and ended up destroying the shell threads  . So the Bamboo Bicycle club sent me out two replacements.
> 
> ...



I'd try the other one in that side 'gently' the BB cups should screw in easily by hand until the shoulder hits (then you torque em up with the spanner.

I'm thinking manufacturing error where a batch have been 'tapped' wrongly i.e. with the same thread both sides.


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## Randy Butternubs (26 Oct 2017)

It looks from the photo like the cup is barely going in. Is it screwing in properly a little bit and then firming up or is there resistance from the get go?

If the former then you might have a little bit of thread deformation somewhere on the cup or shell; in which you might be able to force it or get the threads in the shell chased out by a bike shop.

If the latter it might just be that the termination (or start depending on how you look at it) of the cup or shell threads is not very clean. Inspect both for burrs or deformed threads. Burrs can be winkled off and bent threads can be straightened out or filed out. Picks are really useful to have for this sort of thing.






Is it possible you are just having trouble aligning the parts? I find screwing in these kind of relatively broad, shallow things (the cup) awkward and it's easy to begin cross-threading on each attempt. Have you tried screwing the cup the wrong way until you feel/hear a click of the final thread clicking into place, then screwing it in the right way?


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## Tangoup51 (26 Oct 2017)

Don't become overly paranoid and lose your nerve just because it went bad the first time. You say you don't want to force it, but how much "force" have you given it? It will take alot to strip those threads, alot more force than you can put in by accident. Make sure it is as aligned as it can be and give it a fair bootful. - That's my penny anyway.

**Edit: sometimes problems occur when people care and overthink things, sometimes you really need to not care


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## Tenacious Sloth (27 Oct 2017)

Tangoup51 said:


> Don't become overly paranoid and lose your nerve just because it went bad the first time. You say you don't want to force it, but how much "force" have you given it? It will take alot to strip those threads, alot more force than you can put in by accident. Make sure it is as aligned as it can be and give it a fair bootful. - That's my penny anyway.
> 
> **Edit: sometimes problems occur when people care and overthink things, sometimes you really need to not care



Hmmm. Easy to say when it’s not your BB Shell. 

You could always send one of the shells and the B.B. back to them and see if they can get them in. Last resort though.

I’m enjoying your posts. Keep up the good work.



Graham.


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## Gary E (27 Oct 2017)

As you've tried 2 sets of BBs and you've confirmed it's the correct thread (by fitting the RH thread side) I'd say that it's down to the manufacture of the shell. As you've already said; this isn't a massive company and so all of the items you've received so far are likely from the same batch.

As far as forcing the BBs in is concerned, I'd be inclined to leave this as a last resort - remember at some point in the future, once the bike is complete, you're likely to want to get them out again. You ideally want the BBs to come out of the fitting rather than the fitting to tear out of the Bamboo frame!

It's worth having a look at the thread and cleaning if required and you could try greasing them and putting them in as it looks in the picture that you're doing it dry. This doesn't have to be the final assembly (so you can use as much as you like then clean it up again later), once you've managed to fit the BB once, you'll hopefully find that the BBs are better fit. Don't force it and do it in stages - every half turn or so take the BB out and clean out any swarfe that may have built up. If you have a good bike shop near you they might have a thread tap they can run down the threads to clean them up (if they're not too far out).


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## fixedfixer (27 Oct 2017)

Local bike shop will run a tap through it to clean up threads. Should then spin in and out nice and freely. Althernative would be to make a tap from an old cup - I copied and idea I saw on another forum.


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## Phaeton (27 Oct 2017)

Or at least take the unit you are trying to screw in to LBS & ask if they can screw it into a known good unit to test that, if that's okay then you know the issue is with the one bonded in.


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## chriswoody (27 Oct 2017)

Thanks folks for the input, much appreciated. I've been having another go this morning and the left hand side goes in an absolute treat, but the right hand one will go in one turn relatively easily and then bind completely. I've tried the other cup in there gently to see if the've accidentally put in a clockwise thread, but no joy with that.

The bottom bracket shell is strongly bonded in to a Bamboo Frame in much the same way that a Carbon Fibre framed one is. So once it's it there's no way to remove it, which is why I'm keen for it to be correct from the start. I've actually pushed it as far as possible to the extent that I needed to clamp the BB removal tool in the vice and use a lot of force on the shell to remove the cup.

I've eliminated the dirty threads problem by using a brand new bottom bracket and the shell from the bike is brand new as well. I've had a good look at the shell threads and there's no swarf in there, it's actually really well machined with no visible problems or burrs, it just doesn't work!

As @Gary E has said because these are all small run items they must be all from the same batch. However I would expect that there must be more of them out there in the wild so maybe someone else is having the same issues.

There's a really good old school bike shop not far from here who've helped in the past, maybe I'll swing by shortly and see what they say. One issue is that you can't clamp the shell into a bench vice to work on it, because you risk deforming it.


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## Phaeton (27 Oct 2017)

It could just be the wrong thread, imperial against metric, or tpi (threads per inch) or I suppose there is a new acronym for metric (I'm old)


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## Gary E (27 Oct 2017)

Phaeton said:


> It could just be the wrong thread, imperial against metric, or tpi (threads per inch) or I suppose there is a new acronym for metric (I'm old)


If the other side hadn't gone in this would have been my guess too. However they're unlikely to use 2 different thread patterns in the same BB Shell (obviously one is LH and the other RH). Customer service (from what you say so far) seems excellent so might be worth another call? They'll likely be happy to hear from you if it saves them having to recall/replace components from future sales?


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## fixedfixer (27 Oct 2017)

use an old cup from a cup and cone type in the good end with a nut and bolt through it (like my photo) . Then clamp the bolt in the vice and operate on the other 'bad' end. As you say don't clamp the bb shell in the vice it WILL deform.


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## Illaveago (27 Oct 2017)

Phaeton said:


> It could just be the wrong thread, imperial against metric, or tpi (threads per inch) or I suppose there is a new acronym for metric (I'm old)


It sounds like you could be right in that the cup goes in part way and then seizes. One way of confirming that would be to try a cup of a different thread to see if that works. 
A better solution might be to return the part for a replacement which works rather than damage the existing one.


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## chriswoody (27 Oct 2017)

Phaeton said:


> It could just be the wrong thread, imperial against metric, or tpi (threads per inch) or I suppose there is a new acronym for metric (I'm old)



Thats been going through my mind as well. It does seem implausible, but the way the problem manifests itself is just like that. 

There's some really good suggestions here and @fixedfixer I like your makeshift tap, thats a definite one to try for the future.

However, given that the shell is not yet fixed into the bike and how easy it will be to pop them in a jiffy bag and send them back. I think this time that's the route I'll take. It's been good though to hear peoples thoughts and I appreciate you taking the time to voice them it's helped to clarify that I've not overlooked something. As I said at the beginning of the thread I'm in no rush with this project I'm enjoying myself and there is still some work I can do in the meantime. I'll drop them an email now and see how I get on.


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## fixedfixer (27 Oct 2017)

@chriswoody I used a good quailty cup and cone set, cut across with a dremel drill and then put a 'shamfer' on one edge to create the flat. Cleans up threads fine - wouldn't cut them obviously. Has been great on bike restorations and cleaning up spray painted frames. As said, not my original idea so can't take credit for it.

Keep posting the build thread. I must get back to building my USS recumbent and updating my thread - but not had to much time recently.


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## Randy Butternubs (27 Oct 2017)

chriswoody said:


> the right hand one will go in one turn relatively easily and then bind completely



Sounds like the thread pitch is wrong except that the left one goes in fine. Therefore, I think you have probably cross-threaded it slightly (not a big deal): the first turn of thread has cut a new path and will turn in and out quite happily but when you try to screw it in further the combined resistance is too much. As I said before it is easily done when screwing in these broad, shallow things. I could be totally wrong of course .

Time to take it to a bike shop I think: it's too hard to diagnose this kind of thing remotely.


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## Crackle (27 Oct 2017)

Take it too a bike shop, they'll have a tool to clean up the thread and it takes moments. It's not unusual for a new thread to be wrong and need cleaning out. If you try to do it yourself you might foul it up.


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## chriswoody (27 Oct 2017)

Thanks again folks for your input. So small update time. I emailed the Bamboo Bicycle club this morning and they replied within the hour!

Anyway it seems that there is an issue with the current batch of BB shells and their chatting to their supplier over the issue. Strangely it only seems to affect some makes of Bottom Bracket, Tange brackets have no issues whereas Shimano are causing problems. They've found that some brute force and ignorance will get the cup in and clean the threads up, at which point it should then screw in and out with no problems. 

So as some of you have recommended, I just need to get some form of tap or use an old BB cup, if I can work out how to hold the shell without crushing or deforming it, then I'll give it a go. I can also give one shell to a local bike shop and see how they get on. They've also promised to send out a working shell if I want. So I figured I can't lose anything now by at least having a go with the shells I've got.


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## raleighnut (27 Oct 2017)

chriswoody said:


> Thanks again folks for your input. So small update time. I emailed the Bamboo Bicycle club this morning and they replied within the hour!
> 
> Anyway it seems that there is an issue with the current batch of BB shells and their chatting to their supplier over the issue. Strangely it only seems to affect some makes of Bottom Bracket, Tange brackets have no issues whereas Shimano are causing problems. They've found that some brute force and ignorance will get the cup in and clean the threads up, at which point it should then screw in and out with no problems.
> 
> So as some of you have recommended, I just need to get some form of tap or use an old BB cup, if I can work out how to hold the shell without crushing or deforming it, then I'll give it a go. I can also give one shell to a local bike shop and see how they get on. They've also promised to send out a working shell if I want. So I figured I can't lose anything now by at least having a go with the shells I've got.


If you stick an old steel cup in t'other side will that stop the tube deforming.


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## DCLane (27 Oct 2017)

I'll be following this with interest as it's something I've wanted to do for several years, although I'd book into one of their weekend workshops.


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## pclay (27 Oct 2017)

Great thread, I've been watching and reading with interest. Looking forward to seeing the build get completed and the first ride report.


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## fixedfixer (27 Oct 2017)

DCLane said:


> I'll be following this with interest as it's something I've wanted to do for several years, although I'd book into one of their weekend workshops.



Do it @DCLane you know you want to


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## chriswoody (27 Oct 2017)

Success!! 

So after the email from the company I decided what the heck lets give it a go. So Keeping in mind all the advice on here I gave it a go. Firstly I screwed in an old cup onto the left hand side and with a rag in the bench vice jaws, I tentatively tightened it up against the left hand side of the shell. Keeping in mind @Gary E 's advice I took a dollop of copper grease and slathered it around the threads on the shell. Then I screwed in the cup one turn, before breaking out the bottom bracket spanner. It was a bit tight at first and I took it easy, but I could feel it was biting and not stripping the threads. After a few turns I backed up and then started again until finally I was all the way in. Then I screwed and unscrewed it a few more times to really bed in the threads. It still wont quite tighten up by hand, but with the removal tool it tightens up quite slickly. Removing the shell from the vice I also retested the left hand shell and there appears to be no deformation at all, so thats a relief. So @Tangoup51 you were right, a bit of brute force was the way forward!

So thanks again to everyone who took the time to post. You're advice was really helpful today and now I can move forward.


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## Smokin Joe (27 Oct 2017)

chriswoody said:


> Success!!
> 
> So after the email from the company I decided what the heck lets give it a go. So Keeping in mind all the advice on here I gave it a go. Firstly I screwed in an old cup onto the left hand side and with a rag in the bench vice jaws, I tentatively tightened it up against the left hand side of the shell. Keeping in mind @Gary E 's advice I took a dollop of copper grease and slathered it around the threads on the shell. Then I screwed in the cup one turn, before breaking out the bottom bracket spanner. It was a bit tight at first and I took it easy, but I could feel it was biting and not stripping the threads. After a few turns I backed up and then started again until finally I was all the way in. Then I screwed and unscrewed it a few more times to really bed in the threads. It still wont quite tighten up by hand, but with the removal tool it tightens up quite slickly. Removing the shell from the vice I also retested the left hand shell and there appears to be no deformation at all, so thats a relief. So @Tangoup51 you were right, a bit of brute force was the way forward!
> 
> So thanks again to everyone who took the time to post. You're advice was really helpful today and now I can move forward.


