The bamboo bike is my most in-depth physical project, and required the most research, set-up and time to build. This is one of my favourite projects, and I feel that it provides the best example of my love for creating things that are useful for everyday life and beautiful enough to make using them an experience.
In order to be able to build the frame accurately, I first had to construct a frame jig. The purpose of the jig is to hold all of the components of the frame in place during construction. Keeping everything held true ultimately ensures that the final frame is rideable.
The majority of the frame jig is made from modular aluminum extrusions. This allows for the jig to be adjusted to build a variety of different frame geometries. The cones that hold the steer-tube and the top of the seat-tube were turned from aluminum, and tapped to fit 3/8” stainless rod.
Once everything was in place in the jig the components and poles were lugged together using carbon. Layers of carbon tow were built up in different directions, eventually creating enough strength and rigidity to make the frame usable.
After enough carbon was built up, the frame was taken off the jig and the excess carbon was sanded off of the joints. Then I coated the carbon with a thin layer of epoxy to seal any exposed fibers and waxed the bamboo.
Finally, the frame was built up with the remaining components to finish the bike.