One such blog-worthy happening was a recent visit by a Boston-area bamboo bike owner.  Diane had seen our recent piece on Chronicle and thought we might be able to help her with a bicycle her son had purchased in Asia.  She mentioned that it was a bamboo bicycle but wasn’t sure the condition or the value and was curious to learn more about it and find out what it would take to get it road-worthy.

[Side note]
I’ve seen a few bamboo bicycle products from Asia over the past few years and I see a lot of them using very different techniques for construction. Mostly, these manufacturers are looking for the ability to scale production to a massive level (~100,000 bikes a year). With the bamboo that we use, there is a high degree of variability so each pole needs to be properly selected based on several key physical properties.  Alternatively, in order to standardize on size/thickness/consistency, these manufacturers break down the raw bamboo rods, by shaving it into thin layers, then glue it back into solid rods which are used for the bicycle structure. Typically, they use aluminum alloy for the joinery(lugs).

The main benefit of this method is that the bikes are made using a highly renewable resource. However, by slicing and reassembling the bamboo these bikes miss out on one crucial benefit of the bamboo in it’s natural incarnation —  that due to the bamboo structure it has a natural dampening property. There are a few other flaws that I see with this approach but it is a step in the right direction.

[okay, back to the bike visit]

So when Diane rolled out this bike, I was a bit surprised.

I was expecting an assembly-line solid bamboo laminate bike.

I have actually seen photos of this style of bike twice over the past year — a customer in Switzerland who had sent me photos of an identical bike spotted in Lucern and coincidentally another friend spotted one(and sent pictures) in Michigan.  I hadn’t actually seen one in person so it was a real pleasure and I’m really happy Diane took the time to share it with me.

In essence, this is a steel bike that is sheathed in bamboo and rattan/wicker.  There are some bamboo members that don’t have a steel skeleton underneath, but those members are non-structural.  This bike is eye-catching. It’s also arm-busting carrying up a few stairs.  I would estimate that the bike weighs in just over 30lbs.

What’s impressive about the bike is that the fenders are fully bamboo, the basket is comprised of curved bamboo members wrapped with rattan. Possibly the most impressive part is the saddle completely covered in a woven rattan.  Really neat detail work. I’m not sure I would have the patience to weave and weave and weave.

Here’s an up-close look at the beautifully crafted front-mounted bamboo basket

A close-up of the headtube area(where the handlebars attach to the frame) where the rattan is woven to tie the sheathing to the non-strctural curved bamboo struts. The front basket is in the foreground.

Here’s a look at the seat tube(the part of the bike that the seat tube slides into). Notice the steel frame is revealed towards the bottom bracket (the area where the pedals connect to the bicycle frame). A cool feature is the chain guard and the fender are made of glued, curved and carved (the inner part is carved out to conform to the wheel shape) to achieve the desired shape.

Here’s a look a the intricately woven rattan around the steel rear rack. The spring-loaded clamp mechanism is wrapped as well – but it still works!

That’s a lot of wrapping!!

More wrapping!!

here’s a shot that shows the underlying steel frame up close. The chainguard on the other side of the bike is all bamboo — it’s a very light species with very pronounced nodes (‘nodes’ are the knuckles on the bamboo poles)

All in all I think this is a really interesting interpretation of a ‘bamboo’ bike.  The bamboo and rattan is really eye-catching. It’s warm and pleasing to look at. There is a lot of intricate wrapping throughout the bike.

I think I’ll stick with the Erba approach for now — taking advantage of bamboo’s great natural properties; strong, light, beautiful, and able to absorb vibration really well….. although I do secretly want that saddle.

Thanks so much to Diane for bringing it by the shop. Cheers!!

On a recent trip to California I found myself in a fairly remote parking lot in a lovely little neighborhood in San Francisco. Having recently committed to a car-free lifestyle in Boston, I joined the massively popular ZipCar. However, I have been so committed to going car-free that I hadn’t actually used my membership in the first two months of joining.

