The complicated weave of the Ajiro bike would be work-intensive to achieve through conventional means — it takes a lot of energy to bend bamboo stalks into shape. So instead, design student Alexander Vittouris tensioned the bamboo over a mold as it grew, then harvested a completed bike frame.
There's probably just going to be one Ajiro for now. Bamboo can grow up to three feet a day, but this is still a much slower process than punching out an aluminum bike frame. Who knows, though … as the energy use of manufacturing becomes a greater and greater concern, maybe we'll be picking our vehicles and furniture out of fields.
