Bamboo Bambike

摘要

A backstreet garage in Bangalore may not be the most obvious place for a design revolution, but that is what furniture designer Vijay Sharma seems to be pulling off. He was familiar with bamboo, and had also dabbled in making recumbent tricycles. But it was when a friend suggested putting the two together that the real innovation happened. "I knew that bamboo is as strong and sturdy as steel", says Sharma, so he started experimenting with making an all-bamboo bike frame. It took three years of trial and error to hit on the ideal design. Early versions suffered from a 'fishtail' effect at high speeds, causing the bike to sway alarmingly. "It was an uncomfortable and rather scary feeling", Sharma recalls. The solution was to reduce the frame's weight while increasing the tube's diameter. Sharma refined the design after testing it on the Nilgiris Hills tour, where he could compare its performance with conventional ones ridden by hardened cyclists, and get their feedback.