Introducing the Panda Laminated Bamboo Series by Renovo

The Panda: Seriously Green in Three Models

The Pandurban: A Four Season Commuter

The Pandurance: A Swift, Smooth Road Bike

 

 

 

The Pandamonium: A Fixed Panda

 

Why Laminated Bamboo?    Nearly as smooth as suspenspension --without the weight.

Of all the materials we’ve worked with, laminated bamboo has the smoothest ride of all—perfect for a commuter, and with shorter chain stays, ideal for the fixie and sport bike too. While not as stiff as the hardwoods, bamboo is nevertheless ideal for recreational bikes; stiff enough, strong and lightweight, it's a superb natural engineering material. But when laminated into planks, it’s stronger, tougher and stiffer than the stalks from which it’s made, and flaws in the original stalks are eliminated. Moreover, with our computer aided design/manufacturing (CAD/CAM) process, we can precisely tailor wall thickness and tube shape to control ride quality.

The Pandas are different from the custom Renovo frames in several ways:

  1. They are complete bikes, sold as equipped.
  2. They are available only in laminated bamboo, not wood.
  3. The top tube and seat stays are straight, not arched.
  4. Panda frames are also available in two basic geometries, commuter and road.

Our thoughts on commuter style bikes:

Some folks think commuters should be cheap, disposable bikes. Not us. Why? Because we, and most folks we know in Portland, commute, shop, explore, tour, and play on bikes. Some of us have cars, but they're seldom driven, even when it snows, and never because of rain. For us, a day-in, day-out commute should be as reliable, capable, bullet-proof, good-looking and fun to ride as we can make it. A ride on a daily commuter in particular should be anticipated pleasure every time. But wait, that defines all our bikes.

Anyway, we don’t necessarily believe bikes are sacred or anything, but we do believe there can be a close personal relationship between a bike and its owner, especially when the bike is required to be 'ol reliable' every single day. So we build embraceable bikes.

So, what's a Panda then?

  • Butter smooth: Bamboo delivers a stealth-quiet ride, the smoothest this side of suspension; but without the weight penalty. Actually, it’s a little better than that, there’s some other, still undefined quality that that will bring a smile to your face when you ride. Honest.
  • Crisp, responsive handling is not sacrificed for the smooth ride; a remarkable feat brought to you by laminated bamboo... and our designers, of course.
  • Lightweight! Surprise, the Panda’s hollow frame usually weighs no more than an equivalent bike of man-made materials.
  • Tough! The Panda frame will survive impacts far better than frames of butted aluminum or steel, or carbon.
  • Green? Oh yeah!
  • Four styles to suit most kinds of riding. Yes, yes, the cross and mtb are coming

Made On Our Side of the Ocean:

Panda’s are made in Portland Oregon.

Handmade, Mostly

Think of it this way; most bike manufacturers and frame makers start out with tube sets or even fully fabricated frames (mainly foreign made, of course). The Panda tube set starts out as a sheet of laminated bamboo (also foreign made). It's not trivial to turn that flat sheet into a hollow bike frame; we cut, bond, finger joint, laminate, machine, bond again, hand shape, sand, and after a while, we get to paint it.

The Panda frame is a sublime blend of high-tech magic and fine craftsmanship. It’s created on computer and machined by a computer controlled machine. But the majority of time in a Panda frame is handwork; its real beauty is revealed only with caring craftsmanship wielded by computer-age people with a deep commitment to fine craft and fine bicycles.

The Pandas are Seriously Green (with no apologies for performance)

  • Bamboo is arguably the most sustainable resource on the planet.
  • Bamboo is the fastest growing plant in the world.
  • Bamboo is critical in the fight to end global warming; it absorbs nearly 5 times the amount of greenhouse gasses while producing 35% more oxygen than the same amount of trees.
  • Bamboo is 100% biodegradable.
  • Obviously, laminated bamboo has a greater carbon footprint than tubular, but not by much, and its superior performance outweighs the penalty.
  • Man-made frame materials aren't even in the ball park.

The Pandurban: A Commuter in Two Versions

The Pandurance: For the Road; Swift, Smooth, Graceful

The Pandamonium: A fixed Panda