Bamboo bikes have gotten a lot of attention in the last couple of years. Craig Calfee's bamboo artistry has received accolades like the People's Choice Award from the North American Handmade Bicycle Show, among others. There are several enterprising builders out there who are exploring nontraditional materials and experimenting with ways to use more sustainable materials in the production process.

Recently we got a visit from just such a builder . . .

. . . and a guy with local ties, too. Phil Webb stopped by with his prototype, seen above (sorry for the crappy picture). Phil is an industrial designer who used to live in the upstate, but now resides in Chiang Rai, Thailand, where he's involved in a variety of volunteer activities.

Phil is designing a line of bamboo-tube bikes, with an eye towards providing some economic opportunities for the people of the hill tribes of northern Thailand. His first production bike will be a 700C, disc-equipped fast commuter or fitness bike, but the bike he brought to the shop was kitted out like a road bike. I took a short test ride on the bike in the picture, and it was all I could do to head back to the shop instead of spending the rest of the afternoon riding. It was a sharp, snappy ride with a pleasant ability to soak up the road. I look forward to riding the flatbar commuter when it's available. 

In any case, we appreciate what Phil is doing in Thailand. We've found bikes to be empowering for a lot of reasons—hopefully Phil's bikes will be similarly empowering for the people of the hill tribes. Maybe we'll see the Thai line on the sales floor at TTR in the future.     

edit: I've now fixed the link to Phil's website . . . sorry about that!