A bamboo frame draws the eye with its visible grain, but its connections matter too. In Calfee’s road frames, hemp fibre joins the bamboo tubes, with carbon fibre providing internal reinforcement. The natural material works alongside composites.
Bamboo grows in a range of diameters and wall thicknesses. That gives a framebuilder choices while requiring selection for the intended structure. Calfee also emphasises vibration damping; assessing comfort still means considering the whole bicycle, including tyres and riding position.
Craig Calfee built his first bamboo bicycle for a trade show in 1995. Bikes for employees, relatives and friends followed before wider production began in 2005. An early experiment became an enduring part of the workshop’s output.
In 2015, Calfee also introduced a framebuilding kit with materials, tools and drawings. Bamboo construction can dispense with welding equipment, while accurate geometry and carefully made joints remain central to building the frame.