Needing a car for the afternoon in SF, I booked a nearby Prius. Zipcar has a great web experience – simple, easy, clean. I arrived at the car, swiped my card only to be greeted with a flashing red light. nada. niente. nein. no dice. The very nice attendant confirmed my membership card was not working. A quick call to ZipCar customer support (with really bad reception) instructed me to head to my local Zipcar HQ. There was some broken discussion about me being in Boston or San Francisco. I tried to offer some solutions – one of which was to drive a Zipcar there. It seemed to make sense to me. That was not well received. I pictured the customer support guy to be something like this:

After a rainy wait, and a long bus ride downtown (no cabs in this quiet neighborhood) I arrived at the Zipcar HQ. To this point I would say I was frustrated, disappointed, wasting precious time, and seriously underfed. In a word: Cranky.

Entering the Zipcar office took what was quickly turning into an ugly morning it turned completely upsidedown.

The Zipcar agent offered his apologies, issued me a working card, booked a fun car (gratis as an apology for the poor experience), and offered to reimburse me for a cab ride back to the neighborhood where I would pick up the car. Wow. Well done! A technical issue rectified, apology made and measures taken to ensure that I would walk away happy and feeling like my business was valued. Kudos to Zipcar and this agent.

How is this all relevant to Erba Cycles? Valuing the relationship with the consumer is an essential component of how we approach our young business. It is absolutely critical. Not everyone company feels the same way. We want each customer experience to be one that will compel you to share with your friends(in a good way, of course). We stand behind our bikes and components and will do what it takes to ensure you have an outstanding customer experience – much like that Zipcar agent did.

The aesthetics of our bamboo bicycles are as universal as the appeal of wood. Bamboo, although technically a grass, has the warmth and nuanced color of wood but with the sustainability of a fast-growing grass. Each bamboo bicycle is unique – the finish and color varies with the harvest of each bamboo cane.

Our bamboo bikes are quick and comfortable but we also want each one to be visually striking. Combined with our natural fiber joint work, the Erban bamboo bike is going to get you across town faster than any public transportation with a style that is unique and beautiful.

Interbike definitely lived up to my expectations. There’s a ton of innovation going on in the bike industry and  if you are making bikes (as I am) then, clearly, this is the place to be. Alternatively, this is not the place to be in Vegas.

One of the first cool concepts that I found relevant for Erba is a new locking system developed by the ironically-named, clever minds at Pinhead Components.  I don’t know why they refer to the themselves as pinheads – they are very clever. hahaha.  Basically, their product  replaces the standard bolts and hex screws (which are easily undone with any basic tool) with a unique dome shaped nut with strategically placed divots.  To unlock your wheel/seatpost/lock you simply use  a unique tool that is designed to specifically interface with the divot pattern on the head. If you don’t have the correct tool, you are going to have a really hard time getting a conventional tool to grab the smooth, rounded head.

Very clever stuff…. and provides a bit more protection if you are leaving your city bike out for an extended period of time.  The pinhead system is also extended to a kryptonite-style lock so if you carry the one key it works for all of the different uses on your bike.

Coming up from my massively-delayed Interbike reports: Belt-drive systems, new gearing systems, racks & bags, colorways and more – stay tuned.

After working pretty furiously over the past 3-4 months, I figured it might be a good idea to jump in with the local artist community and participate in the South End Open Studios.

I’ll be doing a small preview of what’s happening here at Erba Cycles. We’ll have some bikes on hand and I’ll be entertaining with a little wine and cheese and of course, talk about bikes and bamboo.

If you like bikes, bamboo, renewable resources or wine, come on by. All you need is one out of four and you should be happy.

south end open studios

There’s a ton of local talent and it’s really inspiring to see all the different perspectives and creativity.  On the floor of my building alone we’ll have 5 artists opening up their studios to the public.

There’s free parking across the street.

The location is 535 Albany St, 4th Floor, Boston, MA 02118. Check out the United South End Artist link above for the listing of artists and parking availability.

This is going to be fantastic.

I can’t wait to see all the vendors and new products. I’ll be posting from the show with photos when I can.

There’s some great new stuff out there that I’ve got on the Erba short list for our base build-kit. It will be great to get my eyes and hands on it.

Too bad Vegas makes me want to shower and exfoliate with a random orbital sander…. it is not really my kind of town.