Philippine bamboo bike hits market but with an expensive price tags

The bamboo bike

A BAMBOO bike made headlines recently as one of the first environmentally-friendly product in the Philippines produced by a company named, Kawayan Tech.

Kawayan is the Filipino name for a bamboo. The bamboo is one of a kind product from a Filipino company but with an expensive price tags.

According to a news report from Manila Bulletin which was posted on Yahoo Philippines, the bamboo bike costs P5,000 (US$119) for “Push Bikes” or Children’s bikes,

Higher-performance bikes costs P20,000 (US$476), and the commuter or “city” bikes cost P10,000 (US$238).

The company also said it has sold already at least 80 different kinds of bikes and are planning to pursue in making a bamboo skateboards and wheelchairs.

Kawayan Tech was founded in 2009 by members of the University of the Philippines Mountaineers club, including Hecky Villanueva, an urban anthropologist; dive instructor and resort operator Boy Siojo; visual artist Eng Chan; US-based educator John Climaco; and Eric Cadiz.

When Hecky Villanueva died, his wife Tammy replaced him as one of the prime movers of the company. The company’s  objectives are to develop “indigenous forms of bikes and other alternative means of transport,” including bamboo bikes and bamboo

skateboards as “social entrepreneurship” according to their Mission Statement.

There were some speculations about the durability of the bamboo bike but the company stated that it has tried and tested the durability of its products.

The company got the most of its raw materials from different parts of the Philippines. Each bamboo bike is handmade.

Although there were some supporters in the company’s endeavor to use indigenous materials on their products the primary concerns of an ordinary bike lovers is the price tag of the bike, which so much expensive compared to the commercially available one. – Manila Bulletin

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