Godrej & Boyce launched Bambusa, its range of bicycles built from bamboo. These bicycles, which can be exclusively bought via crowd-funding platform ‘Fuel A Dream’, are currently available in white and brown saddle options. According to the company, the frames of the Bambusa bicycles are entirely bamboo, giving them a durability and lightness unmatched even by conventional steel and aluminum-frame cycles. They are also claimed to be more sustainable to make as bamboo is a fast-growing grass and therefore very sustainable. Their manufacturing process is not reliant on electricity from coal-burning power plants, and the economic benefits of their manufacture are spread along every step of the process, from sourcing-to-sale.

Commenting on the launch, Vijay Crishna, Executive Director, Godrej Lawkim said, that they are constantly striving to come out with ever more innovative products that their customers find useful for their needs. The launch of the Bambusa bicycle marks a major leap in this direction for them, as they seek to push the boundaries of what’s possible in an environmentally and economically sound manner. Bamboo has a greater tensile strength (or resistance to be pulled apart) than steel, while its attribute of being 4 times as absorbent as carbon fibre gives a smoother ride even on bad roads. They selected a special bamboo species called ‘Pseudo-Oxytenanthera Stocksii’ which grows near their factory site and is particularly well-suited for building bamboo-frame bikes. No two bamboo stalks grow the same way, so each special, organically aesthetic frame is unique to each bike.

He further went on to add, “Our Bamboo bike-frames are beautifully hand-crafted, each frame being “one of a kind”. We have a carefully laid-out process to identify suitable bamboo stems, select these to use on our frames, treat them appropriately to protect them from insects and the environment – only after which do we build the frame. The entire capability has been developed in-house at our factory located outside Pune. Having travelled 4400 kms across the length of India during the monsoons, the bike has proved its strength and sturdiness on the road under the toughest conditions.”

 Source: motoroids