Support bike building in developing countries at Calfee’s Bamboosero booth
Posted on 04. Feb, 2010 by NAHBS News in 2010 News
“Give a man a fish, he eats for a day; teach a man to fish, he feeds his family for a lifetime; teach him make fishing gear, he creates jobs for his neighbors…”
So goes the slogan on the website for Craig Calfee’s newest business, bamboosero.com. It adds “Substitute bicycles for fish and you’ve got the idea behind Bamboosero.”
Bamboosero is a group of independent bamboo frame builders that is spread across the developing world. Craig Calfee taught his techniques for joining specially treated bamboo with epoxy soaked wraps of natural fiber to people from Ghana, Zambia, Uganda, The Philippines, and other countries. Each builder works with their own local bamboo and local fiber. They impart their own style to the frames and offer them for sale to the local market or through Bamboosero.com. Every frame is stress tested and all export frames are inspected by Craig Calfee or one of his specially trained representatives. The Bamboosero concept allows bamboo frames to be made available at more affordable prices, and creates jobs and the capacity for a fledgling bicycle industry in developing countries.
Bamboosero is using NAHBS to showcase the best of what each builder can produce. Visitors to the Bamboosero booth will have the opportunity to vote on the best of the group. This will motivate all the Bambooseros to refine their craft and stretch their boundaries of what is possible.
