Gear Anatomy: Boo Bicycles

ABOUT

Boo Bicycles are handcrafted from, as you may have guessed, bamboo. A staple in Asia for various uses, including scaffolding, bamboo it turns out is also pretty good for making bicycles. Boo Bicycles uses bamboo primarily because it has an amazing ride quality. And don’t be fooled into thinking a bamboo bike is a cheap alternative - it isn’t. Quite the contrary in fact. Boo Bicycles are precision engineered bikes that are made to order and tailored to your exact needs. And they aren’t just made with any bamboo.

Master craftsman James Wolf and his team harvest the bamboo from their plantation in Vietnam, where Wolf lives. The species of bamboo is dubbed iron bamboo and is used in its raw form on Boo Bicycles. The bamboo is harvested when it is around three or four years old, when the bamboo is stiff but not brittle. Frames are made by hand in an intensive and lengthy process, but the end result is a bike that is stiff and durable, nimble and confident, lively and smooth.

Nick Frey, founder and CEO of Boo Bicycles and a former professional road cyclist, told us that not only does bamboo dampen vibrations better than any other material but it is fast and comfortable. Bamboo climbs very quickly and accelerates and sprints like the best carbon bikes. Vibration damping and progressive stiffness combine to create a bike that is more supple and comfortable, without giving up speed and performance.

www.boobicycles.com