Off the Grid

Bamboo Bike Makers Crafting Environmentally-Friendly Designs

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It’s not the kind of place you can just wander into. The off-white stucco building has a vacant feel and no sign out front. The entrance opens into an empty hallway that is just wide enough for one person, and zigzags a few times before ending at the back of the building. Their door is on the right.

The address and phone number of the shop cannot be found anywhere online or in the yellow pages. There is an e-mail contact on the Web site, but the physical location of the business is off the grid. Panda Bicycles is creating a new trend that is on the move.

Colorado State University alumni Jacob Castillo and John McKinney are literally “growing bikes” by hand-making frames out of bamboo. McKinney was inspired by a pre-graduation trip to Mexico where he used bamboo as a building material.

According to green-ecoliving.com, bamboo is a fast-growing, eco-friendly renewable material that is strong like traditional steel frames, but is much lighter and more flexible, making it ideal for bicycles.

Panda Bicycles launched their first line in September 2009 that consisted of 25 limited-edition bikes with a unique steel-lug design that is patent-pending. Selling for $1,050 a piece, there are two models: The One and The Natural.

“The One is a one-speed bike designed for commuters,” Castillo said. “The Natural is also designed for ‘commuter functionality’ but has a more retro style.”

But why buy a bamboo bike? What makes them recreationally advantageous over other types of bikes?

“The frame quality is comparable, if not better than steel or aluminum,” said Chris Olson, a bamboo bike owner. “My bike is very smooth, quiet and strong."

Caley Fretz, a junior political science major and the president of the Ram’s Cycling club, has also ridden a bamboo bike and said, “The ride was comfortable, but felt like any other bike.”

However, JC Coughlin, a sophomore mechanical engineering major and former cycling competitor, questioned the durability of bamboo.

“I wouldn’t pay that much money for a bamboo bike because I don’t think it could withstand the elements like steel can,” Coughlin said. “I feel like the bamboo would crack and warp eventually.”

To prevent the bamboo from deteriorating, Panda Bicycles uses a three-step process that consists of a flame treatment to dry out the bamboo, stain application and polyurethane application to seal it from weather.

Senior mechanical engineering majors Peter Lund, Matt Deault, Adam Lum and Matt Cuff decided to work with Panda to test the durability of a bamboo bicycle as their capstone project.

Lund, Deault, Lum and Cuff began working on the project in August 2009 and are currently in the testing phase. They began by riding Panda’s original bamboo bike design, which “felt like a noodle because it was shaking so much,” Lund said. He said the design quality of Panda’s bikes has changed drastically since the first model – the current frame is stronger and a higher quality.

The design team made modifications to the frame’s design and sent it to be tested at the Orthopedic Bioengineering Research Laboratory at CSU.

The frame underwent three tests established by the American Society for Testing and Materials that measured its structural durability:

- horizontal fatigue test: frame compression is measured after the bike endures 100,000 cycles with 600 Newtons (134.8 pounds) of horizontally applied weight

- vertical fatigue test: 1200 Newtons (270 pounds) of weight is applied vertically while the bike endures 50,000 cycles

- an impact test

The frame passed all three tests, so Panda Bicycles will receive their official ASTM certificate, proving that their design meets consumer reliability standards.

Castillo and McKinney plan on releasing their 2010 models this spring and since Panda Bicycles is steadily gaining popularity, this off-the-grid business is finding a way of putting itself on the map. In addition to a local clientele they have had customers in Ohio, Michigan, Illinois, California and Arizona.

“The community has been great,” Deault said. “There’s been a lot of support. Fort Collins is a great place to [start selling bamboo bikes] because of its bike culture.”   Jaime Pritchard April 2010