To the BAMBOO CYCLE Co, Ltd:-
In reply to your letter I am pleased to state that I have ridden the Bamboo Cycle you supplied me with last December, about 1500 miles and am very pleased with it. It is quite the best for hill climbing I have ever had.
– (Lord) Edward Spencer Churchill
1900s Bamboo Road Racer
22″ Frame
28″ Wheels with wooden rims
Fixed wheel with inch pitch chain
Invented at a time when most safety bicycle frames were heavy, bamboo was used because it was strong, lightweight and free from corrosion. However, they were not as long-lasting as steel and were also prone to damage, so not many of the original bamboo bikes were made. Later cycles made by the company apparently used steel disguised as bamboo. By 1899, the world’s first bicycle boom was over and like many other cycle manufacturers, the company went out of business.
This example came from the leading collector of Bamboo cycles, Peter Hoyte. However, he did not get round to restoring it before he died, and when I bought it five years ago, it was fitted with broomsticks instead of bamboo (See photos below). Its headbadge is not original, and it was not built pre-1900.
Over the years I tried using various types of bamboo without success. This year I discovered that modern bamboo bikes were being built in Uganda. As I have friends in Entebbe I visited them in April, 2026 with the dismantled bike. We met Obiro who lives in Entebbe and works with bamboo, and he found the correct type of bamboo for me, treated it, cut it to size and chamfered the ends to fit the lugs. After I returned Baz had to spend a lot of time finishing it off (like always, any ten minute job on a vintage bike takes hours). It’s now complete and assembled. However, though it’s fixed rigidly in place we have not yet worked out how to stop it wobbling sideways. So I’m selling it as for display. Of course it is a wonderful display piece and, as originals are hard to find and expensive, this one provides a viable option for an enthusiast who would like a Bamboo in their collection. It would also be an excellent talking point in a museum.
RECENT HISTORY OF THIS BAMBOO BICYCLE
BAMBOO CYCLE CO LTD
59 Holborn Viaduct, London, E.C
Starting with English patent 1894/8,274 of 26 April 1894, the first bamboo bicycles were shown at the London Stanley Show of 1894 and caused a sensation. With a London showroom at 59 Holborn Viaduct, and works in Petit Street, Wolverhampton, this company produced a large range of machines; road racers, roadsters (including one with double top tube), lady’s safeties and youths’ bicycles.
Geo. Sanders was the Wolverhampton works manager in 1898. A company of the same name based in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, and producing a ‘Bamboo’ model in 1898 may have been connected. The bamboo tubing was held in aluminium lugs. It was claimed that the bamboo frame provided increased comfort in the days when the roads were not surfaced. Furthermore the machines were claimed to be light weighing about 25 lb., but were not in fact much lighter than conventional machines. Prices were expensive and ranged from 20 to 28 guineas. Excellent testimonials were obtained from people in high society but it was not taken seriously by accomplished cyclists. A ‘Doolittle’ back pedalling brake was fitted. There were also adjustable handlebars. However, the use of bamboo never caught on and, despite producing some machines in steel, but with the appearance of bamboo, the company only lasted until 1899.
