instructables

How I Built a Carbon Bike Frame at Home (and a Bamboo Frame Too)

by Brano

I have built this carbon composite MTB frame in 2003
using simple building method which is described in
this Instructable. Of course, this method is not
suitable for mass production, but if you plan to build
just one or two frames for yourself, it is sufficient and
you can build your own frame of a high quality. The
feeling of riding a self-made frame is great!
After years of riding, the frame is still okay and I am
still alive too, although I prefer riding my bike
equipped by the bamboo/carbon frame, which I have
built using the same method described here. Until
now, several frames have been built by this method in
the world.

How I Built a Carbon Bike Frame at Home (and a Bamboo Frame Too): Page 1
Step 1: Few Important Things You Need for Building the Carbon Frame
1. Frame jig - it is used to hold all parts in their exact
position. I have built the frame jig from scrap wooden
rods and some lathed parts and connected with
screws. You can also build e.g. adjustable aluminum
jig, where you can make the frame geometry
according your needs. As a template of a frame
dimensions for construction of a jig, I have used my
bike frame that I rode before. The completed jig was
stiff enough and guaranteed the position and the
alignment of the metal parts during the construction of
the foam core.
2. Metal parts - they include an aluminum bottom
bracket shell, head tube, short seat tube, cable stops,
rear dropouts and a rear brake bosses. The used thin
walled tubes and cable stops were made on a lathe,
for the carbon frame I have purchased rear dropouts
bi-directional woven carbon cloth (180 grams per
square meter). I have used MGS's L285 epoxy resin
with hardener 285 for laminating. For the carbon
frame I used about 3.8 sq.m of the fabric, for the
bamboo frame about 2.0 sq.m. You can also use uni-
directional carbon for the base layers and use the bi-
directional carbon just for the outer layer.
5. Supplies - I used plastic kitchen foil for covering
How I Built a Carbon Bike Frame at Home (and a Bamboo Frame Too): Page 2
and brake bosses from the bike parts supplier. I have
made them by water-jet cutting for the bamboo frame.
I prefer to use 7075 Alloy for the metal parts. It is
good to have all aluminum parts anodized, as then
you do not need to wrap a light layer of fiberglass
around the aluminum tubes and part of the rear
dropouts as an insulation between the aluminum and
the carbon against galvanic corrosion.
3. Foam core - I have used polystyrene foam to
make the core of the carbon frame. But it is better to
use extruded polystyrene, or polyurethane foam,
which is more rigid. Later I have used the
polyurethane foam which is normally used for
insulation of the outer walls of buildings.
4. Materials for laminating - I have chosen a
the workbench during the wetting out the carbon,
latex gloves, a small digital scale for weighing of the
exact volume of resin and hardener, cups for mixing,
paint brushes for wetting out, lots of electrical tape,
sand paper and a good respirator during sanding.
6. Patience - the more the better
Step 2: Making the Core

After I have built the frame jig and all metal parts
were secured in the jig, I began to make the frame
core.
I had polystyrene foam rods of the necessary
diameters, made simply by using hot wire foam
cutter. The cross sections of the main rods was
circular, the chain stay and the seat stay were
elliptical. I have wrapped these rods with one light
layer of fiberglass to increase their rigidity.
In this picture you can see the aluminum parts in their
exact position. The polystyrene top tube and down
tube is already bonded with carved small pieces of
polystyrene for the next sanding. In the front of the
picture on the ground the chain stay was being
prepared for sanding (to achieve proper shape) and
bonding.

Step 3: Making the Core 2

After adding all of the polystyrene rods I have sanded
all of the added small parts in the places of rods
connection areas to achieve soft shapes. After that I
have wrapped these junctions with one light layer of
fiberglass. After the curing of the epoxy resin, I have
softly sanded the whole surface.
After finishing the frame, you can melt the polystyrene
out of the frame by using acetone, so you can save
about 90 g of the weight. I didn't do so, as I think the
core helps to dampen the vibrations and shocks.

