My friend Mandama recently got a very schnazzy bicycle, and is now spreading the bike gospel. Knowing my penchant for sustainable materials, and chunky-monkey aesthetic, she guided me to the bamboo bike studio. they hold classes in new york for interested people to make their own bamboo bikes under BBS supervision and safety testing, with all parts and components included in the $1000 price tag for the one day course.
Seeing the bamboo sport bikes reminded me of a more utilitarian version that the Bamboo Bike Project (started at Columbia U's Earth Institute) has been working on for the developing world. Also really neat.
As it turns out the two projects are affiliated! BBStudio in New York conducts product development and testing for the non-profit BBProject!
hmmm.... would people pay $1,200 for their bike class if the extra $200 would make micro-loan funds available to a Ghanian villager to buy a bamboo bike for commercial purposes? Once the money was paid back, it could be reinvested into more micro-loans, or returned to loan-giver...
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