Brilliant!

This is the most interesting thread I can remember on Cycle Chat, keep the updates flowing.


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## Phaeton (27 Oct 2017)

Well done


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## chriswoody (28 Oct 2017)

Thanks folks for the kind words, I'm glad people are finding this thread interesting, there certainly seems to be a lot of folk following along. I just have to keep going and make sure I finish it!

So back to playing with the Bamboo. I mentioned up thread that the tubes are ultimately joined together using hemp and resin to create lugs. The problem with this is that the hemp and resin don't bond too well onto the outer skin of the Bamboo. There's to much silicon in the outer layer, so it needs to be removed. Even though I won't be creating these lugs for a while now, it's best to remove the outer layer now before the tubes are glued together. The instructions are quite detailed about how big the lugs will be on each individual tube, so once I'd measured the distance from the end of the tube I placed some masking tape around the tube. 







Then using a Stanley knife I gently scraped away from me, until I'd gone down 1mm through the shiny outer layer and into the fibrous, matt layer, underneath. Then I gave it a quick going over with some sandpaper. 






So now I have three main tubes, cut to length, mitred and the outer layer scraped off ready for the lugs. The next stage will be to glue the front triangle together. I'm not sure if I'll do that this weekend, we'll see.


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## adamhearn (29 Oct 2017)

What an interesting build. It's good to see people have a go at something different and document their journey.


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## GuyBoden (30 Oct 2017)

Excellent, well done


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## chriswoody (3 Nov 2017)

So about time for an update I think. It's been a busy week for me but I've managed to squeeze in some bike time. 
So before I started to break open the glue, there was still a bit of preparation to do. So the first thing I did was to make up a prop to fit between the Bottom Bracket jig and the downtube/seattube. Basically it's a load of ice lolly sticks glued together. Fatter at one end to account for the smaller diameter seat tube. I then taped this to the BB shell. 






Then I covered all of the tubes in brown paper and masking tape so that I could handle them without worrying about getting epoxy on the Bamboo.






The kit provides sachets of Epoxy, Hardener and mixing pallets, as well as mixing sticks. So I gathered all of these together along with gloves, tape and a Stanley Knife.






I made a start glueing in the seat post insert, just to get a feel for the process. It's certainly easy to make a mess and you need to be very methodical as you work. The epoxy only has a working time of 3 minutes so you need to work fast and make sure everythings set up and ready to go before you start. 






I let the insert dry for a few hours before coming back and making sure everything was O.K. Before starting on the main tubes I test fitted everything in place for one last time. I also prepared sections of tape to wrap around everything and hold everything in place whilst it's drying. Finally I took a deep breath and opened the first satchet of epoxy. Once you start there's no stopping, you just have to plough on and get to the end before it all dries. Downtube was first, followed by the seat tube and lastly the top tube. The law of sod dictated that the tubes didn't completely play ball and started to fall out of place quicker than I could tape them, but we got there in the end with no major dramas. 






So that's where we stand tonight. I'll check everything later and in the morning to check nothings moved and then it's on to the Chainstays and Seatstays.


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## JhnBssll (3 Nov 2017)

This is the part where I would struggle - I'd want to keep prodding the epoxy to see if it's cured and would end up ruining something  No patience 

I'm looking forward to seeing the results of your efforts, looking good so far


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## chriswoody (4 Nov 2017)

O.K. so everything has set nicely overnight and I'm really surprised at how strong it's all bonded together. Obviously we've still got the hemp and epoxy resin lugs to create, but I'm already getting intrigued about how all this will feel out on the road. 






Now with that out of the way it's time to turn my attentions to the back triangle. With the knowledge I've picked up about Bamboo and working with it, I picked out the four tubes that I would use and decided how I would trim them to length. The nice thing about building your own frame out of an organic material like Bamboo, is that you can decided where the scruffy pieces will go and how best to display the good looking Bamboo. I then labelled up each tube prior to starting. 






It was at this point that I decided to not follow the order in the instructions, but change things around a little. The ends of the Stays need slots cutting into them to accommodate the drop outs, however this makes them quite weak until their bonded into the frame. So given that, I decided to scrape the outer layer of Bamboo off now, rather than wait until after the slots were cut. Then a 6mm hole is drilled into the stay 40mm from the end. Then carefully a slot is cut with a saw, from the end of the stay, to the hole that's been drilled. Then with a Stanley knife I carefully carved the rest of the slot. You're working with the grain here so it's really easy to do.






Now you can see from the photo below that I deliberately missed out the first stage until now. The drop outs provided in the kit are flat, so that you can cold set them to the perfect angle yourself. I'd left that until now because it was much easier to gauge the correct angle with the stay in place.






They recommend that you pop the stay in a vice and then whack it with a Hammer to bend it. Looking around my workshop, I found a much more elegant and effective solution than that!






So I'm currently working on trimming the chain stay to the correct length and sculpting it to fit the Bottom Bracket shell. I'm taking it slow and steady and I'll pop back when I'm done.


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## buzzy-beans (4 Nov 2017)

What a truly amazing and totally captivating thread, I also greatly enjoyed watching the YouTube video's as well.

One thing is for sure and that is you can't put a monetary value to this project it is way beyond such a basic factor!

Overnight the reality of a bamboo bike was playing on my mind as these things can do and through the mists of time, I remembered going to watch a cycling competition at a Velodrome in Portsmouth, sometime in the summer of 1962 or ?? 1963. I went with my cousin who lived in Gosport and where I was staying for a few weeks, at the time I was 13 or 14 years old. 
I didn't believe him when he told me about the number of bamboo bikes competing throughout the event until immediately after the last race he took me to see several of them!


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## chriswoody (5 Nov 2017)

Thanks Buzzy-beans, interesting story about the Bamboo Bikes at the velodrome. Talking of Bamboo bikes being around for a while, there's one in the National Bicycle Museum from 1889 and this great article here about another from the late 1800's:

http://www.oldbike.eu/museum/bikes-1800s/1898-2/1898-bamboo-cycle-co-light-roadster/

So a small update, I've finished sanding and carving the end of the left hand chain stay.






and after some small fettling and minor adjustments to the angle of the drop outs, here it is in place:






Pretty pleased with that and it's starting to look like a bike frame now. So I'll keep working on the other stays as I get time.


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## BrumJim (6 Nov 2017)

I would love to do what you are doing. However, lack of time and a history of low-quality workshop outputs from school and college suggests that this would not be a good idea for me, and I will just have to buy a ready-made frame or bike.

Is bamboo a good material for making bikes? Given that Far Eastern countries quite happily use it for scaffolding poles (and for proper construction, not just village Health and Safety nightmares), and given the environmental credentials of bamboo (fast growing, fertiliser free, harvested above the root, not the whole plant), it appears to be so. However, it is also a lovely-looking material, and having seen one in the flesh, I have fallen in love!


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## RoubaixCube (8 Nov 2017)

Wouldnt it be funny if you could stick a £700-2000 Di2 groupset on it just for laugh and troll snobbish MAMIL's on the commute home?

I can already see their unholy rage and disdain on some their faces as you roll past them. No doubt they'll probably waiting along the same stretch of road the very next day with pitchforks at the ready.


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## Drago (8 Nov 2017)

Only the lightest carbon pitchforks though.


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## chriswoody (8 Nov 2017)

BrumJim said:


> I would love to do what you are doing. However, lack of time and a history of low-quality workshop outputs from school and college suggests that this would not be a good idea for me, and I will just have to buy a ready-made frame or bike.
> 
> Is bamboo a good material for making bikes? Given that Far Eastern countries quite happily use it for scaffolding poles (and for proper construction, not just village Health and Safety nightmares), and given the environmental credentials of bamboo (fast growing, fertiliser free, harvested above the root, not the whole plant), it appears to be so. However, it is a lovely-looking material, and having seen one in the flesh, I have fallen in love!



Don't let time stop you, I've two small kids and a full time job. My time is limited to a quick hour or two in the evening between the kids going to sleep and me collapsing as well. I've just come up now from the cellar after a satisfying hour whittling the seat stays. I decided to stop short of carving the junction with the seat tube because I was feeling to tired and worried I might screw it up. This really is a slow build, but I'm also drawing it out because I'm enjoying myself and I don't want it to end too quick. 

Bamboo is meant to be a good material for bikes, it's meant to absorb road vibrations really well and fall somewhere between carbon and steel in lightness. I'll have to let you know how true that all is once it's built.



RoubaixCube said:


> Wouldnt it be funny if you could stick a £700-2000 Di2 groupset on it just for laugh and troll snobbish MAMIL's on the commute home?
> 
> I can already see their unholy rage and disdain on some their faces as you roll past them. No doubt they'll probably waiting along the same stretch of road the very next day with pitchforks at the ready.



Funny you should say that, I've seen a few of these built up with high end kit. I'm not sure I've seen Di2 though. You can fit these frames out any way you want, the latest kit drop outs have disc brake mounts if you want, though I asked for horizontal dropouts for mine. Here's a pic of one road bike built up from the same kit I have with what looks like SRAM kit:







I won't be going for anything quite as fancy though, I've a set of Surly Pacer steel forks to pop on it and a single speed wheel in the back.


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## chriswoody (10 Nov 2017)

So a bit of an update. The Chainstays are cut and shaped, pretty much finished and ready and one Seatstay is half finished. Really coming together now.













Bamboo is certainly an interesting material to work with. As I mentioned before, some of the pieces can look a bit rough and the worst piece I've got I decided to use as the Chainstay and hide the rough area by orientating it so it faces down to the ground. The other Chainstay is interesting as well, again looking at the image below, you can see it's got a bit of a dog leg to it. So I had to be really careful how I orientated it so that there was still clearance for the wheel. Wheel clearance is also an issue that needs to be checked at this stage and there certainly isn't a great deal of wiggle room here.






So I just need to work on the Seatstays now and all of the main frame tubes will be complete.


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## buzzy-beans (10 Nov 2017)

Up until quite recently there was a bamboo furniture manufacturer in Leicestershire by the name of Angraves (I knew the family quite well), they imported bamboo from all over the World of which some were of a truly massive trunk thickness and diameter and some were not much thicker than matchsticks.

Almost all of them were trimmed to length and then after very careful selection and grading, they were inserted into a steamer and left to cook for quite some time before being removed and immediately placed into jigged clamps which resulted in them being bent exceptionally carefully to whatever shape the furniture designers felt was required. When fully dried, the clamps were released and the pieces had almost always retained the exact shape that was expected and more importantly without loosing any of the strength.

My reason for making this comment is to ask @chriswoody if he thought his build would be helped by having some very carefully formed bamboo pieces in the build?


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## chriswoody (10 Nov 2017)

Thats an interesting story @buzzy-beans about the furniture and steaming the bamboo. I know steaming works well with wood, but it's interesting to hear that it works with Bamboo too.

To answer your question though, I don't think there would be any need for the process on a bike frame. Ultimately a frame is just a series of straight tubes bonded together. The process could be used to make perfectly straight tubes, but then it would be a lot of work for no real gain. I was pondering the other day wether the fact that it's not perfectly straight was an issue and I realised that ultimately you need several fixed points that have to line up and all of these are provided by the jig. What happens in between is immaterial as long as they don't pull the fixed points out of alignment. The curly Hithchens frames are a good example of this, with their wonderful curly stays.

Another question could be wether the tubes should be trimmed to length and pre-mitred and there are certainly kits out there like this, however, where's the fun and challenge in that?

At the end of the day, the slightly out of wack tubes and the various different colourations all add up to a unique frame that will have a lot of character.


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## Randy Butternubs (10 Nov 2017)

Re: steaming

I'm not sure about bamboo but when steaming wood it doesn't take the exact set you give it but rather springs back a bit to give you a shape in-between the original and what you set it at. It takes experience and/or trial and error to know how far to bend it to ultimately get the desired shape. IIRC even then you have to allow for some of the pieces to come out wrong for whatever reason.

It's more common to build up a curve by laminating thick veneers together a bit like plywood, especially when doing one-offs or small runs, as it is more predictable. This has the disadvantage though of only being able to curve in one geometrical plane. Also, the glue lines can show and give away the fact that it isn't plain wood.


