The bamboo bike
After the kitchen was finished, it was time for a new project.
I had built a bamboo bike before, but I wasn't happy with it.
It was very heavy and had some other minor issues f.e. the rear break wasn't working properly.
So I disassembled it, saved some of its parts and started a new one.
The plan was to built it more slim and less heavy.
I bought some fitting bamboo sticks from a local store and began to cut them in the right length.
Also I bought an old bike from eBay for the connections between the bamboo sticks.
At the picture you can see the problem I had at the time.
I didn't have a workshop or a space where I could work, so I did it in my living room.
After the rough assembly, I covered the carpet with painter foil, because I was about to make a huge mess.
First I painted the bamboo sticks with paint and added a layer of epoxy to seal it.
Next I assembled the bike and covered it with tape, so I didn't get epoxy drops on it.
I also added tubing for the breaks.
After that I soaked some "horse hair" in epoxy. It is basically hay and is originally used for plumbing.
The soaked hay was wrapped around the connection and the bamboo to create a strong bond between the two.
After the epoxy for the front part of the bike was dry I added the rear part.
I just took a bearing, so that everything looks straight. (It wasn't a good idea.)
The next time I do something like that, I would build myself a jig to set the bike up.
But at the time I had nothing else.
Also I damaged the carpet, because I had some leaks trough the painter foil.
After the epoxy dried, I wanted to peel the tape from the bamboo sticks.
But surprise, surprise, the epoxy went through the tape and stuck the tape and the bamboo together.
I managed to get some off of it from the bamboo but it looked bad.
So there was only one way out.
I had to sand the tape off the bamboo sticks.
And with it the paint.
It was so much work. But after I was done, I repainted it and it looked really good.
So I assembled the bike and saw that the rear tire was hitting against the frame.
Fortunately I could bend the metal so that the tire was straight.
There was only one problem left, which I discovered when I was filling the tubing for the rear break. The angle at the bottom of the bike was too steep, so the flow was not optimal. It worked, but like the last time, the rear break wasn't working properly.
But to solve that, I would've had to disassemble the whole bike. I honestly was too lazy for that. So I finished it.
I drove it a few times, but I have to revisit this project someday again to really make it work.
But overall I enjoyed the process of making the bike and I learned a lot from it.
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