To support your point, and pre-empt some obvious objections: - I've ridden a bike with a bamboo frame - it worked fine, but I don't think it was very durable.

To support your point, and pre-empt some obvious objections: - I've ridden a bike with a bamboo frame - it worked fine, but I don't think it was very durable. - I've seen a video of a belt- (rather than chain-) driven bike - the builder did not recommend. You maybe get there a couple of decades sooner with a bamboo penny-farthing, but whatever you build relies on smooth roads and light-weight wheels. You don't get all of the tech and infrastructure lining up until late-nineteenth c. Europe.