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## buzzy-beans (10 Nov 2017)

chriswoody said:


> I know steaming works well with wood, but it's interesting to hear that it works with Bamboo too.



It most certainly does and according to my long lost friend, the longer you steam it the more pliable it becomes and then if you clamp it to a shape and let it fully dry out then it will retain the formed shape with virtually no spring back.
Angraves used it to form the curved shape to their carver and dining room chairs as well as the circular tops to tables in bamboo which was by memory of about 25mm to 50mm diameter.


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## chriswoody (14 Nov 2017)

So it's been a few enjoyable days of whittling Bamboo, really quite relaxing and satisfying work. The top of the seat stays are quite complex where they meet the seat tube, or at least they are when you decided to try and make them fit as well as I am! Anyway there mostly finished, the right one needs some more work, but were almost there and the frame is looking like a frame now.


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## raleighnut (14 Nov 2017)

chriswoody said:


> So it's been a few enjoyable days of whittling Bamboo, really quite relaxing and satisfying work. The top of the seat stays are quite complex where they meet the seat tube, or at least they are when you decided to try and make them fit as well as I am! Anyway there mostly finished, the right one needs some more work, but were almost there and the frame is looking like a frame now.
> 
> View attachment 383157
> View attachment 383158
> ...


Would it not be better if the seat stays touched each other where they meet at the seat cluster or does that compromise wheel clearance ?


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## alicat (14 Nov 2017)

Looking fab. So what are you going to do for the rest of the winter?


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## chriswoody (14 Nov 2017)

raleighnut said:


> Would it not be better if the seat stays touched each other where they meet at the seat cluster or does that compromise wheel clearance ?



What's a little hard to discern from the pictures is that the left hand seat stay wraps around to almost the centre line of the Seat post and when I've finished the right hand one, then that should also do the same, so in effect they will be almost touching. I do need to leave some room for the wrapping of the hemp and as you say the biggest concern is wheel clearance so I also need to keep checking for that and making sure that there is enough room also.



alicat said:


> Looking fab. So what are you going to do for the rest of the winter?



There's still a long way to go on this! I've the Seat Stays to finish, then the brake and Chain Stay bridges to make and fit. Then the rear triangle needs tacking, before the all important lugs needs making. In effect these frames can be built in a very short time frame, but I want to take my time and smooth and paint the hemp lugs when there finished.

Then when the frame is finally finished, I still need to kit it out and turn it into a bike. I'll be a while yet.


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## chriswoody (21 Nov 2017)

So keeping in mind what I said earlier about the wheel clearance I decided that it was best if I properly tested the back wheel for clearance. Given I'm pretty much at the stage of glueing the frame, they'll be no going back at that stage. Up till now, I've just used some rough measurements taken off of an old wheel, and it's shown that clearance is there, but not much. So now I've got around to purchasing the actual wheels that I'll be using so they will actually fit in to the frame, unlike my old ones which are too wide. I decided to take out the rear jig and actually fit the wheel in place to check for the fit. 

First things first was to borrow some of my kids lego and build an alternative jig to hold up the stays.






With that done and the rest of the stays taped firmly into place it was time to fit the wheel.






So whilst everything fits well and there is clearance, it is on the tight size and these are 25mm tyres, not much chance to upgrade to 28mm in the future.






So I think I'll move the top of the Seat Stays further out, I've a few ideas on how best to do it, so I'll have a mess around with it tomorrow.


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## buzzy-beans (21 Nov 2017)

LEGO, the WORLDS greatest ever invention!!!


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## QFour (21 Nov 2017)

Have been reading your posts. It all looks very neat.

Found this don't know if you have read it https://www.instructables.com/id/Building-a-Recumbent-Bamboo-Trike-Frame/


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## chriswoody (22 Nov 2017)

Thanks @QFour I'd seen a couple of builds on instructables, but not that one. He uses some interesting techniques to build that trike and the end result is really striking, I love the colouring of the Bamboo.


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## gaijintendo (27 Nov 2017)

Just spotted this, might be of vague interest:
https://www.reddit.com/r/bustedcarbon/comments/5wsnpy/my_bamboo_and_carbon_bike_bambroke_today/
Fairly scruffy looking carbon taping, but seemingly rode fine until... that point.


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## buzzy-beans (27 Nov 2017)

gaijintendo said:


> Just spotted this, might be of vague interest:
> https://www.reddit.com/r/bustedcarbon/comments/5wsnpy/my_bamboo_and_carbon_bike_bambroke_today/
> Fairly scruffy looking carbon taping, but seemingly rode fine until... that point.



And then OUCH!!


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## chriswoody (27 Nov 2017)

Mmm interesting link. Seems from the comments that he failed to wrap the carbon fibre properly and it ultimately failed. Luckily I'll be using hemp on mine, a little easier for beginners like me.

So on the subject of mistakes, my last update was all about my mistake with making the seat stays too close together and not leaving enough clearance for the wheel. So I looked at various ways I could rectify the situation. Sadly I'd cut the tubes to length, so I had little wriggle room there. One solution I hit upon was to flip the stays 180 degrees, plenty of clearance, but they stuck out a mile.





Looking through my workshop, I then spotted the last piece of bamboo that was in the kit. It's a small diameter tube to make the chainstay and brake bridges from. Taking a short section I discovered that it fitted beautifully into the existing tube.






So a bit of carving later and we had a new sleeve that was able to push out the seat stay by just the right amount from the seat tube, as well as bring a lot of strength into the joint.






I glued the insert into the tube and then made up some wood filler from wood glue and bamboo sawdust that I'd been saving up. I used the filler to smooth out the repair and provide a flat surface for the hemp and resin to bond to later. It doesn't look too pretty, but it doesn't need too and it is smooth.






I then proceeded to do the other seat stay and now were pretty much done with rectifying my earlier mistake. There's enough clearance there now and the tops of the stays bond nicely to the seat tube.






So I've also been messing around creating the Chain stay bridge and dry fitting that.





Not much more work to go now until I can think about tacking the whole rear triangle together, followed not long after by the hemp lugs. Maybe the main construction will be finished by Christmas? Still lots to do after that though.


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## Smokin Joe (27 Nov 2017)

I'm as nervous for you as I would be if I was building it myself!

Fantastic project.


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## buzzy-beans (28 Nov 2017)

Honestly, I think the quality of your workmanship @chriswoody is the dogs danglies, most especially the wood filler concoction you came up with. 
In truth I am half hoping you will never finish this amazing project as I am getting so much enjoyment from reading every single update posting!


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## raleighnut (28 Nov 2017)

gaijintendo said:


> Just spotted this, might be of vague interest:
> https://www.reddit.com/r/bustedcarbon/comments/5wsnpy/my_bamboo_and_carbon_bike_bambroke_today/
> Fairly scruffy looking carbon taping, but seemingly rode fine until... that point.


I wonder if that guy had prepared the joints properly i.e. sanded the Bamboo to give the resin something to 'bite' onto?


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## gaijintendo (28 Nov 2017)

raleighnut said:


> I wonder if that guy had prepared the joints properly i.e. sanded the Bamboo to give the resin something to 'bite' onto?


It does look like they let their puppy chew on it a bit first...


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## chriswoody (28 Nov 2017)

Thanks for the kind words @buzzy-beans It's not as perfect as I would like, but I'm pleased with the way it's going so far.



raleighnut said:


> I wonder if that guy had prepared the joints properly i.e. sanded the Bamboo to give the resin something to 'bite' onto?



It is a bit of a mess and I do hope I don't end up like that! There does seem to be a number of factors that could be at play here. In the comments he does mention getting the lay up of the Carbon wrong which won't have helped and I do wonder if he did scrape back the outer layer of Bamboo like you mention. Another interesting point is that the tubes have been heat treated which give it that dark brown colour. Whilst some manufacturers do this (Calfee for example) the Bamboo Bicycle Club warn against this practice and claim that research has shown that this potentially weakens the Bamboo. 



gaijintendo said:


> It does look like they let their puppy chew on it a bit first...



It does look a mess doesn't it? I'm a little puzzled by the end of the tube and what that mess is, maybe he's also used fiberglass as a base layer?


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## raleighnut (28 Nov 2017)

chriswoody said:


> Thanks for the kind words @buzzy-beans It's not as perfect as I would like, but I'm pleased with the way it's going so far.
> 
> 
> 
> ...


Thinking a bit further about this maybe he just 'layed' the CF on instead of wrapping it tightly around the joints to compress them, what does your kit say about tension. BTW I know your kit uses Hemp/Hessian but to my thinking that is a superior material to carbon fibre in this application especially when encased it a resin.


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## chriswoody (28 Nov 2017)

Could well be, the instructions in my kit are quite specific about the need for compression. After the Hemp/Resin is laid down, you need to wrap miles of electrical tape around the joints to compress them. I agree with you, for home made bikes, Hemp/Resin is a really straightforward and strong solution. I'm reassured by Kate Rawles amongst others, who are currently undertaking major tours on these bikes and having no issues. 

The process for creating the lugs can be seen in this short video:


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## User32269 (28 Nov 2017)

Thanks for the best thread ever! Can't wait to see more!


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## xzenonuk (28 Nov 2017)

looks awesome, would love to see the finished bike


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## chriswoody (3 Dec 2017)

xzenonuk said:


> looks awesome, would love to see the finished bike



At the rate I'm going it's going to be a little while I'm afraid, but stick around and I will finish it someday.

So this last week has seen me working on this tiny piece of Bamboo, (Apologies for the poor out of focus photo, it was a little hard to focus on it!)






Not only is it tiny and a pain to work with, but it has quite a complex shape. It's the brake bridge that the rear brake mounts to. It sits high up between the Seat stays, so the ends are not parallel. To add to the fun it also has to sit forward in the Seat stays so that the brake calliper will mount properly.











After a lot of whittling and sanding and measuring I had it sat in the right place and fitting like a glove. So I need to drill a hole through it now for the Brake Calliper mounting bolt, that should be fun! 

After this, the main construction is finished and it's just a matter of binding it all together once and for all.


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## QFour (5 Dec 2017)

chriswoody said:


> At the rate I'm going it's going to be a little while I'm afraid, but stick around and I will finish it someday



Don't know whats keeping you their Website says you can go on a course and build one in a weekend ..


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## chriswoody (5 Dec 2017)

Even worse, they say the homebuild kit should only take 3 days or 6 evenings.


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## DCBassman (5 Dec 2017)

Amazing thread. Not something I would have the patience to even contemplate, let alone actually undertake!
Bravo, say I!


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## chriswoody (6 Dec 2017)

So in the last update I said that all I needed to do was drill through the brake bridge, I mean how hard can it be? Looking at the brake callipers and an old frame I could see that one side of the hole is 6mm and the other is 8mm. Now the brake bridge is quite tiny and not easy to hold, so this was a bit of a challenge. Unfortunately I charged into the problem without really thinking it through. I drilled a 6mm hole through it, then turned it around and attempted to enlarge the back hole with an 8mm drill bit. Everything went well until I test fitted the calliper and the mounting bolt. The 8mm hole wasn't quite square enough and the mounting bolt didn't quite line up with the calliper bolt. No problem I think, a little pressure will line it up....







Yep, that's knackered then, so back to the drawing board! 

It took a little while, but I made another brake bridge and this time had a good think about how to go about creating the holes. Firstly I wrapped the bridge in tape then taped it firmly into place in the frame. Then I drilled a 3mm pilot hole straight through the bridge, using the lines of the frame and the good old, mark 1 eyeball, to line everything up. Then I drilled the 6mm hole first using the tip of the drill bit in the pilot hole. The 8mm hole was the key one though and it took a bit of head scratching to come up with a solution. Drilling through from the back was not possible because the seat post was in the way of the drill.






So I had the genius idea of flipping the bridge around to the back of the Seat stays and taping it into place there. I could then drill the 8mm hole easily, again using the pilot hole to line up the drill bit.

Afterwards it was a tense moment to see if the brake mounted through it and to my great relief it did. 











So thats all done now which is a relief and I was feeling really satisfied with solving another problem. So I can move ahead with the last preparations before I glue the rear triangle together. After that, it's full steam ahead with the lugs.


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## derrick (6 Dec 2017)

I think i would have filled the bridge with some resin and sawdust mixed together, just a thought. Great thread. thinking about doing one myself.


