Self build bamboo frame - kickstarter temptation!

[Sway]

Just seen this:

https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/817362809/bam...

Looks bloody nice!

Flat pack frame jig and bamboo tubes, which seem to be made of two lengths of bamboo - one inside the other.

Hemp rope soaked in epoxy (which I assume you can add pretty much any pigment to?).

Seems pretty cheap, and looking at their website it looks like with time and care (sod the 'three day build' nonsense) that a really good looking frame can be made using basic techniques.

Under £250 all in once shipping/tax/resin is done?

Hmm. Missus would absolutely kill me - we're supposed to be clearing stuff out...

[ecsrobin]

Now that's cool, I wonder if they do a 29er

[Sway]

Done some more research - seems there's a few kits available...

This one is British, but you have to rent the jig (for £200):

http://bamboobicycleclub.org/store/customkit/

This one uses a seemingly clever way of creating a cheap jig:

http://bamboobikesupplies.com/collections/all

But this one seems the daddy - solid reusable jig, easily variable geometry. More expensive, but perhaps you get what you pay for (if a couple of mates were keen you could combine purchases and pass the jig around reducing costs).

Uses balsa lugs and carbon to wrap:

http://www.herobike.org/collections/our-kits

Hmm. With these and a desire to build a cedar strip sea kayak (oh, and some oak fitted bookshelves) it would seem I should sort the garage into a workshop.

[Kell]

Sway said:

This one is British, but you have to rent the jig (for £200):

You have to give them a £200 refundable deposit - Though it does look like you also have to hire the tools at £30-£80.

[Sway]

My mistake.

Still, the most expensive option seems like the best value?

Apparently there's a UK bamboo supplier who will provide selected poles for a bike frame for 60 quid. Add in some resin and carbon or hemp, and that seems like a reasonable materials cost for building multiple bikes.

Just thinking of a geared roadbike, track style singlespeed, BMX...

[Gizmoish]

I want one of those so much.

However, I fear it would count about ten towards a bike related divorce.

[Some Gump]

I must have missed something. If I saw a bamboo and hemp bike, it'd rank slightly worse in my view than a fixie with bullhorns, white deep sections and a pair of red skinny jeans.

Mind, I've never understood how any beard can be ironic, so I may be a luddite...

[Sway]

I haven't got a hope of getting a decent custom frame.

I certainly couldn't begin to think of making one myself.

This gives the ability to make my own frame to my spec, and know that it's completely mine.

The intention would be to build a cool village bike, probably belt drive singlespeed.

Some of them look like a dog's dinner, some look really bloody good (check out Calfee - although obviously that level of skill is unlikely on the first go!