President Jokowi makes bamboo bikes a forum for diplomacy with the Australian Prime Minister
Anthony Albanese (Australian Prime Minister) came to Indonesia and met President Jokowi. Albanese was welcomed at the Presidential Palace in Bogor, West Java on Monday, June 6, 2022. During the visit, Prime Minister Albanese had several purposes, such as discussing the strengthening of economic cooperation, cooperation in terms of strategies to overcome climate change, to ensure the presence of Prime Minister Albanese at the G20 summit. which will take place in Bali.
Welcoming him, Mr. Jokowi invited him to do some tree planting activities. Interestingly, after that, Pak Jokowi invited the Prime Minister of Australia for a morning bike ride. They rode bamboo bikes and went to Raasaa Resto located in Bogor Botanical Gardens. Not only is the weather favorable and friendly for morning cycling, but the President of the Republic of Indonesia has declared this bike to be an environmentally friendly vehicle. He also stressed the importance of using environmentally friendly vehicles. Apart from these reasons, he also invited Albanese to cycle at Resto Raasaa as it was a route he often took for exercise. More than that, there was an act of diplomacy that was made because Jokowi apparently offered Prime Minister Albanese to bring back the bamboo bicycle he was using in Australia.
Seizing the opportunity, Prime Minister Albanese himself said he was satisfied with the offer.
“The president has offered to take me back to Australia, and you will see me riding the only bamboo bike in Canberra,” he said, quoting an official statement from the presidential secretariat.
Prime Minister Albanese said Jokowi’s invitation was an extraordinary experience, which he considered a great honor.
“Hello, it was a wonderful experience and I consider it a great honor that the president invited me to ride a bamboo bike with him in this beautiful place in the botanical garden,” Prime Minister Albanese said.
Furthermore, Albanese considers that the cycling activity also shows the friendship between Australia and Indonesia. He revealed that Jokowi even offered to bring his bamboo bike to Australia.
“The president offered to take me back to Australia and you will see me riding the only bamboo bike in Canberra. But it was an amazing experience and every time I ride a bike I will remember the friendship with the President Widodo,” he said.
The history of bamboo bicycles in Indonesia
The bamboo bicycle was first exhibited on April 26, 1894, and was first patented by Oberg and Andrew Gustafson in 1896. So the bamboo bicycle itself has been around for a long time, it is getting lost over time. time because many bike manufacturers prefer bamboo bikes. . other materials. build bicycles. The level of difficulty in making this bamboo bike lies in the process of connecting the bamboo with other components of the bike or connecting the connections to the frame. Usually the bamboo material is joined using epoxy resin, carbon fiber or also with iron or steel joints.
Well, in Indonesia which has a tropical climate, it is very suitable for growing bamboo plants, in fact there are many types of bamboo with the ability to grow bamboo which is quite fast, so we can say that the supply of bamboo raw materials in Indonesia are very abundant. This is what makes Indonesian creators take advantage of this situation, including Spedagi.
facts about the bamboo bike used by Jokowi and PM Albanese
Interestingly, the bike in question is a bamboo bike designed for use on the road and is the work of Singgih S. Kartono. Singgih himself owns a bicycle manufacturing company called Spedagi, which hails from Temanggung Regency, Central Java
Previously, many might have known that Indonesia is indeed the home of various bicycle brands whose products are sold all over the world. Some of them call it Polygon, United, Wimcycle, Pacific and Element. But not only, there is apparently another brand that presents a bicycle with an additional ecological concept, since the frame is made from materials taken from nature, namely the Spedagi bamboo bicycle.
Having a meaning behind it, Spedagi’s name apparently comes from the word “morning bike”, a cycling activity that Singgih did before introducing bamboo bike products. Singgih, who graduated from the design and product department of ITB FSRD, basically pays more attention to village empowerment and sustainability principles.
At first, Singgih was amazed by the bamboo bike of Craig Calfee from the United States. Not only made of bamboo, the bike is also handcrafted. Realizing that Indonesia itself has abundant resources of bamboo and traditional skills in the form of handicrafts, he was eventually driven to introduce similar innovations.
Spedagi’s design development started in 2013, then at the end of 2014 production activities started with continuous improvements in terms of design and production process.
Continuing to develop and its products reach various countries, Spedagi bamboo bikes have already paved the streets of Australia, Japan, even France. This form of bicycle has won various awards, including the Good Design Award from the Asean-Japan Center in 2017.
Discussing in more detail, Spedagi’s bamboo bike is basically made of bamboo type bamboo betung (Dendrocalamus asper). Betung bamboo itself is known as a type of bamboo that has a large stem circumference, another type is also considered strong and abundant in a number of rural areas.
It is explained that the bamboo betung has a sturdy structure and can withstand loads of up to 75 kilograms or more. In fact, the Spedagi bamboo bike has passed the Jakarta-Madiun driving test with a distance of 750 kilometers, with a total load of 90 kilograms and without any damage.
At first glance, betung bamboo is usually only sold in logs with a maximum price of Rp. 50 thousand. But in the right hands like Singgih, the value of these bamboo logs can rise rapidly after being converted into bicycles at the cost of millions of rupees each. The bamboo used in making the bike itself is mostly sourced from the village in his hometown of Temanggung. The bamboo bike is destined to become a social movement. Singgih wants people to care more about the condition of a village with good and great development potential.
It was revealed that so far, 95% of the products produced by Singgih and its employees who come from rural areas are exported to the United States, Brazil, almost all European countries, Japan, South Korea, Hong Kong, Singapore, Australia, to New Zealand. Meanwhile, the remaining 5% are sold in major cities in Indonesia like Jakarta and Bali.
Variant Spedagi / Bamboo Bike
Spedagi is available in several design options, namely Spedagi Dwiguna (dual track) designed for those of you who ride highways and rough rural tracks, Spedagi Dalanrata (road bike) for those of you who ride smoothly on long highway tracks, Spedagi Gowesmulyo (joy bike) and Spedagi Rodacilik (minibike) both of which use small diameter tires that are practical and comfortable for urban use. The four options are marketed at different prices, starting at Rp. 3.5 million.
Interestingly, the Spedagi bamboo bike even passed the Jakarta – Madiun driving test with a distance of 750 km, with a total load of 90 kg and without any damage.
Well, Spedagi is not only cycled in Indonesia. This product from Temanggung has entered various countries like Japan and France. In addition, Spedagi also received awards from various parties, did not meet from abroad. One of them in 2017, it received the Good Design Award from the Asean-Japan Center.
