Saturday, January 24, 2015

Boo Bicycles Visits

Prototype carbon lugged, bamboo fat bike from Boo Bikes
Yesterday we were graced by the presence of Adam Blake of Boo Bicycles from Fort Collins, Colorado. He stopped by the shop to show off this beautiful carbon lugged bamboo fat bike prototype. If you raced at Triple D, you also may have gotten a glimpse of it.

Adam also chatted us up about Boo Bicycles and what the deal is with the bamboo sections of the frame. On this fat bike, the bamboo extends underneath the carbon overlay so that the chain stays, seat stays, top tube, and down tube are all full length bamboo tubes. The carbon is then wrapped and formed over the bamboo to join the tubes and stiffen them in these critical areas. The seat tube is fully carbon, as is the head tube. This composite structure has unique ride characteristics and attributes that neither a full bamboo or carbon fiber frame can attain to. We were told the fat bike is still a work in progress and that the final iteration for production may vary from what we saw in some fairly significant ways. Stay tuned there.....

There was a lot more discussed than just this fat bike. Adam told us to watch for a shift in focus from Boo Bikes which will be revealed very soon. Also, I have some things cooking regarding Boo Bicycles and perhaps some collaboration with RidingGravel.com. The second and third sentences may or may not be related. (<====HA!)

Stay tuned for more details............

2 comments:

MMcG said...

How was the weight of the bike with that type of frame configuration?

Guitar Ted said...

@MMcG: Not bad. We didn't get to weigh it, but it felt decent. Adam told us that by wrapping the joints in carbon it produces a heavier- but stiffer- structure than a typical bladder type mold construction would. From Boo's perspective, it isn't about "lightest weight", but more about tuning the ride quality.