What is Digg?46 Comments
- wild, on 10/10/2007, -0/+21Bamboo grows quickly. Thats why its more practical than wood.
- Homunculiheaded, on 10/10/2007, -0/+10Bamboo grows back at an astoundingly quick rate. So it renews faster than other woods do. Also as someone who owns a bamboo longboard (I bought it because I like the board, not because it was bamboo) it takes a lot for 7 thin plies of wood to be able to support the weight of a person while moving, jumping up and down etc.. I think the spirit behind bamboo boards and bikes is more of a 'proof of concept' showing that bamboo is both highly practical and environmentally friendly.
- zengonzo, on 10/10/2007, -1/+9Incredible .. Someone is doing something positive, not hurting anyone, capitalizing on new markets, even, and your response is crazy antagonism.
This ought to make everyone happy. Why feed the dark heart? - inactive, on 10/10/2007, -0/+7"after seeing his dog try and fail to gnaw through a stalk of bamboo in 1996, Craig Calfee introduced aline of bike frames made out of bamboo and hemp as a publicity stunt...."tougher than carbon fiber in terms of impact resistance." It's less prone to fracturing than carbon fiber, and the bamboo bike is "about one pound heavier than carbon fiber," Calfee says. Bamboo also absorbs road vibrations well, allowing cyclists to ride longer without tiring...Since the stunt, Calfee has produced about 100 bamboo frames, each starting at $2,695 -- in the mid-level cost range for Calfee products. (from the article)
- inactive, on 10/10/2007, -0/+6It looks like a good trend, more thought put in to the environmental impact of products can only be a good thing.
- Awasaki, on 10/10/2007, -0/+6I skate and have a habitat bamboo board and they are really nice. Strong, flexible, and has lasted almost 7 months with only small pressure cracks. so bamboo is good with me.
- Magistrate, on 10/10/2007, -0/+6Bamboo is one of the fastest growing trees. Maintaining a sustainable supply of bamboo for manufacturing purposes is easier and more cost effective than other woods.
If you've ever had to deal with over-grown bamboo, you know how fast it spreads. - Spuy767, on 10/10/2007, -0/+4Unlikely, bamboo is one of the fastest growing plants in the world. The chinese used to use sharpened stalks of bamboo as torture devices because of this. They would plane it off so it was sharp, but below ground level, restrain the victim, within two days, the victim would be dead because the bamboo would have grown several inches.
- inactive, on 10/10/2007, -0/+4"The Professor" was 40 years ahead of his time.
- exomni, on 10/10/2007, -0/+3You can't "deplete" a renewable source, as long as its renewal matches or surpases its depletion.
- zengonzo, on 10/10/2007, -1/+4What products don't start off as natural resources?
- zengonzo, on 10/10/2007, -0/+3Add to that its growth density and durability ..
- altgeeky1, on 10/10/2007, -0/+3Of course you wouldn't know there was a green-related "problem" - you didn't read the article.
Or maybe you just missed all the examples of sustainable manufacturing, using alternative manufacturing methods to displace more carbon-heavy methods.
Bamboo trees grow much faster and pull much more carbon from the atmosphere than northern hardwoods like oak or pine.. meaning if we relied on bamboo for more things it could actually offset fossil fuel use (to some degree)
Bamboo is a wonderful material that continues to be used for new things (kind of like peanuts, cork, and soy).
I just installed hardwood floors (bamboo), and love it. I probably spent a few months researching it because (in the northeast USA at least) it is considered an "alternative" flooring material, and I wanted to be sure it wasn't simply hype.
Good article! - directive0, on 10/10/2007, -0/+2I don't see why you were dug down, you were absolutely correct. The place you see most bamboo being used in Skateboards is in the niche areas like Downhill or Slalom, where usually bamboo is used as a substitute veneer in addition to other traditional laminates for the sake of either aesthetics or availability and economics. Rarely is it for ecological reasons, I mean, I can guarantee you the adhesives they are using are far from ecologically safe.
- xjscrf291, on 10/10/2007, -0/+2Bamboo makes for fantastic fabric - think tee-shirts, sweatshirts etc. Growing enough cotton for a single tee-shirt requires a handful of pesticides. Bamboo is naturally anti-microbial and is the fastest growing plant known to man. It's an underrated/used resource for sure.
- directive0, on 10/10/2007, -0/+2Also... bamboo isn't a tree. Its technically a grass, so it grows in stalks.
- wtfpwned98, on 10/10/2007, -0/+2I love the Calfee bamboo bike, but I would hate it if my dog tried to eat it. He hasn't shown any interest in my Cannondale.
- mdjohnson1, on 10/10/2007, -7/+9Skateboards and bikes "going green"? I didn't know there was a problem with skateboards and bikes. I guess this guy hates bamboo trees.
- directive0, on 10/10/2007, -0/+2Another skateboard manufacturer using bamboo for skateboards
http://longboardsbyfatboy.com/ - HanSolo69, on 10/10/2007, -0/+1Bamboo bikes are wayyy old news.
- DeFex, on 10/10/2007, -0/+1The bikes not going to make any difference. the components are made from cold forged aluminum, titanium, plastic, carbon fiber, hardened steel, stainless steel, and by weight make up around 80% of that bike.not to mention that most roadies are not going to buy it because they want performance and 1 pound extra weight at that price is not very attractive (its a lot when you are getting in the region of a 15-17 pound bike).
Personally if i want an extra pound of weight in exchange for super toughness and durability i would go with the ECO unfriendly titanium any day . since it lasts many times longer than carbon fiber or aluminum its probably not that eco unfriendly anyways. - nbhagwat, on 10/10/2007, -0/+1surely he'll me Michael Vick there and learn more about caring for dogs!!