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## themosquitoking (6 Dec 2017)

Loving this thread. I think the things that hold the brakes in place would be the most worrying part of the whole frame to me. I can't even begin to imagine how the front brake will be placed, look forward to seeing though.


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## chriswoody (6 Dec 2017)

derrick said:


> I think i would have filled the bridge with some resin and sawdust mixed together, just a thought. Great thread. thinking about doing one myself.



It's not a bad thought and at the moment the bridge is unattached so it's still a possibility, however, I'll be wrapping the entire bridge in hemp and resin which will give it a lot of strength. In an ideal world I'd have waited to drill the holes until then, but I'm unable to drill the 8mm hole in the back because of the seat post so I'll need to keep the hole clear when I wrap it. 



themosquitoking said:


> Loving this thread. I think the things that hold the brakes in place would be the most worrying part of the whole frame to me. I can't even begin to imagine how the front brake will be placed, look forward to seeing though.



The front forks are actually not made from Bamboo, their just standard, off the shelf, forks. In my case I've gone for a set of steel forks so the front brake won't be a concern.


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## PpPete (6 Dec 2017)

derrick said:


> I think i would have filled the bridge with some resin and sawdust mixed together, just a thought. Great thread. thinking about doing one myself.





chriswoody said:


> It's not a bad thought ....


Resist the temptation. Adding more material like that (filling up the middle of a tube) does not add appreciably to the static strength, and the extra mass can even, in certain circumstances, lead to a reduction in resistance to fatigue.

Not that you need it now, but there is kind of controlled-feed drill (IIRC made by Quackenbush in the USA) where you can pass the shaft of the bit through the hole and attach a reversed cutter so as to increase the diameter of the back hole. I quoted one to a potential customer once. Only about US$ 12 000 !


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## raleighnut (7 Dec 2017)

There is actually a way to use a 6mm through bolt caliper with a concave washer and nut. Use a front caliper on the back, they are identical apart from a longer bolt.


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## Cycleops (7 Dec 2017)

Just thought I’d let you know you can buy bamboo bikes ready made if you don’t fancy the build. A company here in Ghana offer them, frame only or fully built:
http://ghanabamboobikes.org/shop/


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## chriswoody (9 Dec 2017)

PpPete said:


> Resist the temptation. Adding more material like that (filling up the middle of a tube) does not add appreciably to the static strength, and the extra mass can even, in certain circumstances, lead to a reduction in resistance to fatigue.
> 
> Not that you need it now, but there is kind of controlled-feed drill (IIRC made by Quackenbush in the USA) where you can pass the shaft of the bit through the hole and attach a reversed cutter so as to increase the diameter of the back hole. I quoted one to a potential customer once. Only about US$ 12 000 !



Thanks for the information, I have resisted the temptation, but interesting to know. That drill bit sounds useful, but wow, what an eye watering price.



raleighnut said:


> There is actually a way to use a 6mm through bolt caliper with a concave washer and nut. Use a front caliper on the back, they are identical apart from a longer bolt.



Now you tell me! I'd not thought to look at front brakes, but it's a good idea now you mention it. 



Cycleops said:


> Just thought I’d let you know you can buy bamboo bikes ready made if you don’t fancy the build. A company here in Ghana offer them, frame only or fully built:
> http://ghanabamboobikes.org/shop/



Sacrilege! buy an off the peg frame when you can build your own? I'm having far to much fun, but they are a good idea and a nice initiative. 

So the work continues on the bike. 

I've finished preparing all of the stays, scraping back the outer layer of Bamboo and masking the centre sections. All complete and ready for bonding to the front of the frame. 






One extra job I've been doing is filling the front of the frame. The instructions recommend filling any gaps you have with filler just before you start to create the lugs. However I decided that the top tube/ seat post join would be easier to fill and sand before the stays were bonded to it. So I've been building up layers of filler and sanding between. I'm almost there, what you see here, should be the last layer. The hardest bit is on the right side of the frame, i:e underneath, it's a right pig to see and sand properly!


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## Smokin Joe (10 Dec 2017)

Cycleops said:


> Just thought I’d let you know you can buy bamboo bikes ready made if you don’t fancy the build. A company here in Ghana offer them, frame only or fully built:
> http://ghanabamboobikes.org/shop/


Come off it, we wouldn't have got this brilliant thread if he'd bought a ready built.


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## Cycleops (10 Dec 2017)

Smokin Joe said:


> Come off it, we wouldn't have got this brilliant thread if he'd bought a ready built.


That’s true, and very interesting it has been but if you bought the ready built one I suggested you’d be helping a local industry which provides much needed jobs for local people.


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## Smokin Joe (10 Dec 2017)

Cycleops said:


> That’s true, and very interesting it has been but if you bought the ready built one I suggested you’d be helping a local industry which provides much needed jobs for local people.


You could make up for his oversight by buying one yourself.


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## chriswoody (18 Dec 2017)

As we approach Christmas I find the amount of time I have has diminished even more and when I do have time I'm pretty knackered.

However, I have found some time to work on the bike, so here we go.

Last time I decided to fill and sand the toptube/seatpost junction before the rear triangle was glued together. It's not completely smooth, but it doesn't need to be, it's just a foundation for the hemp lugs.







With that finished it was time to look at the rest of the rear triangle. I spent a little bit of time adjusting and re-sanding the ends of the stays, making sure they sat flush. Then I looked at the brake bridge again. With the dropouts they are quite long and because it's a single speed, the wheel will be mounted at various points along it in order to maintain chain tension. So given that, the bridge needs to be mounted so that the pads will always be able to hit the rim. Looking again at the Bridge I decided it was too short and hence to far up the seatstays, so I decided to make another one.







Yep three of the bloomin things! no wonder this build is taking so long. So with that out of the way I made the final preparations for gluing and then it was all go.











So thats it, the frames all glued together.

Now it's a matter of checking it all for alignment and then filling and sanding any gaps I can find. Once all the preparation has been done I need to find five hours to go ahead with the lug creation. I need to sit down though and plan it all carefully, it's a big step and I need to be sure I get it right.


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## Smokin Joe (18 Dec 2017)

If it was easy it wouldn't be nearly as satisfying. Well done so far, I'm looking forward to seeing the finished bike and I bet you get more satisfaction out of it than if you'd spent 10K on some pro ready megabike.


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## themosquitoking (18 Dec 2017)

What colour are you going to paint it when it's finished?


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## raleighnut (18 Dec 2017)

themosquitoking said:


> What colour are you going to paint it when it's finished?


Oi, you owe me a keyboard now, this ones all soggy.


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## chriswoody (18 Dec 2017)

Smokin Joe said:


> If it was easy it wouldn't be nearly as satisfying. Well done so far, I'm looking forward to seeing the finished bike and I bet you get more satisfaction out of it than if you'd spent 10K on some pro ready megabike.



Thanks, I'm definitely enjoying the challenges so far and feeling really pleased with the results. Strangely as much as I'd love a quick spin on a superbike, your right it would never give me as much satisfaction as this.



themosquitoking said:


> What colour are you going to paint it when it's finished?



Well most of it will be natural Bamboo, but the lugs will be painted. What colour though? Well I keep looking on their Instagram page at other peoples finished builds and I keep finding new inspiration so I'm not 100% sure yet.


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## RoubaixCube (20 Dec 2017)

themosquitoking said:


> What colour are you going to paint it when it's finished?



I was thinking black and white to keep the local panda's off it. They might think its one of their own.


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## chriswoody (2 Jan 2018)

*Big Update Part 1*

So far on this build I've just been working in the evenings, the odd half an hour here and there. However, the next step requires a solid 4 hour session to make sure that you complete it in one go. So the wife has taken the kids off today and with a massive stack of marking to do and nearly 100 reports to write, I decided to do the sensible thing and work on the bike! 

I've been working up to this point, by preparing all of the joints, making sure that there are no big gaps and generally getting everything together. So this morning the worktable looked like this:







The first step is to cut the hemp to size and put the correct number of pieces by each joint so that were ready to go. There are two different thicknesses of hemp, thinner for the fine sections and thicker for the final wrap.






Then it was a case of diving in and just going for it. Not much chance to take photos, so if you want to see what I was up to, then take a look at the video in a previous post above. The dropouts are the first area to be bound and are fairly straight forward to do. After wrapping and soaking in resin, the joint is wrapped in electrical tape to provide compression whilst the glue sets. 






So after several hours hard work the table was a complete mess, but everything was done and finished. 






So I need to wait a few hours now for the resin to set enough to remove the tape and then release the frame from the jig. Quite nervous and excited now and just hoping I've not stuffed anything up. 

I'll pop back later with some photos of the unwrapped frame free of the jig and I'll either be drowning my sorrows or celebrating!


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## raleighnut (2 Jan 2018)

chriswoody said:


> *Big Update Part 1*
> 
> So far on this build I've just been working in the evenings, the odd half an hour here and there. However, the next step requires a solid 4 hour session to make sure that you complete it in one go. So the wife has taken the kids off today and with a massive stack of marking to do and nearly 100 reports to write, I decided to do the sensible thing and work on the bike!
> 
> ...


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## PpPete (2 Jan 2018)

breath suitably bated........


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## roadrash (2 Jan 2018)

ooh......I cant hold my breath that long, cant wait to see it


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## JhnBssll (2 Jan 2018)

Amazing, I'm pretty excited


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## chriswoody (2 Jan 2018)

*Update Part 2
*
Sorry about the delay folks, kids needed putting to bed, hope no ones turned blue from holding their breath!

Anyway, the resin took a while to dry enough for the tape to be removed and then the tape put up a bit of a fight, but we got there in the end. So without further ado here's the frame in almost all it's glory:






That didn't go too badly. There's a few places that could be a lot neater, but structurally it's all sound and it feels really light. Heres a few close ups:










So constructions finished and it's now a case of working towards the final finish. So far I've removed some of the excess resin with a Stanley knife, at this stage it's too dangerous to sand. When it's fully cured and dried I'll go over it with some sand paper and start the process of smoothing down the lugs. Still some way to go yet.


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## JhnBssll (2 Jan 2018)

That looks properly solid. Nice work  I can't wait to see it with the protective paper removed and the joints tidied up a bit  Looks like it should clean up quite nicely


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## Drago (2 Jan 2018)

I've missed half a series of Sons of Anarchy because of this thread!


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## User32269 (3 Jan 2018)

Really enjoyed this thread! Cheers! Just hoping that your maiden ride doesn't see you ambushed by a mob of hungry pandas. 
Can't wait to see finished bike.


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## User32269 (3 Jan 2018)

Drago said:


> I've missed half a series of Sons of Anarchy because of this thread!


The producers are furious that their leading shirtless hunk has been unavailable for filming!


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## Milkfloat (14 Jan 2018)

@chriswoody It must have cured by now


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## chriswoody (14 Jan 2018)

Thanks everyone, sorry for the pause in proceedings. I work as a teacher and January is a crazy busy month for me. I teach the best part of a hundred pupils and in the last weeks I've had to mark end of semester assessments and write reports for each of the little darlings. I'm mostly done, but still a little way to go. With two young kids of my own as well, life's a little busy this month and no real time for working on Bamboo bikes. 

Fear not though normal service will be resumed soon. In the meantime I had stripped the protective paper off just to check all was well underneath ad then I really couldn't resist mocking the bike up for a look:







So thanks again all for the interest and normal service will resume soon.


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## chriswoody (27 Jan 2018)

So I've finally managed to get some of my life back and found time to work on the bike.

The lugs have set nicely and I've been sanding all of the high spots with a mix of sandpaper. Whilst making the lugs it's really critical to compress the joints while they set, with electrical tape. However, this has left me with a lot of valleys and ridges in the finished lugs. It's important I don't sand to deep, so it's a case of just trying to make things smooth, but not flat. 






The final result looks quite rough, but it is smooth. According to the instructions, a new coat of resin will restore the finish, so I'll be giving that a try. Being as I'll be making up a small batch of resin, I decided to also make up the cable stops and use the resin to glue them to the frame.

The kit has a large section of Bamboo for creating the cable stops.






The first job is to drill a 3mm hole right through for the cable. I followed this with a 6mm hole about 8mm deep for the cable end cap to sit in. 






