Antique bamboo bicycle

[John D. Williams]

I am helping a bike charity and they were given this. I am beginning a restoration. Anyone recognize the era, country (I was told Vietnam), or the marks on the pedal? It is a true bamboo bike-- I drilled a very small test hole in the slant tube and it is not a bamboo cover of a steel tube. The handlebar is some kind of wood, the pedals have wood blocks, the fenders are wood laminate. The rims are aluminum and say MINH NGOG. Any help would be appreciated.

 

[juvela]

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Thanks very much for posting this unusual find!

i see that dropouts, fork ends, stays & blades are of painted steel.

this is one of the relatively later types of bamboo inspired bicycles.
good job with the investigation. have you been able to determine how the three main bamboo tubes are joined to each other and how the seat stays are joined at the seat cluster? wonder if perhaps internal lugs were employed, for example.

there were also some which employed a faux finish to give a rattan-ish appearance to an all-steel machine.

very fine job with the pictures showing the detail of its fittings!

someone should recognise those parts manufacturer logos...

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the forum had a discussion thread last year on a different type of bamboo bicycle which looked to be of later manufacture -

wicker-bicycle.51233

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[John D. Williams]

The three main bamboo tubes are fitted into rather heavy external steel (maybe just iron-- they are crude) lugs. The rear stays are the same metal and welded to the lugs.

 

[John D. Williams]

-----

Thanks very much for posting this unusual find!

i see that dropouts, fork ends, stays & blades are of painted steel.

this is one of the relatively later types of bamboo inspired bicycles.
good job with the investigation. have you been able to determine how the three main bamboo tubes are joined to each other and how the seat stays are joined at the seat cluster? wonder if perhaps internal lugs were employed, for example.

there were also some which employed a faux finish to give a rattan-ish appearance to an all-steel machine.

very fine job with the pictures showing the detail of its fittings!

someone should recognise those parts manufacturer logos...

---

the forum had a discussion thread last year on a different type of bamboo bicycle which looked to be of later manufacture -

wicker-bicycle.51233

-----

Hey, if you're interested, I put this over on General Discussion and got some answers.