Turn the bamboo into an export bike frame

After many years of research and experimentation, Mr. Vo Tan Tan in Hoi An Ancient Town (Quang Nam) successfully produced a bamboo-based bicycle frame to export to the Netherlands for up to 500 USD.

Growing up in a rich family of traditional handicrafts in Cam Thanh commune, Hoi An city, from a young age, Tan soon learned to make many living things from bamboo, coconut and neohouzeaua.After years of cherishing bamboo bikes, by early 2012, he met his friend Axel Lakassen (Dutch nationality) with the same idea, so he worked together for over a year.

In order to create a firm bike frame, he had to choose many old bamboo pieces, each bamboo rod undergoes rigorous stress testing by lever.Embarking on making bicycles made of bamboo, Mr. Tan invested about 50 million VND to buy saws, planes, sanders, drills, positioning units for the chassis . In addition, he plans to invest about 5 years each year. million VND to buy 500 bamboo stems to soak mud, dry and use gradually.

According to Mr. Tan, making solid bamboo bikes. The family ordered materials more than 4 years old in the commune or in the areas along Que Son and Dien Ban rivers to close the raft transporting home by Thu Bon river. Bamboo is soaked in mud for 6 months, then picked up and dried, then put into reserve to use gradually. "According to the export order to the Netherlands costing at least VND 5 million per bamboo bike frame, it is only necessary to sell one product to afford bamboo bicycles for the whole year and earn big profits" , Mr. Tan confided.

Axel encouraged me that the demand for environmentally friendly bicycles in the Netherlands was great, so the product was not afraid of the output squash.Through Axel's introduction, I exported to the Netherlands 5 mountain bike frames with bamboo material for 450 to 500 USD, "said Mr. Tan.

According to Mr. Tan, the type of bamboo has small but tough, durable body suitable for bicycle frame for both men and women.

The most difficult in the process of making the chassis is the technique of connecting bamboo and metal to match. "I used natural hemp and synthetic glue to connect bamboo and metal to ensure the bike frame does not crack when the temperature changes," Tan revealed.This year, he plans to produce about 20 bicycles (mountain bikes and racing cars) made of bamboo frames for export to the Netherlands on order, some leaving for tourists to admire the surrounding streets of Hoi An An.

In October 2013, Hoi An City People's Committee put into operation the central area of ​​bamboo, coconut and bamboo villages in Cam Thanh commune to create more river-based eco-tourism products for the locality. The production base of handicraft products, the unique bamboo frame of Mr. Tan's family attracts foreign visitors to visit. "Hopefully, with a model of bamboo cycling tour to visit Hoi An ancient town along with instructions on how to make a bamboo bike frame, my facility can collect at least VND 100 million each year. " Mr. Tan added.

"The fact that Mr. Tan produces bikes with bamboo frames has just contributed a unique tourism product, has just opened a new way of doing business for the local people. I believe he makes a tour with this bamboo bike model. Attracting tourists to the center of Cam Thanh bamboo, coconut and bamboo villages and ecological edge of Hoi An ancient town in the coming time " , Mr. Le Thanh, Chairman of Cam Thanh commune People's Committee is optimistic.

Besides making bamboo bikes, Mr. Tan also makes many unique and sophisticated bamboo souvenir products as a gift for tourists.

Mr. Tan confided, through the product of bicycles and bamboo souvenirs, he hoped that international friends would know more about bamboo trees, rustic, enduring and tough plants such as "village souls." "of Vietnam countryside.