Bamboo bicycle from a kit.... And a big joint issue too!

[Gjloss]

Hi everyone,

I'm new to the forum and to the world of bikes in general, but I take great interest in it since about a year!

I've been building my first bamboo bicycle bike using the kit from Bamboobee (http://bamboobee.net/). I've got mixed feedback as it was a fun experience and the kit got things you need to get started on that very cool project, but the instruction can be clumsy and the quality of the elements is so-so for some of them.

Anyway, I went on with it and built this frame (see pics attached). Pretty proud of it as it was my first one. Finitions are not great, but it got some style! The main concern is that I cannot ride it because it's very very very wobbly around the junction of the superior tube and the direction tube. Guess why I named it the Frankenbike! The videos below will give you clear picture of the issue:
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View: https://youtu.be/uJDAQocBwUg

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View: https://youtu.be/4epzMTcCK-U


Would anyone has some suggestions on how ti fix it on this model ideally? Or if you don't think this can be fixed, how to avoid having this issue happening for the next model I build?

Cheers and thank you for reading this!

Joss

 

[the snail]

Looks like not enough epoxy resin to me, and not enough tape going around the joints rather than just round one tube, which doesn't reinforce the joint. Maybe you should do some googling of bamboo bikes and investigate how other constructors form the joints. I hope you're not planning on riding that thing.

 

[Smurfy]

What is that tape-like material? It doesn't really lend itself to following the tubes and joint profile closely, and it looks very dense and might be difficult to saturate with epoxy resin, so I think that is why there is so little strength. I reckon you need something like hemp fibres. And a good joint appears to be a multi stage process of adding layers and rubbing down, rather than a single stage.

This blog shows some good results using hemp fibre:
https://bamboobike.wordpress.com/42-2/

And they link to this document which also looks useful:
https://drive.google.com/file/d/1L-...Q1EsjCPO-u4TvR_vunekydMOFvU/view?pref=2&pli=1

 

[derrick]

It's a wind up

 

[mickle]

Have you contacted the people who you purchased it from?

 

[guitarpete247]

If you come back for the advice being offered "Welcome". If we never hear from you again "Bye".

 

[FrankCrank]

...bamboo is for making chairs and tables. To make a bike you need some kinda metal.........

 

[sidevalve]

...bamboo is for making chairs and tables. To make a bike you need some kinda metal.........

said it before - carbon is for pencils - aluminium is for aeroplanes - steel is for bicycles [and bamboo is for odd conservatory furniture]

 

[steveindenmark]

Or you buy something like this. Which I wouldnt ride but it is getting closer to what a natural material bike should look like.

http://woodelo.ie/

 

[raleighnut]

You shouldn't have smoked the big joint before trying to assemble it.

 

[Gjloss]

Hey guys, thanks a lot for the feedback! Some super useful tips in there as I was hoping for
Just to mention that yeah, we produce a lot of hemp in France :-D

I've been riding bamboo bikes and can tell these are just awesome, so smooth on the pavement! Plus these got such a nice look, love it! But not for anyone to build it definitely. Do something wrong and you could really put yourself and others in danger. For this one, I had a pillow taped to the handlebars, just in case!

Anyway, I keep in particular these 2 posts form the snail and especially Smurfy which is giving some super good references!! I'll try and reinforce the existing structure following these advice.

Also for the next version, I wanted to use 3D printed direction tube and bottom bracket so I can better join the bamboo tubes with the pieces as on this pic (see attached axes de pédalier avec embout.jpg). What do you think? Ever tried it or heard feedback?

Cheers and have a good ride!

Joss

 

[Smurfy]

I had a pillow taped to the handlebars, just in case!

Gotta be a windup!

Also for the next version, I wanted to use 3D printed direction tube and bottom bracket so I can better join the bamboo tubes with the pieces as on this pic (see attached axes de pédalier avec embout.jpg). What do you think? Ever tried it or heard feedback?

Without hemp or some other reinforcement, a 3D printed plastic lug is unlikely to be strong enough. Although I suppose you could always rely on more pillows.

 

[mickle]

Give up. Buy a Virk.

 

[midlife]

Wasn't he the captain of the enterprise?

Shaun