KOCHI: Acycle out of bamboo? KOL (a piece of stick in Malayalam), a group of young innovative minds have come together to bring forth the idea to make the world more dynamic, attracting the people’s attention at the ongoing ‘Bamboo Fest’ here.Nikhil Kunnath, a young IIT Mumbai graduate from the batch 2014-2016 along with his friend Tony K Lal, have taken the initiative to merge bamboo with mobility and created the vision of an eco-friendly vehicle which resulted in the emergence of bamboo cycles.
“In IIT campus, students were only allowed to use cycles which they would leave after the course. It resulted in massive waste of production and this gave me the inspiration to create bamboo cycles,”says Nikhil. “Our long researches and studies on a child’s interest in cycling in relation to their growth has enabled us to create KOL bamboo bikes,” he added. Nikhil graduated in ‘mobility vehicle designing’ and along with Tony, they are manufacturing their products at Thrikkaipetta,Wayanad and are planning to commercially launch their product within two months.
KOL bamboo bikes is an eco friendly bicycle made of bamboo. Its handcrafted frames are made from a unique bamboo species form a very strong and reliable structure. This bamboo species is usually found in the Western Ghats. This bike targets children which fall under the age category of 5-10 years. This novel idea also enables the child’s creativity as the bike comes in DIY kits along with manuals. Each bike can be assembled in 10 steps.Thus it is not just an activity but also an engagement in the process of creation. The bamboo bikes were first invented in England in 1894 and they attained a patent in the name Bamboo cycle company. In India, Godrej company markets bamboo bicycles.
A bike usually lasts around two-years and all of the parts are replaceable.The motive behind it is to let the next generation embrace the harmony between nature and strength by inspiring them to explore this extra-ordinary cycling experience.This idea of using eco-friendly vehicles is being exhibited for the first time at the Bamboo fest 2017 in Kerala and the team aims to design and develop safe, elegant, reliable and green connections at various stages of a childhood and get them pedaling through a remarkable journey hand in hand with a sustainable future.