Bamboosero Locations - New Zealand

Bikeys

New Zealand has a great deal of interest in localism as well as environmentally friendly products lending itself well to the idea of bamboo bicycles. Shipping frames checked for safety in California to New Zealand is prohibitively expensive. The opportunity to work with Freddy, owner of Bikeys in Gisborne, addresses this concern as well as puts the organization in a geographical position to expand into markets such has Fiji and other economically depressed markets in the future. It is exciting to see Freddy's command of bicycle building as well as receive frames with such unique and exquisite art as these bikes display under the layer of thick glossy clear coat.

Alfred Freddy Salgado::
I currently live in the remote East Coast town of Gisborne, in New Zealand, where I own a small bike shop [named Bikeys].  I’ve been working with bikes since as long as I can remember: I spent 8 years as a bike courier in downtown Chicago and worked for various shops as a bike mechanic.  I’ve built my own bike frames as a hobby for many years and became interested in bamboo bikes from a sustainability perspective and for its bamboo’s fascinating natural qualities.  I’m also excited by the opportunity to develop local industry in my town, which suffers from high ‘underemployment’.

About the bike:: ”The bike is painted by a local Maori artist and represents the spirit of Gisborne, the first city in the world to see the sun of each new day. It also celebrates Gisborne’s surf breaks.  I've wrapped the bike with fibres of the New Zealand flax ( harakeke), which were processed in a heritage flax mill. For Maori, fibre from flax leaves was a major source of clothing, cordage, matting, medicine and containers.  The introduction of synthetic fibres caused a decline in the industry but Maori continue to strip flax for traditional crafts and there is interest for flax use in composites.”

Photo: Freddy and artist Justin