Then I separated the stop from the rest of the Bamboo, trimmed and shaped it with a Stanley knife. Sorry the photo of the finished stop is a little out of focus, but it's a little tricky to photograph such a small thing!






So a little bit more prep work, then I'll make up a new batch of resin and see how it all looks.


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## Smokin Joe (27 Jan 2018)

I've been looking forward to an update, Chris. Good that you're taking your time and not getting impatient to finish the job.


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## adamhearn (27 Jan 2018)

chriswoody said:


> However, this has left me with a lot of valleys and ridges in the finished lugs. It's important I don't sand to deep, so it's a case of just trying to make things smooth, but not flat.


If you're concerned about the level of flatness, could you not use some more resin as a filler?

As Smokin Joe said, great to see an update!


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## chriswoody (28 Jan 2018)

The problem I have at the moment is one of prevarication! I'd originally planned to use filler and smooth the lugs out, then paint them a nice colour. However, I saw a picture of another home built bike, in which they'd Lacquered everything and left the hemp it's natural colour. It brought to mind an old wooden sailing dinghy and looked lovely. 

So I've been a little curious about wether I could produce a nice finish on these lugs, and keep them a natural colour. As you rightly say, I was going to experiment with using the resin to flatten out some of the valleys and see where we go from there. If it doesn't work out, then it still makes an excellent base for the filler and paint approach. 

Another thought though that I really need to pay attention to, is that this is a homemade bike and I'm no expert. So I need to be happy and embrace any imperfections. After all, I want to retain some element of it's hand-built origins and not slave away for hours trying to recreate a factory finish and only be disappointed when I can't do it. 

Lastly I also weighed the frame last night out of curiosity, it was 2.4 kg, without forks. The forks I have are steel and weigh 900grams, I could have bought some Carbon forks that weigh half that, but I love steel more. So all in, sans headset, I'm looking at 3.3kg. I also weighed a Reynolds 501 frame I have and that weighed 3.9kg with forks and headset. So I don't know how the Bamboo frame compares to a high quality 531 or equivalent frame set, but I thought it generally compares quite favourably to steel in weight terms.


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## chriswoody (12 Feb 2018)

About time for an update I think. So I've been busy sanding the lugs and trimming away excess resin. There's a wonderful saying about experience being the one thing you gain right after you needed it and that certainly holds true here. Whilst I was making the lugs, I was no where as neat and tidy as I would have liked and I would have really benefited from using wider electrical tape for the compression. None of this has affected the strength of the joints, but it's resulted in work that's not as neat as I was striving for. However, it's no great issue, just a little more work sanding them back and my minds made up that I'll paint the lugs.

I also decided to revisit the cable stops that I'd made. Looking at other Bamboo builds I realised that my cable stops were a little chunky and ugly. So I sat down with my whittling knife and some sandpaper and trimmed them down to a much more svelte profile. Quite a satisfying hours work.






With the stops finished and the resin smoothed it was time to recover the frame and mix up some more resin and apply it.






So the cable stops are now epoxied to the frame and super strong and the lugs have a fresh coat of resin.











The next step will be a dry build of the entire transmission. Being as I'm building a single speed, I want to check that the chain line is nice and straight and that the Bottom Bracket fits. I would dry build the entire bike, but I don't want to install the headset until the head tube is painted.

Once the part dry build is finished, then it will be onto the final finish and painting of the lugs.


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## Elysian_Roads (12 Feb 2018)

chriswoody said:


> About time for an update I think. So I've been busy sanding the lugs and trimming away excess resin. There's a wonderful saying about experience being the one thing you gain right after you needed it and that certainly holds true here. Whilst I was making the lugs, I was no where as neat and tidy as I would have liked and I would have really benefited from using wider electrical tape for the compression. None of this has affected the strength of the joints, but it's resulted in work that's not as neat as I was striving for. However, it's no great issue, just a little more work sanding them back and my minds made up that I'll paint the lugs.
> 
> I also decided to revisit the cable stops that I'd made. Looking at other Bamboo builds I realised that my cable stops were a little chunky and ugly. So I sat down with my whittling knife and some sandpaper and trimmed them down to a much more svelte profile. Quite a satisfying hours work.
> 
> ...


Great thread, @chriswoody. A good old fashioned serial programme rather than a box set weekend binge, though will confess to going back to the beginning and having a recap. Curiously, a bamboo bike appeared on the "maybe of interest?" thread you get on eBay. Turns out there are a few on there including a btwin based one, and a couple from Ghana, though not sure if they come from the initiative that @Cycleops referred to previously.


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## AndyRM (16 Feb 2018)

I've just caught up on this thread. Amazing work @chriswoody, much respect for your workmanship and patience!


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## chriswoody (16 Feb 2018)

Thanks for kind words, it's good to see people are enjoying this as much as me! 

As a few of you have commented, I am generally taking my time and being patient, however there are times when this doesn't hold true. One of them being earlier this week. I really shouldn't have been near tools of any sort, I was tired and suffering from the start of a blinding headache. Still, I ploughed on and was doing O.K. until I reached the installation of the right hand Bottom Bracket cup, the same one that had given me grief earlier in the build. Remembering that it was still a little tight, I carried on trying to force the cup in, way past the point I should have stopped. Luckily, I did finally stop myself before I had wrought to much damage, but I'd still managed to cross thread the first few threads. Cursing myself for my stupidity I finally stepped back from the tools and left it for a couple of days.

So the only remedy was to take it down to the bike shop. At the first one I tried, the guy looked into the wrong half of the shell and upon seeing some old copper slip in the threads, proclaimed he could see the problem. When I pointed out his mistake, he sheepishly said that he doesn't have a thread reaming tool. So off I trotted to the shop down the road. The first chap I spoke to enthusiastically proclaimed that it would be no problem, grabbed the frame and trotted of to the workshop. He then proceeded to grab half of a Bottom Bracket tapping tool and tried to use it freehand and skewed on the threads. I was about to tell him that that wasn't how you used that tool, when I young lad appeared, grabbed the frame and the rest of the tool and thankfully decided to do a professional job. In fact, he did such a good job, that the threads are now pretty much immaculate and the BB screws in really easily.

So with all those dramas out of the way, the rest of the transmission went together with no dramas and it was great to see the bike come together at last. So great in fact, that I dragged it out of the dark cellar and into the sunlight for the first time.







The dry build has thrown up a few issues as I thought it would. The bottom of the Seat Stay actually rubs against the chain.






This has had the effect of deflecting the chain and also interfered with the chain line, however, it does still look pretty straight, which I was pleasantly surprised at. 






Given I'm using a Hollowtech Chainset, (Because I had it lying around spare and I'm trying to keep some costs down) I don't have the flexibility to change the axle length that a square taper would give me. I think this is going to be acceptable though. 

So A little bit of sanding and fettling ahead, but nothing too drastic, then preparing the lugs for paint.


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## themosquitoking (16 Feb 2018)

What colour are you going to paint it?​


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## chriswoody (17 Feb 2018)

Colour is the million dollar question. The bike that inspired this madness, was a lovely electric blue, with silver wheels, stem etc. I really wanted to go down that route, however, as I started sourcing various bits it became apparent that silver was a hard colour to come by for some of my preferred components. So I ended up with black wheels, stem, chainset etc.

I was still really keen on the blue though. Recently though my family have all been pushing for green. I've never been totally sold on the idea until i saw a bike in green which was close to British racing green and an all black groupset, wheels etc. So now I'm torn and I'll probably try a bit of both on some old scrap and see which I prefer. Ultimately though it is only the lugs which will be painted and when there finished the whole frame including the raw Bamboo will be lacquered. So it's trying to find a colour that will also complement the raw Bamboo colour.

Paints wise, I was going to go down the car paint route, which is going to be a lot of effort to get a reasonable finish. But then I came across spray.bike who produce an interesting spray paint for bikes. It basically acts like a cross with traditional powder coat and spray paint, it goes on matt and needs a few coats of lacquer to create a gloss finish. Their instagram page has some interesting examples of finished frames. It seems to produce some good results with much less effort than car paints. So again i'm going to order some and experiment. Who knows how it will all go, but thats why this project is so much fun.


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## Smokin Joe (17 Feb 2018)

My hat off to you, what a fantastic project. Sure beats an Airfix kit.


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## chriswoody (27 Feb 2018)

OK, so progress has slowed a little, I know, I know, I was already moving along like a tortoise! The hold up now is the weather ironically. Up till now I've been working in the relative warmth of my cellar, however, I now need to smooth out the lugs prior to painting and this requires the use of filler and sanding. The filler gives off terrible chemical fumes and the sanding, well, to say it makes a mess would be an understatement, so outside it is. 

I started by stripping the bike back down and sanding and trimming the areas that where fouling the back wheel and chain. With that done, it was on to the first batch of filler.






Then when it had set it was time for the dust to fly:






Some areas need more filler than others, but it's slowly coming together. I've applied two coats so far, but there are still small voids and gaps, so I'll need to apply some more. But that needs to wait until the weather has returned above freezing.


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## alicat (27 Feb 2018)

Good job with the filler.


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## Randy Butternubs (27 Feb 2018)

I've lost track of the aesthetic decisions. Are you painting some, all or none of it? Are you going to paint over the smoothed lugs or do a final neat wrap with the cloth & epoxy?


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## chriswoody (27 Feb 2018)

Randy Butternubs said:


> I've lost track of the aesthetic decisions.



 you and me both!

So I'd laid an extra coat of resin down after the initial sanding to see how it looked, but I realised that I wouldn't be able to recreate a good enough finish to make me happy.

So it's back to plan A, which is:

To smooth out the last of the irregularities in the lugs with filler.

Paint the Lugs only in British Racing Green, followed by several coats of Lacquer.

Remove the protective paper from the Bamboo frame tubes. Paint the entire frame in Lacquer.

Crack open a beer.

Build the bike up.


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## Gary E (28 Feb 2018)

Go on then! Some of us are watching this thread avidly waiting for new episodes 

On a related note, once you've completed this project (season 1) what are you'r plans for season 2? maybe a Bamboo Tandem or a Recumbent??

Seriously, it's been great following your progress on here, thanks for sharing your project


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## chriswoody (19 Mar 2018)

Well as much as I'd love there to be a season 2, I've a feeling the wife would go mad at me! 

So I've been a little frustrated of late, as much as I've wanted to be marching on with this, the weather has other ideas. As I mentioned in my last post, I'm working outside at the moment due to the dust and fumes generated by the filling and sanding. Frustratingly it's been far to cold to work outside too much. However I have had some odd occasions where I've managed to catch a window of good weather. So far it's been an endless round of sanding, applying more filler, then more sanding. I've used a range of different grades of sandpaper and the end result is really smooth. It's starting to look good and the headstock is 95% finished. The raw Bamboo is still hiding under it's protective paper and waiting for the day the lugs are painted before seeing the light of day again.

I've also received the paint from spray.bike and bought some primer as well. Again I'll need to wait until Spring properly shows up, because the paint doesn't like to be used in cold temperatures, ideally 15°C would be best. So updates will slow down until Spring decides to finally show up I'm afraid.


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## Smokin Joe (19 Mar 2018)

Keep it going and take all the time you need to do a good job. This is one thread I always look forward to appearing, I'm full of admiration for you.


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## chriswoody (19 Mar 2018)

Thanks Joe. I'm determined to not get impatient, though it's hard at times!


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## buzzy-beans (20 Mar 2018)

@chriswoody I don't know what happened to my settings, but I have been away from your amazing build for quite some time, the big problem I have now is that my jaw is gaping open so much in utter and complete amazement at what you have created that typing this is proving to be quite difficult !!

Roll on the warmer weather.

All the best

Phil


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## chriswoody (6 Apr 2018)

Well springs arrived! We've had some glorious weather this last week and thankfully I've also been off work for the Easter break. So in-between household chores and Daddy day care, I've managed to squeeze in some extra bike time. 

Mostly it's been endless rounds of sanding and filler. I'm permanently covered in dust and the fingerprint sensor on my phone no longer responds to my fingerprint, it's so filled in. However, today I finally reached the point where I declared myself ready for the first round of primer. So I masked off the BB, headtube and seat tube. 






Then I set to work with the primer, passing over with light strokes and slowly building up the finish.






