Are Sol Cycles road models suitable for competitive racing?
Yes! Sol Cycles frames are in fact ideal for racing. They are extremely high performance being light and lively, and giving a comfortable ride during the race. Sol Cycles frames have been raced in everything from friendly charity events to extremely competitive races.
What separates Sol Cycles from the competition?
As the only company focusing solely on bamboo frames, all our attention is focused towards producing the best bamboo frames in the world. We believe our engineering background combined with our cycling experience gives us a unique edge. Also, Sol Cycles' specialized heat treatment of the bamboo as well as our process of interfacing our dropouts with the bamboo separate our frames from anything built previously.
Where does the bamboo for Sol Cycles' frames come from?
The bamboo for Sol Cycles' frames come from a variety of sources, trying to choose appropriate species for each part of the bike. Since bamboo is said to increase even more in strength with age, Sol Cycles' top race frames are built primarily from bamboo brought in from a large, old grove in South Carolina. The bamboo was originally planted right after World War II with seeds brought over from Asia. After more than 60 years the grove has grown greatly, containing beautiful, strong, and durable bamboo.
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Why use bamboo for a bicycle frame in the first place?
Besides the aesthetic appeal and uniqueness of each frame, bamboo combines the three essential properties valued in a bicycle frame (lightness, stiffness, and vibration dampening) in a way rivaled by no other material used for frames in the past. Fore more information on these properties see "Why Bamboo?"
How does bamboo hold up when exposed to the elements of nature?
 Extremely well! Bamboo is used across the world for outdoor applications that are exposed to the elements much more than a bicycle frame will ever encounter. For example, hundreds of millions of people live in houses made from bamboo, including 73% of the population in Bangladesh. In Asia, bamboo is used for such applications as bridges (from simple pontoon bridges to suspension bridges) and for most scaffolding used on the high rise structures of Tokyo and Hong Kong. These structures are facing nature 100% of the time, and have been used for many years reliably. Sol Cycles' bamboo frames are coated with Tung oil that seals the outer fibers and prevents any damage from the elements while providing a nice luster.
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What is used to wrap the joints of the frame and why?
Unidirectional carbon fiber mixed with a special epoxy is used to wrap the joints of the bamboo. This form of carbon fiber is extremely strong and effective for wrapping, allowing the joints of the frame to be as minimal as possible, maximizing both strength and aesthetics.
How does a finished frame compare in weight to other bicycles?
A completed Sol Cycles bamboo frame weighs a significant amount less than any metal frames and is very comparable to carbon fiber. Each frames weight differs slightly due to bamboo being a natural composite, however the race frames are the lightest bamboo frames sold anywhere, weighing as little as 3 pounds.
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