Calfee Design bamboo road bike

velocipede

Senior Retro Guru
I was lucky enough to get my hands on this recently and it really is a thing of beauty (having said that, some people have fed back on other forums that they don't like it at all so I guess beauty is in the eye of the beholder!!).

More info about Calfee and their bamboo frames is here: calfeedesign.com/products/bamboo/­ original US price on these is $3000 frame only, but imported they go at roughly the $ to £ so you'd pay £3k here if you could get one.

The frame measures up as 53.5cm centre to centre on the top tube and 50cm centre to centre on the seat tube (55cm to top). Interestingly, the dimensions don't quite match up to the specs on the wrest - this one has all the same measurements as their 54cm, except it has a 53.5cm top tube instead of the quoted 54.8cm……I bought it on the basis that I normally ride a 55cm top tube and sadly this is actually a bit small for me…..see below

It has Titanium dropouts and an amazing look to it - the joints and detailing, such as the carbon studs for the bottle cages and the tiny bamboo cable guides are amazing.

It rides absolutely beautifully, as you can imagine. It's not race sharp because it's not super stiff, but it soaks up bumps and road buzz like nothing else - it's a really comfy ride but wouldn't suit a brutish sprinter type! Pretty light, as built it comes in around 8kg.

I thought it was a keeper but the sizing just isn't quite right for me, sadly, so it's up on the Classifieds on here and elsewhere - I really need it gone as I've already paid for its replacement!

There are a couple of areas where the clear coat has been patched up but no damage at all to either the bamboo or the hemp lugs. It looks amazing!!

Full spec is:

FSA headset
Easton EC70 full carbon forks
Fulcrum 7 wheels - super condition, virtually no wear to rims indicating how much use this has had since new!
Ultegra triple 10 spd 6600 groupset (except nearly new 105 rear mech and Dura Ace triple front mech) all in excellent condition - just a small amount of the usual "crazing" you get on this model of STI lever and a v small amount of heel rub to the cranks
Continental GP4000 tyres in excellent condition
USE inline seat post (not the carbon WCS shown in the pics)
Giant Performance saddle (I've moved over to these when I realised how comfortable they are for very few £'s!!)
Airborne branded bars and stem
Zipp CX bar tape

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mmmm, don't want to be too much of a pedant but my frame is made of Bamboo, which is technically grass, not wood! The lugs/joins are made of hemp fibre, which is also grass…..!!
 
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