- Awasaki, on 10/10/2007, -0/+1what about a bamboo skateboard?
- sharknip126, on 10/10/2007, -1/+2Using materials engineers is a good idea, but for an expert to be most useful, they need to know a little about the application. For example, there is a big difference in skateboards between and longboard and a traditional board. The use is much different, so the wear out factor and the price increase are rather important. Longboards cost more, but have a longer lifespan, so increasing the price by a few dollars isn't as noticeable. For those riders on traditional decks, grinding and jumping cause decks to break much more often, possibly even monthly. In this case, the additional cost is very problematic, especially when its a teenager buying his own decks.
Additionally, the engineer that said the wood use probably won't effect the "pop" of a snowboard hasn't ridden one. "Pop" is a hard term to define, but is quite evident on different boards depending on the materials used to make them. Companies are sure to note what kind of wood was used on their high end boards because the materials dictate a lot of the feel of the board. - Spuy767, on 10/10/2007, -0/+1Personally, I'd like to see a bamboo skate deck.
- Langford, on 10/10/2007, -0/+1That bamboo bike looks pretty neat, and the description makes it seem extremely nice, but wow that is expensive.
- geekwithsoul, on 10/10/2007, -0/+1spam? ;)
- Scottamus, on 10/10/2007, -0/+1"New Spin on Sports"
oh, wheely? - JohnnyRad, on 10/10/2007, -0/+1R.I.P. Clark Foam :(
- forteller, on 10/10/2007, -0/+1"If you've ever had to deal with over-grown bamboo, you know how fast it spreads."
And, seriously, who hasn't! - StellarlyAstral, on 10/10/2007, -0/+1Well I learned something today.
- happy_prole, on 10/10/2007, -0/+1Not for skateboards, in my opinion. It lacks the all-important "pop" of traditional North American maple boards.
Maybe important to note that the Habitat boards mentioned feature only one layer of bamboo. The other six layers are maple. - directive0, on 10/10/2007, -0/+1Yes but functionally they may be far less responsive, like Shark up there said. And having owned a couple bamboo decks, I can tell you its not MORE durable, atleast not when used in a techy skating. It is a suitable substitute, but not a replacement. Currently the only way to effectively use bamboo as a laminate in skateboards is to vertically laminate it (like a cutting board or an old surfboard) by laying long thin slats next to eachother. This is very susceptible to cracking. Concave and kicktails need to either be specially shaped out of v-lam bamboo, or pressed using rolled or planed sheets of bamboo which structurally are pretty weak. Loaded uses fibreglass to reinforce their decks (eco-unfriendly, especially the resin) and sector 9 usually only uses top and bottom veneers of bamboo just for show, usually they are maple or baltic cores. Right now in the niche skating world, more attention is being payed to composites as a way of saving weight and adding strength which is way on the other end of the "eco-friendly" scale (the very harmfull end)
As for hardwood maple, its used mostly because it is durable but also retains alot of snap and pop. which makes ollies and flip tricks easier. In the downhill and slalom scene this is completely unimportant, which is why some manufacturers will forgo Maple and go straight to horizontally laminated Baltic Birch pre-plies or v-lam bamboo slats. Either way, its all interesting ways to fulfill a design goal, but anyone claiming that using bamboo to produce boards is eco-friendly is just trying to show off and ignoring the most harmful part of the whole process: the adhesives. - jebudas, on 10/10/2007, -0/+1You should ask this guy if he'll make one for you!
http://www.funkinfunction.com - zombiedepot, on 10/10/2007, -0/+1Supply and demand.
- elvisjulep, on 10/10/2007, -4/+4Until the enviro-nazis start screaming about the "debambooization" of the jungles.
- Spuy767, on 10/10/2007, -1/+1Bamboo decks would be far more duarble that pressed maple skateboard decks.
- Awasaki, on 10/10/2007, -0/+0actually bamboo skateboards only cost about 5 bucks more than a regular skateboard, or at least mine was.
- his415, on 12/13/2007, -0/+0Bamboo is actually a grass and not a tree, which means if you cut one stalk down another will grow in it's place and be ready for harvesting in 5 years, vs. 60 for maple. Also the same mass of bamboo will convert 8 times the amount of C02 into oxygen as the same mass of trees. It's really great stuff and for skateboards because its 17% harder than maple.
Another Great Bamboo Boards Site
http://www.supergreenboards.com - cawpin, on 10/10/2007, -2/+1It doesn't matter how fast growing it is. There will be some hippy enviro-nut screaming about it. Dugg for "debambooization".
- exomni, on 10/10/2007, -1/+0You people do realize why Pandas are nearly exitinct, right? It's because bamboo forrests (their habbitat) are being destroyed.
- StellarlyAstral, on 10/10/2007, -5/+4Why would making a board out of bamboo be green? Isn't that just wasting bamboo?
- KingGorilla, on 10/10/2007, -1/+0It's not going to help the environment if only a few people can afford these products
- disabled4diggin, on 10/10/2007, -7/+5His dog couldn't chew through bamboo? Sounds like a dog with bad teeth. He should have spent some time brushing his dogs teeth. That's the real problem here, animal neglect. This guy is an animal abuser and I for one think he should be in prison.
- inblue, on 10/10/2007, -6/+0yeah using natural resources like bamboo, hemp, isn't so great since your depleting that source... but it's an organic so we dont' have to worry about things like plastic/fiberboard snowboards and metal bikes, etc. piling up in the landfills.
- elvisjulep, on 10/10/2007, -7/+0Show me a guy on a bamboo bike and I'll show you a guy that even Segway riders laugh at.
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