Overall it didn't look to bad. However, as expected it did show up some flaws here and there. So it's back to sanding and filling. Oh the joys! 











The actual end colour will be a fair bit darker, so hopefully the flaws won't stand out so much, but I'll keep working at it. With lighter evenings and warmer weather I'm hoping to progress reasonably quickly now. who knows I may even finish this month?


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## alicat (6 Apr 2018)

That looks really smooth, especially around the head tube.


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## derrick (6 Apr 2018)

chriswoody said:


> Well springs arrived! We've had some glorious weather this last week and thankfully I've also been off work for the Easter break. So in-between household chores and Daddy day care, I've managed to squeeze in some extra bike time.
> 
> Mostly it's been endless rounds of sanding and filler. I'm permanently covered in dust and the fingerprint sensor on my phone no longer responds to my fingerprint, it's so filled in. However, today I finally reached the point where I declared myself ready for the first round of primer. So I masked off the BB, headtube and seat tube.
> 
> ...


Getting there, it's worth putting that extra effort in now, would be a shame to spoil it at the end, have really enjoyed this thread.


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## JhnBssll (6 Apr 2018)

A high build primer will probably fill the majority of the small blemishes - looking good


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## chriswoody (6 Apr 2018)

alicat said:


> That looks really smooth, especially around the head tube.



It is really smooth, however I'm a little troubled by all the pin prick holes. Having just seen @JhnBssll reply though, I'm going to look into that high build primer idea. Thanks! 

Thanks @derrick I'm definitely trying to keep the level of work high and not settle for, it will do. I've come to far now and will never be happy if I rush to finish it.


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## Drago (7 Apr 2018)

A fine 1k stopper will sort the pin holes.


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## chriswoody (7 Apr 2018)

Thanks a lot @Drago and @JhnBssll I've had a bit of fun trying to translate that into German. However I think I've found some in my local DIY shed. What's more it's in Black, perfect undercoat colour for the British Racing Green topcoat. So I'm popping up shortly and it's a beautiful day for painting. I'll let you know how I get on.


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## Illaveago (7 Apr 2018)

If you spray on some stopper as Drago said , dust some dark colour over it very lightly once it is dry . Once it has dried you can then wet flat it and it will show up any imperfections which can either be flatted back or filled carefully with a tiny bit of filler .
It has been an interesting project so keep up the good work .


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## buzzy-beans (7 Apr 2018)

As the expression goes..................... I'm totally gobsmacked by the outstanding quality of your build !!


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## chriswoody (7 Apr 2018)

So that was a good day. I started with popping out to the DIY store and picking up some more sandpaper and a tin of 1K primer. Then I grabbed a cold beer and a garden chair and got to work. The sun was lovely in the garden today, the best part of 20 degrees and sat there sanding was really relaxing. I'd already put some new filler on yesterday, so it was a case of just gradually going over everything I could find. Some of the work, particularly on the edges of the lugs was quite intricate and I really got into it.







Not everywhere needed work and some places needed very little.






Then it was time for the 1K primer and time to see how good my work was.






Overall I was really pleased with the outcome. I'm not aiming for perfect lugs here, I want them to look organic and home made. So I'm treading a fine line between making them look good but not perfect. On the whole I'm really pleased with the way that they've turned out. The bottom Bracket in particular is one area I'm really happy with.






However there are one or two imperfections that I'm not happy about around the top of the seat tube, so as suggested I'll wet flat the problem areas and then try some last small dabs of filler.






So there we go, I'll keep plugging away, but a really satisfying days work and good to see it coming together. Thanks again for the helpful suggestions folks it has really helped out.


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## Smokin Joe (7 Apr 2018)

I think you are doing the right think in not aiming for perfection. The whole point of things made out of any organic material is that they should not look uniform but should retain some of the materials natural characteristics.


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## C R (7 Apr 2018)

That's one beautiful piece of craftsmanship. It is going to feel wonderful riding it.


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## buzzy-beans (8 Apr 2018)

I agree about the craftsmanship, if it were me, my dilemma would be actually using such a drop dead gorgeous creation out on the open road!


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## screenman (8 Apr 2018)

Sanding dry is a lot better, also do not use glass/sand paper but get hold of a few sheets of production paper. I would be using a Dolphin glaze or something like on those pits.


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## Alan O (8 Apr 2018)

chriswoody said:


> So that was a good day. I started with popping out to the DIY store and picking up some more sandpaper and a tin of 1K primer. Then I grabbed a cold beer and a garden chair and got to work. The sun was lovely in the garden today, the best part of 20 degrees and sat there sanding was really relaxing. I'd already put some new filler on yesterday, so it was a case of just gradually going over everything I could find. Some of the work, particularly on the edges of the lugs was quite intricate and I really got into it.
> 
> View attachment 403385
> 
> ...


You missed a bit


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## keithmac (8 Apr 2018)

I thought "stopper" was a very fine filling paste in a tube?, would be ideal to finish around the seat stay!.

Some cracking work and very patient, the end product will show how much effort you've put in!.


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## chriswoody (8 Apr 2018)

Yea, I think your right about Drago's suggestion. All of this is new to me and a bit of a steep learning curve. I'd read the earlier post about high build primer and figured Drago was referring to the properties of that. However, since reading @screenman post and a little bit of digging, I've realised that Drago was most likely referring to a fine filling paste. It seems that there is filler and then there is this finer paste that can help eliminate the bubbles that I've got. So I'm going to do some more reading tonight and see what I can find in Germany. 



C R said:


> That's one beautiful piece of craftsmanship. It is going to feel wonderful riding it.





buzzy-beans said:


> I agree about the craftsmanship, if it were me, my dilemma would be actually using such a drop dead gorgeous creation out on the open road!



Thanks guys, I'm not so sure about the craftsmanship label, but it's kind of you to say. It's been a beautiful day here in Northern Germany and whilst I took the old Super Galaxy out for a spin, I was thinking how much more enjoyable it would have been on this bike, really looking forward to the first ride now.


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## chriswoody (16 Apr 2018)

Seems Road CC has got in on the act as well and are producing Bamboo bike, along with a series of videos documenting their build. Their workshop is a little better equipped than mine, it'll be interesting to see how they get on:

http://road.cc/content/news/240184-new-video-series-building-bamboo-bike


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## Drago (16 Apr 2018)

Special carbon bamboo?


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## chriswoody (17 Apr 2018)

Drago said:


> Special carbon bamboo?



Carbon fibre is actually one way of bonding the tubes, but it's not as effective as hemp over the long term. There was talk earlier in this thread of seeing one of these kitted out with a top end groupset, maybe they'll go this route?



Dogtrousers said:


> I bet theirs will be rubbish compared with yours!



Thanks, hopefully you're right!


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## chriswoody (17 Apr 2018)

So the last update saw me getting a tad confused over the excellent advice being offered here. So I decided to step away from the tools for a few days and look at the options available. So using car filler, you have two components, the filler itself and a chemical hardener. You need to mix these together, typically about 5% hardener. It seems that a common problem is to overdo the hardener, which results in the generation of gas, which leaves behind small pinholes in the filler. Essentially the problem that I had. Common practice, once the main filler is applied, is to use another finer putty called glaze putty, over the top, which will fill in the imperfections and leave a smooth surface once sanded. @screenman advised me to go with Dolphin Glaze, which looks to fit the bill perfectly, sadly the stuff is not available in Germany. Frustratingly I was actually in Britain two weeks ago and could have easily picked some up had I known about it then. Oh well.

More research showed that the common practice in Germany is to use a fine filler, not as good as a glaze, but still more than effective, for what i needed. So I picked some up and got back to my favourite pastime of filling and sanding! Once I felt it was finished, I shot some more primer over it, only to hit my next problem, I ran out of paint just before I'd finished. There was no black primer left anywhere and with only a tiny area left to fill it was a little annoying, so I purchased some grey primer and decided to go over everything again.





The end result was really pleasing and I decided was more than good enough. I'd spent enough time sanding and filling, this really doesn't need to be 100%.






So I finished work early on Tuesday and with glorious weather, I decided it was high time to treat it to a top coat. So I popped the frame into my work stand, which has a 360° swivelling head, which allowed me to swing the frame around as I sprayed it. 






I was using paint from spray.bike which is a heavily pigmented paint that is dead simple to apply and get a really good result from. Close up, the heavy pigment does produce a slight orange peel effect, but I can live with that. It also goes on matt, so will need several coats of lacquer to create a gloss finish, which will be a challenge to get a good result with. However, overall I'm really pleased with how it's looking.











So hopefully I can get a few coats of lacquer on whilst the weather is still warm and dry. Close to the finish now.


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## roadrash (17 Apr 2018)

looking good,very good


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## JhnBssll (17 Apr 2018)

Love that colour - all the hours of sanding have certainly paid off


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## C R (17 Apr 2018)

chriswoody said:


> So the last update saw me getting a tad confused over the excellent advice being offered here. So I decided to step away from the tools for a few days and look at the options available. So using car filler, you have two components, the filler itself and a chemical hardener. You need to mix these together, typically about 5% hardener. It seems that a common problem is to overdo the hardener, which result in the generation of gas which leaves behind small pinholes in the filler. Essentially the problem that I had. Common practice, once the main filler is applied, is to use another finer putty called glaze putty over the top, which will fill in the imperfections and leave a smooth surface once sanded. @screenman advised me to go with Dolphin Glaze, which looks to fit the bill perfectly, sadly the stuff is not available in Germany. Frustratingly I was actually in Britain two weeks ago and could have easily picked some up had I known about it then. Oh well.
> 
> More research showed that the common practice in Germany is to use a fine filler, not as good as a glaze, but still more than effective for what i needed. So I picked some up and got back to my favourite pastime of filling and sanding! Once I felt it was finished, I shot some more primer over it, only to hit my next problem, when I ran out just before I'd finished. There was no black primer left anywhere and with only a tiny area left to fill it was a little annoying, so I purchased some grey primer and decided to go over everything again.
> View attachment 404758
> ...


Loverly


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## Alan O (17 Apr 2018)

chriswoody said:


> So the last update saw me getting a tad confused over the excellent advice being offered here. So I decided to step away from the tools for a few days and look at the options available. So using car filler, you have two components, the filler itself and a chemical hardener. You need to mix these together, typically about 5% hardener. It seems that a common problem is to overdo the hardener, which result in the generation of gas which leaves behind small pinholes in the filler. Essentially the problem that I had. Common practice, once the main filler is applied, is to use another finer putty called glaze putty over the top, which will fill in the imperfections and leave a smooth surface once sanded. @screenman advised me to go with Dolphin Glaze, which looks to fit the bill perfectly, sadly the stuff is not available in Germany. Frustratingly I was actually in Britain two weeks ago and could have easily picked some up had I known about it then. Oh well.
> 
> More research showed that the common practice in Germany is to use a fine filler, not as good as a glaze, but still more than effective for what i needed. So I picked some up and got back to my favourite pastime of filling and sanding! Once I felt it was finished, I shot some more primer over it, only to hit my next problem, when I ran out just before I'd finished. There was no black primer left anywhere and with only a tiny area left to fill it was a little annoying, so I purchased some grey primer and decided to go over everything again.
> View attachment 404758
> ...


I see what you mean about the orange peel thing - I think it looks like a nice effect. That's a really nice colour too.


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## adamhearn (17 Apr 2018)

What an excellent update; I bet it is so satisfying to see the colour laid down after so many hours of prep work. Well done!


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## LeetleGreyCells (17 Apr 2018)

Looking absolutely fantastic. Can’t wait to see the completed bike!


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## Smokin Joe (18 Apr 2018)

Brilliant!


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## C R (18 Apr 2018)

chriswoody said:


> So hopefully I can get a few coats of lacquer on whilst the weather is still warm and dry. Close to the finish now.



Are you using the spray.bike lacquer? Get some practice in before you go onto the real thing, it is a lot harder than the paint to get uniform coverage.


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## themosquitoking (18 Apr 2018)

Another lover of the colour here.


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## chriswoody (18 Apr 2018)

Thanks for the comments folks. For such a subjective thing, it's interesting to see how many folk like the green. I'm hoping with a few coats of Lacquer and when it's built up, that it will suit the rest of the colours on the bike. 

