Getting on your bike instead of in a car is inherently environmentally friendly – but now you can take this one step (or pedal) further by using a bike made from sustainably sourced bamboo.
myBoo is the European arm of Boomers, which makes bikes in Ghana, generating jobs in the country while also funding an education programme there. Local workers hand craft each bike frame from canes, secured with glued hemp rope, and they are then polished and varnished before being sent to Germany for the final bike assembly.
Bamboo is an ideal material for bike frames because it is strong and shock-absorbing, and the bamboo used in these bikes is locally grown. The social enterprise also ensures that the workers in Ghana across the production process operate under fair conditions.
These bikes are not cheap, with prices ranging from over £1,300 for a two-speed urban model to more than £5,000 for a mountain bike (although the frames can be bought separately from £900 upwards).
For the more adventurous, Bamboo Bicycle Club offers home-build kits and weekend tutorials (in London, Munich and Amersfoort) for making your own plant-based bike frame – with the home kits costing around £300.
further reading…
Getting on your bike instead of in a car is inherently environmentally friendly – but now you can take this one step (or pedal) further by using a bike made from sustainably sourced bamboo.
myBoo is the European arm of Boomers, which makes bikes in Ghana, generating jobs in the country while also funding an education programme there. Local workers hand craft each bike frame from canes, secured with glued hemp rope, and they are then polished and varnished before being sent to Germany for the final bike assembly.
Bamboo is an ideal material for bike frames because it is strong and shock-absorbing, and the bamboo used in these bikes is locally grown. The social enterprise also ensures that the workers in Ghana across the production process operate under fair conditions.
These bikes are not cheap, with prices ranging from over £1,300 for a two-speed urban model to more than £5,000 for a mountain bike (although the frames can be bought separately from £900 upwards).
For the more adventurous, Bamboo Bicycle Club offers home-build kits and weekend tutorials (in London, Munich and Amersfoort) for making your own plant-based bike frame – with the home kits costing around £300.