Welcome back to the second addition of the Sunday Special. This week’s post has the important distinction of being the first second addition of anything on the whole site! Hopefully what follows can live up to such a high mark. Today’s special regards a project as green as they come. Not just the marketing type of green either. Or like when a home builder refers to building green mansions but he’s really just referring the green in his pockets. This project is actually sustainable and it’s called Bamboosero.
Bamboosero is the creation of Santa Cruz, California bike builder Craig Calfee. He made a name for himself designing exotic, ultra lightweight frames for the rich and famous. While his latest project is no less innovative, the goal is much more utilitarian.
Calfee conjured up the idea of a bamboo bike project while on walkabout in Ghana in the 1980′s. Bamboosero remained just an idea for several decades until he decided to build a bamboo bicycle frame mainly for some Interbike (big industry trade show) glitz. Today, bamboo frames make up a sizable chunk of his 400 high end frames per year, but do little to help those not interested in spending a minimum of $3,500 on a bike. But being a forward thinker himself, Calfee created a new bamboo line, Bamboosero, as a means for people in developing nations to learn a trade, provide transportation for themselves and others, and be self reliant and free of foreign aide. Currently, Ghana is the first and only Bamboosero shop thats up and running, with Zambia, Mexico and Uganda nearly operational. Cambodia, El Salvador and The Philippines make up the Gruppetto of this league, with plans “in the works”. Craig travels to these areas, trains local entrepreneurs to build these earth friendly steeds, and helps to set up local component supply chains. Some of the frames are sent back to the US, where we pay around a thousand for a complete bike. Most stay where they were made, sold to locals for around $100. The large price difference is mostly due to shipping costs and differences in components. The local bikes are built with, well, whatever’s local. No doubt a “Ghanian Flea Market Spec’d” bamboo bicycle would have quite the, (cough), eclectic build kit!
Bamboosero brings a multitude of benefits to the people of these developing areas. Bicycles, compared to “hoofing it”, multiply our mobility by at least a factor of four, providing easier access to food, water and employment. With all this extra time and energy, local residents can focus on developing other useful goods and so on, you’ve all taken econ. Much like lasts weeks Project Freiker, Bamboosero is providing multiple benefits to people’s basic need for simple transport. Best wishes to all you future Bamboosero’s of the world! This is Phil from the Sunday Special saying see ya’ll next week!
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- Bamboosero MTB/City bike.
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- Ghana Bamboosero Crew.
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- Bamboosero’s lovely take on the cargo bike.
Pics and background info courtesy of bamboosero.com
grovephil
