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)
| Material | Density (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) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Wood | 0.46 | 104 | 226 | 10 | 22 | 7 | 80 |
| Concrete | 2.5 | 4 | 2 | 48 | 19 | 69 | 28 |
| Glass | 2.5 | 50 | 20 | 69 | 28 | 50 | 20 |
| Aluminium | 2.7 | 247 | 88 | 69 | 25 | – | – |
| Cast iron | 7.8 | 138 | 18 | 207 | 26 | 120 | 15 |
| Steel (0.06% C) | 7.9 | 4.59 | 58 | 203 | 26 | 800 | 101 |
| Polyester | 1.8 | 276 | 153 | 18 | 10 | 270 | 150 |
| Epoxy | 1.8 | 1100 | 611 | 45 | 25 | 400 | 222 |
| Bamboo | 0.66 | 206 | 312 | 20 | 31 | 79 | 120 |
Easy to work with
Bamboo can be easily cut, mitred, sanded, painted and even bent with simple hand tools.