The Bamboo Bicycle Club, which was founded in the Brecon Beacons five years ago, has hit new heights by being selected to feature in the London Design Museum’s hotly anticipated ‘Cycle Revolution’ exhibition alongside bikes ridden by greats including Sir Bradley Wiggins, Sir Chris Hoy and Chris Boardman.

The Bamboo Bicycle Club was created with the aim of teaching people the benefits of building their very own bespoke bike, as well as sharing the benefits of using bamboo ahead of other less sustainable sources.

James Marr, originally from Aberbran, returned to Mid Wales after living in Canada for two years. He first started testing how he could make a bamboo bicycle after he moved into a house in Glasbury-on-Wye with his two siblings who were also establishing the PR agency A Marr + Associates.

After spending years developing a bamboo bike, James moved to London where he established a large workshop and teaching area. Not having the time to build a whole bike for other people, the idea of the workshops was born, creating a way to teach others how to build bespoke bamboo bicycle.

Starting the first and only bamboo bicycle workshop in the UK, the Bamboo Bicycle Club has more of a community than company feel, the workshops allow anyone, even those with very little knowledge with bikes to build their own. Offering weekend workshops, it has helped individuals build every type of bicycle, from road bikes and mountain bikes to tandems. To date, their bikes have been used to travel the globe, hurl down mountains and compete in some of the world’s toughest races.

James has developed a range of products including working with Brecon Brewing to establish a bamboo beer, a bamboo clothing range and a ‘bamboo bike box kit’ for people to build from their homes.

James said “I am delighted to have been chosen to feature in the Design Museum’s ‘Cycle Revolution’ exhibition. Over the past five years we’ve seen interest in cycling increase dramatically, both in the UK and overseas, and I still feel a huge amount of satisfaction with every bike we complete."

For those who can’t attend the workshops, there are home build kits available to order, which have been continuously refined over the past five years to ensure a seamless, enjoyable process.

For more information, visit www.bamboobicycleclub.org and www.designmuseum.org