rothar bambu

i've been inspired by calfee's bamboo 29er, and have decided to build one of my own for a winter project. i've ordered hemp twine for bonding the tubes. 8,000 feet of 1mm should do it. i've located a few local sources of bamboo and am going to go check them out over the next month. i'm amazed at how cheap the materials are looking to be. i'll probably use the bottom bracket, dropouts and maybe headtube off of my old 1x1. not sure what i'm gonna do about the seat clamp area yet. maybe ream the bamboo and cut a slot in it, then put on a seat collar? or i could use a seat collar out of an old frame. for the head tube i'll either use just a steel tube, or ream a bamboo pole and bond collars into the bottom and top. goal weight is 4.5 lbs, but i'll likely just be happy if it doesn't flex. for a jig, i'll just get an old, solid door, and make wooden frame blocks measured off one of my current frames(rig/karate monkey), and adjust accordingly. i might use regular vertical dropouts set up for my preffered magic gear, or use and eno hub. either way, it's getting done. i want one of these, without the goofy rack and fenders:

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