July 01, 2009
Bamboo Bikes
An intriguing, enterprising and eco-friendly idea but at $900 a pop, will it sell?
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It might sell - but I don't think they've developed their idea quite enough just yet. Good start though.
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If they drop the price in a few years to, say, 300 bucks, I would consider it if I weren't so chicken about riding bikes.
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I don't think we can give Neddy permission to ride a bike. She's still recovering from that last time she was on one. Actually I wonder how they deal with the splintering issue in a crash?
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A bike frame is an integral part, of course, but the ancillary gears, chains, handlebars, brakes, wheels, tires and other gubbins must still be made of more suitable materials so it seems a bit of a misnomer to call it a 'bamboo bike'. Still, every bit helps, especially if the proceeds from the production of bamboo frames can benefit those who need it most.
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Bamboo's pretty tough. A typical road crash might not damage it at all. I suspect some serious mountain-bike pounding might be able to generate some hazardous splinters though.