Greg Langer ’15 is a member of the Hopkins Cycling Team and the Johns Hopkins Outdoors Club (JHOC), where he leads mountain biking and caving expeditions. Long-distance cycling has been a hobby of his for quite a few years.
Applying his engineering know-how, Greg took on a new challenge: to build a bamboo bicycle! He bought an old bike, a roll of carbon fiber ribbon, and cut some bamboo growing near his home.
He cut the frame to remove the metal tubes, only leaving enough of the joints to keep geometric integrity. After blow-torching and baking, the bamboo tubes were epoxied to the joints. Next, Greg strengthened the connections with layers of carbon fiber in alternating directions. After a final epoxy and varnish, he assembled the finished product and rode it in the Baltimore Bike Party.