How I Built a Carbon Bike Frame at Home (and a Bamboo Frame Too): Page 3
Step 4: Laminating
I was a little bit afraid before I have added the first
layer because of lack of experience. I only had
theoretical and little practical knowledge of how to do
it, but by following the instructions on how to mix the
epoxy and how to wet out the carbon cloth it went
okay. I have wetted out the pieces of carbon and I
have added the first layer on the foam core. I have
tried to cut as large pieces of carbon as possible. For
each tube, I have used one big piece with overlapping
about 1 cm.
While it was still wet, I have wrapped over the first
layer of carbon tightly with electrical tape with sticky
side up to provide compaction during curing. I could
How I Built a Carbon Bike Frame at Home (and a Bamboo Frame Too): Page 4
wrap tightly thanks to the aforementioned light layer
of fiberglass, which has increased the rigidity of the
foam core significantly. Before wrapping, I have
perforated the tape with a pin over the whole surface.
This squeezed out excess resin after wrapping.
You can also use perforated heat-shrink tape for the
compaction, or use vacuum bagging technique, but
for me this was the easiest and sufficient method.
According my rough measuremets, the ratio of
carbon/epoxy was about 50:50.
This image shows the excess resin after wrapping.
Step 5: Laminating 2
In this picture, you can see the frame after the first
layer was added and the electrical tape was removed.
It began to look like a real bike frame. Approximately
four-five hours after first layer had been done, I
removed electrical tape lightly and I added another
layer, and again, I wrapped it over with the tape. I
Step 6: Laminating 3
During the construction, I have combined the layers
diagonally and cross-wise. On the top and down
tubes and seat tube, there are 9 layers; on the chain
stay and seat stay there are 11 layers. The high
stress areas were covered with additional 6-8 layers. I
have added two more layers as I initially planned just
for the safety, but if I built this frame again, probably I
How I Built a Carbon Bike Frame at Home (and a Bamboo Frame Too): Page 5
have tried to make as many layers during the day as
possible, because after it fully cured overnight I had
to softly sand the surface for the next layer. Before
the last layer I have bonded the rear brake bosses
and have reinforced them with few carbon layers.
would not add them again. I have sanded the surface
carefully before the last layer.
This is the picture after the last layer of carbon.
Finally I have let the frame fully cure for a few days at
about 50°C at the heater.
Step 7: Finishing

After removal of the fully cured frame from the jig, I
have cut the excess carbon and I have sanded the
entire surface. Also I have bonded the cable stops
and then I have sandblasted all the visible aluminum
parts. I have added a few layers of wet epoxy, with
sanding between each layer. The sanding is the worst
part of building the frame, don't do it in your living
room... The whole surface was polishing for a better
look. But it is better to spray some quality clear
varnish over the surface.

Step 8: Finished Bike

This is the finished bike with my homemade carbon frame.

How I Built a Carbon Bike Frame at Home (and a Bamboo Frame Too): Page 6
Step 9: Building the Bamboo/carbon Frame
I have seen many amazing constructions made of
bamboo and I have always wondered why such light,
strong, stiff and elastic material is not widespread
used for building of bicycle frames, although such
frames were built already hundred years ago. Since I
have finished my carbon frame, I was thinking about
using bamboo for my second frame. Later on, I have
found an article describing a bamboo frame Craig
Step 10: Building the Bamboo/carbon Frame 2
The most difficult part of building the frame was to
find quality bamboo rods. It took me much more time
than the building itself. I have visited several dealers
in near surroundings and I have tried to find
appropriate rods of the necessary diameters among
huge amount of bamboo. Finally I have found few
rods I wanted, but frankly speaking, next time I will
build such a frame, I'll rather grow my own bamboo,
or fly to Asia for it. The rods for the top tube, down
tube and seat tube are some Chinese species of
bamboo; I was not very satisfied with the quality of
How I Built a Carbon Bike Frame at Home (and a Bamboo Frame Too): Page 7
Calfee built for himself a few years ago. At that
moment I was fully determined to build it too.
One year later (in 2004) I have built the bamboo
frame according the same method as I built the
carbon frame. This was a little bit easier, as I did not
need to laminate the tubes.
the surface, which was rather scratched and there
were also a few woodworm holes in it. The rods I
have selected for the seat and chain stay were some
other species from Malaysia. Unfortunately the seller
was not able to tell me what species it exactly was.
During breaking tests of these bamboo rods I found
out that when I filled the inside with the polyurethane
foam (which added only few gram of weight), the
rigidity increased mainly of the rods for the seat and
chain stay, which are the most critical parts of this
frame.
Step 11: Building the Bamboo/carbon Frame 3

process of the joints with epoxy resin and woven

The frame building itself was quite quick. I have used carbon cloth was practically the same as for the
the frame jig I made for my previous carbon frame. carbon frame. The bamboo rods, in the place of
Bamboo rods were fitted in miter joints together with connection with the carbon were machined, so there
aluminum tubes (bottom bracket shell, head and short were small shark teeth which guaranteed that the
seat tube) and bonded with epoxy. The junctions in bamboo will not loose. Also it is important to have
the rear part of the frame I have made from well dried bamboo, so it will shrink later minimally.
polyurethane foam and the following laminating

How I Built a Carbon Bike Frame at Home (and a Bamboo Frame Too): Page 8
Step 12: Building the Bamboo/carbon Frame 4

When I have built this bamboo frame, I was interested
in how would it differ from my carbon frame. Above all
I have expected that thanks to the unique properties
of bamboo, as a natural composite, the frame would
be more able to absorb road shocks and the ride
would be more comfortable.
After three years (in 2007), I can write that the
bamboo frame fulfilled all my expectations. The frame
is excellent and still okay. Compared with the carbon
frame it really does dampen vibrations better and the
ride is more comfortable.
The connections of the bamboo rods with the carbon
joints are still rigid without any problems. I know I can
expect the bamboo to shrink or split sooner or later,
but I hope that thanks to the used method of securing
the mutual connection between the bamboo rods and
carbon joints it should not loosen in the case of
shrinking and the splitting of bamboo can be easily
repaired.
I love riding this bike!

