as an African and a Ghanaian I don't know whether to be insulted or to be insulted?!... you mean to tell me that this is the best that can be done to take care of issues of transportation.
this quote is as much true of this project as it was in the days of colonialisation:
"They are a throwback to the British colonial period, meant for the amusement of the wealthy classes in well-paved cities, not for critical transportation of poor rural people."
Though the intentions maybe be good for this project, the means by which is going about is insulting... the larger issues of moving people ecologically around can not be solved with a bike made of bamboo... who is supposed to be amused by this... the simple answered would the western world which can travel to Africa for two weeks and come back with stories of "those Africans riding their bikes for miles and miles" and pictures of exhausted Africans who still have the heart to smileā¦utter nonsense.
THERE IS ABSOLUTELY NO INNOVATION IN THIS PROJECT..... if we started making bikes for those that lived outside of the cities to ride miles into town to sell things in the states, it would be considered a GOOD LAUGH.
...im absolutely appalled!
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Back to ListingAma Cobbina
Charlottesville, Virginia, United States
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Member since May 22, 2007
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ummm...WHAT?!
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In response to Update: Bamboo Bike Goes to Rural Africa, posted by Micki McCoy.Posted June 06, 2007
By Ama Cobbina
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Hey guys, calm down and take a look at this bike ...I think they'd like to make the bamboo bike more rugged and usable in the next stages.
The bamboo bike was originally done as a style/sustainability thing...those are the pictures you see...but the project should be able to make bike building into a more local local industry...chains and gears are small and easily shipped...frames are large and expensive and hard to repair without an industrial infrastructure.
I think being able to make a bike out of a natural and sustainable material is great...you can make a racing bike or a street bike...the new technique opens possibilities. One day I suppose there'll be some cheap alternative fuel and super cars that everyone can afford...but right now, small business owners do use bikes to transport goods. Making it cheaper and greener to do so is a positive thing.
Posted June 07, 2007
By Daniel Stillman
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