" The most difficult part of building the frame was to find quality bamboo rods. It took me much more time than the building itself. I visited several dealers in near surroundings and I tried to find appropriate rods of the necessary diameters from huge amount of bamboo. Finally I found a few rods I wanted, but frankly said, next time I build such a frame, I'll rather grow my own bamboo or fly to Asia for it. The rods for the top tube, down tube and seat tube are some Chinese species of bamboo; I was not very satisfied with the quality of the surface, which was rather scratched (maybe it was from some downfallen scaffolding) and there were also a few woodworm holes in it (what if such beetles later devoured my frame?). The rods I selected for the seat and chain stay are some other species from Malaysia. I found also the appropriate thick-walled rods of another species for the seat stay. During breaking tests of these bamboo rods I found out that when I filled the inside with the polyurethane foam (which added only few gram of weight), the rigidity increased mainly of the rods for the seat and chain stay, which are the most critical parts of this frame."
BME - Brano Meres
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