Thanks for the tips @C R , I will be using the spray.bike lacquer, so I'll give it a go first on a spare piece of Bamboo. From what I've heard and read, it sounds close to a normal car lacquer spray and the usual pitfalls of overruns and orange peel await. Be good to experiment as you say, and see before I commit to the frame.


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## Smokin Joe (18 Apr 2018)

chriswoody said:


> Thanks for the comments folks. For such a subjective thing, it's interesting to see how many folk like the green. I'm hoping with a few coats of Lacquer and when it's built up, that it will suit the rest of the colours on the bike.


Chris, it doesn't matter what colour you paint it (Matt black excepted ) it is such a unique machine it will look awesome.


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## buzzy-beans (19 Apr 2018)

My major problem is that my jaw keeps dropping open and hitting the keyboard whilst at the same time flooding everywhere with saliva! Chris for heavens sake get on and finish your masterpiece and post up some more images.


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## Elysian_Roads (19 Apr 2018)

buzzy-beans said:


> My major problem is that my jaw keeps dropping open and hitting the keyboard whilst at the same time flooding everywhere with saliva! Chris for heavens sake get on and finish your masterpiece and post up some more images.


A like for the impact, but not to finish too quickly. This has been a great thread, and am enjoying seeing it keep popping up, with a bit more progress.


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## Pale Rider (21 Apr 2018)

chriswoody said:


> usual pitfalls of overruns and orange peel await.



Not sure what you mean by overruns, but orange peel effect indicates the paint has been applied a bit too thickly.

Not always a bad thing because the finish will be longer lasting if there's plenty of paint on there.


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## chriswoody (21 Apr 2018)

Well with the weather in the mid to high twenties all week and next week seeing a return to more normal temperatures and showers, I took every opportunity I could this week to work on the bike. 

As pointed out by @C R the Lacquer is a very different beast to the colour paint. I did a test spray on an old spare piece of Bamboo and could instantly see that this was very fine and it would run really easily. Keeping a good spraying distance and making sure that you kept moving were crucial to avoid runs. I took to keeping a ruler with me as I sprayed to check that I was keeping at least 20cm away. 

I sprayed one coat on the lugs before removing the protective paper and masking tape for the last time. There was one or two small places where the paint had crept under the tape, but that was easily taken care of with a gentle scrape of a Stanley blade. 







With the tape removed, over the next days I sprayed the entire frame with 2 more coats of Lacquer. Aside from a couple of small imperfections in a couple of spots, the lugs have come up really well. So just for @buzzy-beans here's a couple of gratuitous lug shots!











So here we are today, 6 months, fourteen pages and countless hours of work later, I'm finally at the point where most build threads start. We have a complete and finished frame ready to build into a completed bike. I'm feeling pretty pleased with how it's turned out.











So fear not folks, the thread is far from over. I'm going to leave it be for a few days whilst it fully cures and then start to build it up. I'll keep updating as I go.


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## adamhearn (21 Apr 2018)

Simply amazing! How great does that look


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## Soltydog (21 Apr 2018)

Looks amazing  I'd never in a month of Sundays pick green for a bike frame, but it looks lovely with the bamboo. Can't wait to see the completed bike & seeing your smile whilst riding it


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## LeetleGreyCells (21 Apr 2018)

That is a fantastic frame. Can’t wait to see the finished product.


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## Elysian_Roads (21 Apr 2018)

chriswoody said:


> Well with the weather in the mid to high twenties all week and next week seeing a return to more normal temperatures and showers, I took every opportunity I could this week to work on the bike.
> 
> As pointed out by @C R the Lacquer is a very different beast to the colour paint. I did a test spray on an old spare piece of Bamboo and could instantly see that this was very fine and it would run really easily. Keeping a good spraying distance and making sure that you kept moving were crucial to avoid runs. I took to keeping a ruler with me as I sprayed to check that I was keeping at least 20cm away.
> 
> ...


That is such a great result, @chriswoody. Not sure if you have thought about it but the build deserves its own badge on that head tube.


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## buzzy-beans (21 Apr 2018)

Chris, I am absolutely truly and completely gobsmacked by the superb finish you have created. If it wasn't for my arthritic knees and back I would now be down on bended knee, bowing to your amazing creative expertise and capabilities............................. fingers crossed that it rides half as well as it looks.


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## C R (21 Apr 2018)

I bet you feel even better than the frame looks.


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## Illaveago (22 Apr 2018)

C R said:


> Are you using the spray.bike lacquer? Get some practice in before you go onto the real thing, it is a lot harder than the paint to get uniform coverage.


That is good advice ,as it is transparent it is not as easy to see where you are spraying as opposed to darker colours, white is another difficult colour .


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## Pale Rider (22 Apr 2018)

Top job @chriswoody.

Wise move to let everything cure for a few days, there has been a lot of chemical processes going on one way or another.

I suppose we should ask you to weigh the finished frame.

Wouldn't mean a lot to me, but plenty of builders on here would be interested.

Speaking of build, what type of bike is this going to be?


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## Easytigers (22 Apr 2018)

As the others have already said, it looks amazing! Can't wait to see her fully built!


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## Houthakker (22 Apr 2018)

Thats looking superb, well done.
What sort of forks have you got lined up for it?


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## chriswoody (22 Apr 2018)

Thanks everyone for the comments, as you say I'm certainly feeling pleased with the way it turned out and I like the way the green compliments the Bamboo. I'm hoping with the black wheels and groups set that everything will sit together nicely.



Elysian_Roads said:


> That is such a great result, @chriswoody. Not sure if you have thought about it but the build deserves its own badge on that head tube.



A head badge is certainly something that I've been toying with. The trouble is I'm at a bit of a loss as to how to do it. I really don't want to let the rest of the bike down with a shoddy head badge. The design that most appeals to me is quite complicated and creating a mask and spraying through it would be really tricky. Printing a sticker would be the best bet, but I'm unsure about how to go about it. I've not dropped the idea entirely though and will continue to look into it.



Pale Rider said:


> Top job @chriswoody.
> 
> I suppose we should ask you to weigh the finished frame.
> 
> ...



Well before I covered it in car filler and paint it weighed 2.4 kilo's. I'll bring home a spring scale tomorrow from work and weigh it again, I'm intrigued as well to see how light it is.

I live in an area flatter than Holland, so I'm building up a single speed bike and will use drops. The rear is spaced at 120mm to take a dedicated single speed wheel.



Houthakker said:


> What sort of forks have you got lined up for it?



I've got a brand new set of Surly Pacer Cromoly forks for it, not as light as Carbon, but a lot cheaper and I've got a thing for steel. Generally they are a good set of forks, however I hadn't realised when I first purchased them that I'd need medium drop calliper brakes on them which is a pain given I'd got a perfectly good set of short reach brakes in the spares box.


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## roadrash (22 Apr 2018)

absolutely fantastic, ive really enjoyed following this thread


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## adamhearn (22 Apr 2018)

How about finding someone to do an enamel painted badge?

No personal experience but something like https://www.badgesplus.co.uk/enamel-badges


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## chriswoody (24 Apr 2018)

An enamel head badge, now there's an idea. That would really suit this bike and it doesn't look too pricey. I've also found some sticker printing firms online, so i've got a few options to look into. 

I've almost collected the last of my components together as well, just a front brake and some shorter chainring bolts to go. Managed to fit my headset cups to the frame tonight, but the crown race on the forks managed to defeat me. Oh well always tomorrow.

I've also weighed the frame and was surprised, all that filler and paint has really added up. It weighs 3.9 kilos without forks. Mmm a lesson for folk who are weight conscious, don't go down my route of filler and paint if your after a light weight racer. 

I'll do a proper update with photos in a few days when I've more to report.


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## Smokin Joe (24 Apr 2018)

chriswoody said:


> An enamel head badge, now there's an idea. That would really suit this bike and it doesn't look too pricey. I've also found some sticker printing firms online, so i've got a few options to look into.
> 
> I've almost collected the last of my components together as well, just a front brake and some shorter chainring bolts to go. Managed to fit my headset cups to the frame tonight, but the crown race on the forks managed to defeat me. Oh well always tomorrow.
> 
> ...


Chris, if you are using cartridge bearings (As in A-Head type sets) cut a slot in the crown race and it will push on easily. The bearings run inside the cartridge and the crown race is really only a locating ring.


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## chriswoody (25 Apr 2018)

Maybe not a bad idea?







In all seriousness though, I'm really not to sure at the moment.


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## Smokin Joe (25 Apr 2018)

chriswoody said:


> Maybe not a bad idea?
> 
> View attachment 405962
> 
> ...


Looks great!


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## chriswoody (27 Apr 2018)

So bit of a mixed bag. I've spent the week slowly pottering towards the finish line on this one. I'm still waiting on an internet order for the front brake and some more headset spacers though. The spacers are an annoyance, I'd underestimated how many I'd need so I've been unable to tighten up the front end. 

Tonight I've been grappling with the back brake and threading the cable through. I was busy adjusting the shoes and the reach on the arms, when something suddenly felt odd. Looking around I discovered that the front cable stop had ripped apart into several pieces. In my quest to make it look good, I'd severely weakened it, so it was back to the Bamboo to carve a new one. Not the end of the world, but annoying. 

Hopefully tomorrow, my front brake and the last of the headset spacers will turn up. In the mean time, here's some photos of how it looks tonight:


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## buzzy-beans (27 Apr 2018)

booooootiful and brilliant!


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## C R (27 Apr 2018)

I bet you won't get much sleep with the anticipation. 
Fantastic job.


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## Drago (27 Apr 2018)

Looking gewd indeed. Bet you can't wait to find out what it feels like to ride!


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## LeetleGreyCells (27 Apr 2018)

Awe-inspiring!


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## Smokin Joe (27 Apr 2018)

Looks fantastic, Chris. All your efforts have been well worth while.

However, in complete opposite to thre normal forum quote of "Your chain's a bit slack", that one looks as taut as a bow string and could do with a bit of sag in it to avoid knackering the bearings.


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## Jenkins (27 Apr 2018)

That looks fantastic.


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## Serge (27 Apr 2018)

Amazing! I've binge read this thread from start to finish and was gutted when I got to the end and it wasn't finished!

Now I'm kind of jealous of all the folks who followed you in real time. 

I have so much admiration for the way you've gone about this project and you've been a big inspiration to me to get off my lazy ass and commit to my own (very much less complicated) project.

I'm very much looking forward to the next installment.


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## raleighnut (28 Apr 2018)

Looking good.


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## Andrew1971 (28 Apr 2018)

Can't wait to see it finished. Look's fantastic The green look's like british racing green.


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## chriswoody (29 Apr 2018)

Thanks everyone for the comments, good to see you follow along @Serge . Hope you get stuck into your project soon, it's always good to have a project on the go. The colour is called Hercules from the vintage bike collection, but I was attracted to it because I thought it looked just like British racing green as well!

So yesterday the postman arrived with the last bits, however, due to family commitments, I couldn't pick up any spanners until 8 O'clock. I then set to for the next 2 hours building up the last of the bike. Aside from brakes, fettling and adjusting the chain tension (Thanks @Smokin Joe !) I also had the last of the frame fittings to do. The kit supplies four threaded inserts for attaching racks or bottle cages to the frame. It involves drilling two 8mm holes into my nice new frame. To say I was nervous would be an understatement.







The drilling went well, however screwing the inserts in fractured the surface of the Bamboo slightly. It's only cosmetic though and will be hidden under the bottle cage, so no great problem.






Then we reached the point were there really was nothing left to do. We were done and could finally stand back and admire our work.

So today I dragged the bike out into a beautiful day and gave it one final check over. Then it was of for a few laps of the estate, whilst adjusting seat positions and handlebars. When I was relatively happy I packed some tools and filled a water bottle before heading out on my favourite route. It's only 22km, but provides a nice workout for the bike with a mix of smooth roads, forest tracks and small sections of cobbles. So enough talk, here is the final finished bike out in its natural habitat.





















So the million dollar question, how does it ride? Absolutely lovely. I'm no expert on different frame materials or their properties and I still ride the old Dawes Galaxy I bought 25 years ago. However, the ride is so smooth and comfy, it is really noticeable. I know the steel front forks will cancel out some of the effects of the Bamboo, but the smoothness of the ride was really noticeable. Aside from that it is a really lovely bike and the fact that I built the frame is really satisfying.

