Jul/090
Riding Bamboo
One cannot argue that the bike - pushbike - as a method of transportation has managed to get around a vast number of conditions where other transport, public or private, could not offer a good enough solution. Short or medium distances, small towns or big cities and in very extreme weathers, hot or cold. I have been personally an everyday user of a pushbike for years, and is only now, when my body is starting to complain, that I have had to replace it with motorised one
In developing countries is when bikes have been proved to be extreamly eficient, not only because very few people can really access to cars, but also because the way it can adapt to very diferent circumstances, such a space or maintenance. Africa is a peculiar example. Bike usage in this country is absolutely massive, not only as a personal method of transportation; boda-bodas are used as public service in many parts of the continent. At the same time bike production in Africa in non-existent, the majority of them are there as a legacy of the colonial times, when the pavements were completely different than how they are now, or are produced in China or India, where spare parts access is almost impossible.
Is here where The Bike Bamboo Project comes in place. These guys are pushing hard to develop a bike for African people and made by African people, using as main material local Bamboo. The most interesting thing is the speed at which plant can grow, its tensile strength is greater than the steel and producing it is cheat and renewable.
Have a look at the website.
There are many other projects similar to this, like Bamboo Bike Studio in which you can build your own bamboo bike for about $1300.