Hi, I really appreciated your blog. I have some experience in using vacuum carbon parts for rc
models and for my sailboat. I was wondering if I would be able to do my own frame for my
performance hybrid bike. I'm looking for a canadian frame bike parts supplier. Thanks a lot for
sharing and congratulations! This give me the enregy to begin the project, thank you! Sebastien
Can you explain this part further : "During breaking tests of these bamboo rods I found out that
when I filled the inside with the polyurethane foam (which added only few gram of weight)"
Links to material and process about how you filled the tube are my main questions.
Thanks
Do you remember how much the frame weighed after completion?
Dear Brano,
I sell 3D printers and would like to build a combo of carbon fiber and bamboo. Can you help me
with some 3d drawings of what you have made for components. I would be glad to reciprocate in
any manner I can with 3 d parts.
Regards,

Carmel Monti
Awesome!

How long did it take you to assemble the frame?

How I Built a Carbon Bike Frame at Home (and a Bamboo Frame Too): Page 9
 So i am looking at building the full carbon frame and with my experience in carbon fiber we built
and entire robot out of it for my schools robotics club and it was in multiple parts and we made
joints for it then slid the carbon tube on the joints and wrapped it but it looked crappy in the areas
that were wrapped how did you cover the areas where parts connected to make it look like one
solid part and not lashed together with strips of carbon fiber. Also do you have an Instructable for
making the frame jig?
These are really cool. I have to build one now...

Gmather@live.ca
Hey can who ever wrote this please email me at gmathet@live.ca. I would like to talk
I have interest in building a carbon fiber BMX race frame. I was hoping to gather more Intel prior to
starting. Your info is terrific. I have a few more questions before starting. Can I pick you brain a bit
please?
great instructable!two questions:
1) where did you buy your supplies?
2) how strong is the frame?
very nice explaination thanx
but can u tell us more about the joints at courners .. how to made them??
Hi there! Could you please give some more detailed information on how you joined the bamboo to
the corner pieces? (I'm new to this and don't really understand the process) Thanks, and great
work on the projects!
How do I build the jig to make the bamboo bike, also do you know what the price range of this
project is?
Thank you,
and awesome project too
hello I would like to built one of these carbon or light weight bikes can you please guide me. Would
like to take this as a part of my project, I recently graduated as mechanical engineer and worked on
a car design project before but building a bike would be a new challenge for me. Please let me
know how can I proceed.

Questions

1. Is there any standard global sizing for bike

2. Currently I am using Catia V5 what kind of factors and calculations do I need to consider?
3. what is the weight of your frame?

While the cost of carbon frames keeps getting very low, and is now pretty much affordable,
bamboo frames are still a rarity, and priced accordingly. I'd love to see quality bamboo frames
being affordable and widely available. Some day...
hi i think if u have seald the bamboo with a good quilty resin or varnish then it should last a very
very long time my favorit fishing rod is a 85 yr old bamboo thats as flexable as if it were new
beautiful job by the way
i am going to build a carbon road frame and i need to know where do you get your carbon along
with what thickness, type, modulus, how much carbon thank you

How I Built a Carbon Bike Frame at Home (and a Bamboo Frame Too): Page 10
Hey, congrats for your instructable. A piece of art, really. Im into doing one for myself. About the
weight, how much for the carbon and the bamboo frames?
how would i attach disk breaks to it? and is it easy enough to paint with ordinary paint? by the way
amazing job!
For the disk brakes, just buy drop outs with mounts build into them. I assume that you mean spray
paint when you say ordinary paint, and as I have yet to do this instructable, I don't know how well
that would work on it. In general, it can be hard to get a good paint job with spray paint it, as I found
out on my steel frame. I wouldn't use spray paint personally. Hope I helped!
is the bamboo frame suitable for cross country mtb riding?
I was thinking that it might be great for a fixed gear bike. My concern would be about the stress
around the the bottom bracket and chain stays when skip breaking the bike, with both frames.
I like the valuable information you provide in your articles. I’ll bookmark your weblog and check
again here frequently. I am quite sure I will learn many new stuff right here ! Best of luck.
Harley Fenders

The blog was absolutely fantastic! Lot of great information which can be helpful in some or the
other way. Keep updating the blog,looking forward for more contents...Great job, keep it up..
Carbon Fiber Bicycles , Carbon Wheel Sets

Just got to say what a great artice this is a what a fantastic finished product, cheers for sharing.

