Why Bamboo?

There’s hundreds of great reasons to use bamboo as a building material, but the main one is that it grows!

Renewable

It’s one of the world’s fastest growing renewable resources.  Giant species like Moso (Phyllostachys pubescens) can grow up to 1.2 metres in 24 hours!

Local

It also grows almost anywhere (even here in chilly Victoria) and can thus be sourced locally, saving those precious carbon miles.

Strong

Bamboo has uni-directional fibres making it very strong in tensile and compressive forces. It’s also light, hollow and stiff enough to withstand the rigors of bike riding, whilst being supple enough to provide shock dampening for a smooth ride.

Here’s a comparison of the mechanical properties of natural bamboo with other materials (Source: Bamboo The Gift of the Gods by Oscar Hidalgo – Lopez)

Comparison of the mechanical properties of natural bamboo with other materials
MaterialDensity (g cm 3)Tensile strength (MPa)Specific tensile strength (N mg-1)Tensile modulus (GPa)Specific tensile modulus (kN mg-1)Compression Strength (MPa)Specific Compression Strength (N mg-1)
Wood0.461042261022780
Concrete2.54248196928
Glass2.5502069285020
Aluminium2.7247886925
Cast iron7.8138182072612015
Steel (0.06% C)7.94.595820326800101
Polyester1.82761531810270150
Epoxy1.811006114525400222
Bamboo0.66206312203179120

Easy to work with

Bamboo can be easily cut, mitred, sanded, painted and even bent with simple hand tools.