So after all this time, I'm sat here typing this and supping the Bamboo beer that you saw in the very first post. Yep I vowed it would stay unopened until after the very first ride, and how does it taste? really satisfying.


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## midlife (29 Apr 2018)

Wow !


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## JhnBssll (29 Apr 2018)

Thrilled for you. And yet slightly saddened by the sudden realisation that there will be no more updates


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## LeetleGreyCells (29 Apr 2018)

Superb!


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## Smokin Joe (29 Apr 2018)

What a great achievement, the bike looks absolutely fantastic and even better that you are happy with the ride.

I too will miss this thread, it's the best we've ever had on Cyclechat. It would be great if it was on a sticky so newcomers and those who may not go on this particular section could read it too.


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## raleighnut (29 Apr 2018)




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## Elysian_Roads (29 Apr 2018)

JhnBssll said:


> Thrilled for you. And yet slightly saddened by the sudden realisation that there will be no more updates


I would agree with this. Of course there is nothing wrong in asking for an update or two later in the year after @chriswoody has had time to enjoy the fruits of his labours, is there?


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## roadrash (29 Apr 2018)

I agree with everything @Smokin Joe said, feels like ive just finished a good book that I didn't want to end


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## Nigel-YZ1 (29 Apr 2018)

Brilliant work. It looks gorgeous


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## buzzy-beans (29 Apr 2018)

Three cheers to the author of a fantastic read and a brilliant bike............ so all together, hip, hip hip, hip  hip, hip


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## alicat (29 Apr 2018)

Lovely job and well worth the wait for the beer.


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## C R (29 Apr 2018)

Fantastic job, I bow to your perseverance and attention to detail


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## Jenkins (29 Apr 2018)

Thank you for this build thread. I have nowehere near your patience, skills or attention to detail to do something like this so 
Never has a  or two been more deserved.


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## Serge (30 Apr 2018)

Fantastic!

It's great to see it out in the wild. I hope it gives you many years of pleasure.

I'll be raising a beer to you later (it's a little early for one now, even for me!).


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## chriswoody (30 Apr 2018)

Thanks everyone for the comments, I'm glad you all like the finished result. 

I just wanted to say a big thank you to all of the people that have taken the time to comment on this thread over the last seven months. It's been great to read all of your input, ideas and encouragement. I will pop back from time to time with updates here and there. I'm still pondering the head badge idea and I need to weigh the finished bike as well, when I can work out how.

So I don't know if any one else is pondering a crazy project like this, but I thought I'd pop up some of my thoughts about the bike and the kit, now that it's all finished. From the start, the Bamboo Bicycle Club have been really good to deal with, they state that they want to help people build a unique bike and were happy to change some of the kit contents to suit my needs. When it was dispatched, it was sent quickly and without postage costs, to Germany.

The kits contents were really comprehensive, not only was everything included, but more than sufficient quantities of everything as well. I've seen a few kits online where resin is not included in the kit, along with other essential parts. This kit has everything you need to make a complete frame aside from consumables like sandpaper and tape, which is fair enough. I liked the fact that the tubes are also not trimmed to length or mitred, so you get to completely build the bike and are free to make your own decisions on how to proceed. 

The kit also comes with a comprehensive instruction booklet and this is one area that I felt was a little below par. There were a number of spelling mistakes and more annoyingly there were a couple of unfinished sentences. There was also some conflicting information and mistakes in the way they wanted you to construct things. Overall, as excellent as it was, it really needed to be proof read properly. Another issue with the kit was the substandard Bottom Bracket insert, it's seems that there was a batch problem, but I feel that they could have at least emailed me about it when they where aware. 

The end product is excellent though and I'm really pleased with both the look of the bike and the way it rides. It really is a lovely bike. There was a bit of discussion earlier in the thread about cost and value for money. Having bought the kit and constructed it, I definitely feel it's excellent value for money. I've had a lot of enjoyment from this, whilst the instructions are not as well written as they could be, the overall quality of the kit is excellent and I would whole heartedly recommend it to any one. I've genuinely not seen another kit online that appeals to me as much as this one. 

So the big question is who's next?


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## Alan O (30 Apr 2018)

chriswoody said:


> I need to weigh the finished bike as well, when I can work out how.


Stand on the scales empty handed, then again holding the bike?


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## chriswoody (30 Apr 2018)

If I had a set of scales that is! Aside from some kitchen scales, we've never owned any other kind. I'm going to see if I can borrow some from somewhere though.


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## chriswoody (30 Apr 2018)

Funny you should say that, this one popped up on their Facebook feed the other day, built from a home build kit as well.


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## Elysian_Roads (30 Apr 2018)

chriswoody said:


> Funny you should say that, this one popped up on their Facebook feed the other day, built from a home build kit as well.
> 
> View attachment 406785


Am loving those wheels!


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## Alan O (30 Apr 2018)

chriswoody said:


> If I had a set of scales that is! Aside from some kitchen scales, we've never owned any other kind. I'm going to see if I can borrow some from somewhere though.


Ah, I'm sure you could build a set out of bamboo


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## adamhearn (30 Apr 2018)

Will be great to see a future update on the finishing touches (graphics/badge) and reliability - “does it melt in the rain” for example 

Until then, enjoy riding it.


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## C R (30 Apr 2018)

Alan O said:


> Ah, I'm sure you could build a set out of bamboo


You could fix a length of bamboo to the wall at one end, hang what you want to weigh at the other end and measure the deflection of the bamboo. You can then calculate the weight using a suitable beam deflection formula and an estimate for the elastic modulus of bamboo.

That's the visionary step done, I will leave the details for you to fill in.


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## JhnBssll (30 Apr 2018)

Or you could post it to me and I'll weigh it for you


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## Milkfloat (30 Apr 2018)

JhnBssll said:


> Or you could post it to me and I'll weigh it for you



And just how is he going to know how much postage to pay without weighing the bike?


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## Bamboo Bicycle Club (1 May 2018)

Great to follow the thread. Awesome project! Thanks for all the feedback!


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## Robxxx7 (2 May 2018)

Have really enjoyed reading this thread over the course of your bike build .. the bike looks fantastic and you have made a great job of it .. give yourself a big pat on the back


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## mjr (2 May 2018)

chriswoody said:


> If I had a set of scales that is! Aside from some kitchen scales, we've never owned any other kind. I'm going to see if I can borrow some from somewhere though.


Luggage scales. Rope around stem and seat post, then hook the luggage scales onto it and use them to lift the bike, shuffling a bit to keep it balanced.


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## k_green (3 May 2018)

Wow,! Congrats and well done! Thanks for the excellent read


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## chriswoody (6 May 2018)

Thanks again for the positive comments folks, glad everyone likes it. I've still not managed to get hold of any scales of any sort to weigh the bike, but hopefully later this week I can lay my hands on some.

So a week after completion and I've managed to put the best part of a 100km on it. Aside from a few tweaks and adjustments here and there, it's been faultless. I'm still really pleased with the way it rides, it's really smooth and comfortable. Given the fact that it's lashed together with hemp and handcrafted in my basement, it's also surprisingly stiff. Overall I'm really pleased with the outcome and I've had a lot of fun riding it this week.


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## adamhearn (6 May 2018)

Looking good.

Seatpost would look better in black


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## chriswoody (6 May 2018)

Your right I have been thinking that as well, but I was trying to keep costs down by using parts from my spares bin. I might yet buy a black one though, in the not to distant future, seat posts are not too pricey.


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## Alan O (6 May 2018)

adamhearn said:


> Looking good.
> 
> Seatpost would look better in black


And a dark green saddle


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## Ianboydsnr (6 May 2018)

I think it looks fantastic, you’ve done a great job there, well done.


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## chriscross1966 (9 May 2018)

Fantastic... and it looks lovely..... I'd suggest getting something mounted on the fork stem though, make it look like it's meant to be there :-)....


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## adamhearn (15 May 2018)

Is this a perfect jersey to compliment your bike?


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## Reynard (11 Jun 2018)

I'd been following this thread on the QT and enjoying it loads. 

Then, when I was bimbling about in London the other day, I spotted one!  A chap riding a bamboo bike! I was on foot and couldn't help exclaiming "OMG, a bamboo bike!" much to the confusion of my fellow pedestrians. 

Anyways, this one differed from the OP's steed as it had a double top tube a la Flying Pigeon, and looked like the lugs had been done with carbon, but hey, it's not every day you see one of these.


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## FishFright (18 Sep 2018)

Holly necro Batman but I've just seen this and thought of that , nowt new under then sun ?


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## raleighnut (19 Sep 2018)

Useful stuff Bamboo,


View: https://youtu.be/ZvqitPQi2Ds


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## Gunk (15 Nov 2019)

Just read all 18 pages of this and Chris you are a legend! The biggest achievement is that you managed to fit around a young family and teaching job, brilliant!


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## pclay (15 Nov 2019)

I wonder how the bike is going now?


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## buzzy-beans (16 Nov 2019)

pclay said:


> I wonder how the bike is going now?



Indeed, so do I.

I followed the totally fascinating build programme from start to finish, since when virtually nothing!


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## cyberknight (16 Nov 2019)

raleighnut said:


> Useful stuff Bamboo,
> 
> 
> View: https://youtu.be/ZvqitPQi2Ds




View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=avyd9IVmYMQ


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## dave r (16 Nov 2019)

pclay said:


> I wonder how the bike is going now?



And me


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## Dogtrousers (17 Nov 2019)

On the subject of bamboo themed songs, XTC's Neon Suffle contains the lines "Gonna run you right through/With a stick of bamboo"


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## chriswoody (17 Nov 2019)

Thanks everyone again for all of kind posts, as well as the stories and photos of other Bamboo bikes out in the wild. @FishFright indeed there really is nothing new under the sun, Bamboo bikes have been around for over a hundred years now. 



pclay said:


> I wonder how the bike is going now?





buzzy-beans said:


> Indeed, so do I.
> 
> I followed the totally fascinating build programme from start to finish, since when virtually nothing!





dave r said:


> And me



I know, I know, I've been rubbish at keeping this up to date! so lets have a go at a long overdue update.

Summer 2018 was the first year I rode the bike and I had some great rides, but something was not quite right and it was bugging me. I just couldn't get comfy on the bike. I was sure the frame size was right, but I just didn't feel right, then one day lost in my thoughts, just enjoying the feeling of riding it struck me what was wrong. The preceding years had seen my riding time and distance drop significantly due to the time pressures of a demanding job and young family and as a result I was overall less fit, the net result? I'd lost core strength and as a result I was slouching on the bike, my posture was awful. For the rest of the ride I really focused on holding myself properly and the difference was noticeable. So this led on to me experimenting with not only the stem height and position, but in maintaining a decent posture and building my core strength back up. So two years down the line the steerer is still not cut down! but I think I've finally nailed the riding position. 

So with the reach problem sorted, I really started to enjoy the rides. The bike is really comfy over long distances and a lot of fun. With my new found love of Gravel riding, this bike had become my summer ride only which is perfect. I just love taking it out on days when the roads are dry and the sun is beating down. Overall it's been really reliable, aside from one problem, it's as good as new still. No sign of any stress of cracks in the frame or the joins.

So the one problem? At the end of September, riding home one day the cable stop for the back brake cable let go. No major problem, I used the front brake for the last kilometre. The stop itself is just a small piece of Bamboo resined on to the frame, so I need to look at that. I've two thoughts on making a more permanent fix. Quite possibly, I'll wrap it under a piece of spare hemp and the paint it. I'll document it here though as I go. As I mentioned, the bike is off the road until the weather improves though so no massive rush.

So there we go, finally updated! not much to report really, aside from what a great bike it is and the satisfaction I get from riding something I made myself is immeasurable. The only slight regret and I mean only slight, is that I never made the wheels as well. I will build my own wheels one day, but there are only so many hours in a day.


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## Reynard (17 Nov 2019)

FishFright said:


> Holly necro Batman but I've just seen this and thought of that , nowt new under then sun ?
> 
> View attachment 430663



Just had a silly thought... 

This is just the thing James Braxton would buy on the Antiques Road Trip. It passes the "Braxton Weight Test" *and* it's bamboo.


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