Definitely on my list of things to do when I get some time/space/money etc etc...

Did you do anything special to the legs of the dropouts to create a better bond with the CF?
did you leave the foam inside the tubes? if yes would you have any idea how to remove it? are you
a student of BME?
Would you not want to leave the foam in to keep it firm?

Looks like acetone might work

forum
just google polystyrene solvent (or whatever type of foam you used) then double-check to make
sure that it won't eat your epoxy, too
so how do you cure it at 50 c? at the heater ? is it a stove ? or ? thanks !
Depending on the epoxy you pick, it's likely not necessary to actually cure at high temperature,
although it will certainly speed the process up. I used a series of heat lamps for several hours on
my frame, but perhaps even halogen lights could work.
where from have you bought the metal parts? could you help me out with this ? it's the only thing
keepeing me from making one

I cut my headtube, bottom bracket and rear dropouts off of a bike from the garbage. I used a short
(maybe 10cm) section of tubing for the seat tube insert; maybe it would have been better to make
this insert longer.
Hi! If you haven't find your solution yet, now I try to give some advice. Try at Deda, or Colombus
tubi. If you're from Hungary as i suppose from your nick, you may try it at Sopron. Ask Yasec, he
imports Dedaccai frame parts to hungary. Another try is worth at Újpest, when you shall ask Zsolt
Matuz. He often gets bike frames from italy, smetimes frame parts too. If neither them could help,
How I Built a Carbon Bike Frame at Home (and a Bamboo Frame Too): Page 11
 or you don't want to spend a lot on bike frame parts (yes, these are quite expensive), then write an
e-mail, and I can help you on machining frame inserts out of aluminium to make shaped closures
right. I have some experience with composite materials too. If wanna ask then write an e-mail
Now I don't know if this will work but what I plan to do is purchase a cheap roadbike from goodwill
or another resale store; and cut the metal pieces from that off and then use the flame pieces to
mold my carbon fiber pieces- in theory the carbonfiber will fit perfectly into the metal!
This might work, but you have to remember that CFRP has different properties than steel or
aluminum. The ideal tube diameter and thickness will be different for each material due to
differences in tensile strength and stiffness.
Have a look on the step 1 page, a few suppliers have been named.

hey man do you know if a frame like this or the bamboo version would be a good bike for doing
jumps and gaps with because with it being light and all do you think it could stand up to being
pounded on and dropped
please respond
thanks and great build i hope to build one someday
and how much was the total build cost
thanks again
What is the frame weight of this and the carbon fibre one? Beautiful!
Hey, this is really nice! Just wondering if the CF bonds directly to the metal components, or do you
have to take some sort of extra precaution to make sure the metal and carbon fiber stay together??
I've been staring at this picture for a few hours and for the life of me I cannot figure out how you
laid up the carbon fiber. Did you use some sort of cf tape or did you drape wet cf sheets around the
core?
When you apply wet-of-resin-and-agent carbon fibre texture on any surface, and aligned by a brush
or a paint roller-like instrument made of different size washers, then it STICKS to it, unless you
choose a too curvy surface to apply. The texture will SURELY bend in one direction, like wrapping
around everything round edged, for example a tube.
Then there are several processes to laminate it, the one what Brano described is a very effective
and cheap solution. If you plan to apply carbon fiber (or glass fiber, or texalium) texture on a
surface, you may do the same punch-made-holes method on 0.2-0.5 mm thick film, and then
somehow pull it on the treated surface.
That is just about the coolest thing I have ever seen. Good work.
Wow. Nice frames. How long does it take to make one of these? Im planning on making a BMX
like this.
Wow, this looks very professional! But how you installed the derailer of the gearshift at the bamboo
rod below the seat?
Wow! I always thought carbon fibre bikes were *very* exotic, and not something made in your
house. =)
Carbon fibre items actually take very little skill to make. Most offshore production carbon fibre
frames are made by virtually unskilled labour. You've bought into the marketing, my friend. A high-
end brazed steel frame takes far more skill to construct. ..not to take away from this at all. Molds
take skill to make, as well as, coming up with a practical home method for construction. I just mean
that once you get a basic technique down, a trained monkey could actually lay out the carbon
layers and resin. The markup on production carbon frames is ridiculous. Likely why you can find
carbon frames on eBay coming from Taiwan for a few hundred dollars. (Very often made in the
same factory that fancy Colnago frame was made.)

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