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Bamboozled

Calfee Design is the brain child of Craig Calfee. Calfee, according to the company site, has been on a quest to build tougher, more durable frames ever since a ’spectacular head-on collision in Boston’ back in 1987. Since then, Calfee, as a company, have gone on to pioneer hi-tech frames (generally made out of Carbon Fiber) but in 2005 Calfee produced their first ever Bamboo frame. Originally started as a publicity gag in 1997, Calfee built 12 of the frames for family and friends. But reports came back so positive that Calfeee then decided to go into full production. More recently, Craig Calfee has seen another advantage of the Bamboo frame

‘Back in 1984, when Craig was wandering around Africa, he noticed three things: 1. There was a lot of bamboo, 2. People used bikes and didn’t have enough of them, and 3. they needed jobs. Perhaps people could build their own bamboo cargo bikes. So he put a small notice on the website to see if someone wanted to fund a trip to Africa to see what it would take to get the idea rolling. The Earth Institute at Columbia University decided it was worth trying, so off we went! Craig determined that it was possible and proceeded to set it up. Media attention on the idea was phenomenal!’

What’s more, Calfee have teamed up with ‘Organic Athlete’. Organic Athlete is an ideological movement that wants to promote the training of Athletes on non animal products (in this instance Vegan). The organisation is made up of ‘chapters’ around the world ‘with a mission to promote healthy living, ecological responsibility, and compassion for all life.’ and according to Quickrelease.tv

‘An elite cycling team was formed last year and now has five team members on bamboo bikes.’

The bikes retail for about 2,000 dollars; so perhaps that’s not in everyone’s pocket when they walk into their local bike shop. Still, it proves that natural resources can still be used to produce imaginative products that, according to one of the founders of Organic Athlete Bradly Saul

‘I’ve been riding a bamboo bike for over a year now. I can honestly say it’s the best riding bike I’ve ever had.’

More can be found on the Bamboo Bike Project on their site. It contains photos and a comprehensive Blog on the progress of the project.