Marty Odlin

Marty Odlin

Co-founder / Engineer


Bamboo Bike Studio

Brooklyn, NY USA


You don't have many chances to get on something you really like. If you're lucky in life, you get one....but they're not just gonna keep coming. So as soon as you see something, go at it as hard as you can.

Videos

By Roadtrip Nation

Marty Odlin

Milestones

My road in life has been direct.
He says he was never a "bike fanatic," but he rode and raced bikes through middle school and high school.
When he was entering the workforce, he was having trouble deciding between his multiple interests throughout art and engineering.
Took a job in product design because he thought it'd interest him, but the repetition of getting up everyday and going to the same place bored him.
Decided picking up a hobby might help his boredom; decided he'd build his own bike.
Originally built the bike frame out of bamboo just so he could get the feel for the construction; planned on redoing it with steel later on.
He realized that the bamboo frame could actually support the wheels and his weight, and knew he had a really cool product on his hands.
Saw his opportunity-says until then, not many things had grabbed his interest, so he ran with this bike business; quickly gained a huge clientele.
Says the best part of starting his own business is that it's constantly evolving and there's always something new for him to learn or do.
Keep following my journey

Career

Co-founder / Engineer

I design and build bikes out of sustainable lightweight bamboo materials.

Career Roadmap

Roadmap
My work combines:
My work combines:
Design
Engineering
Working Independently

Interviewed By

Getting in Touch with Childhood Dreams

Getting in Touch with Childhood Dreams

The team lands at the doorstep of the MIT Media Lab, where they speak with a graduate assistant in the robotics department. Next, they talk with two women who founded sOccket, a soccer ball that generates electricity, and the co-founder of Bamboo Bike Studio. The Roadtrippers also stop at the USA Shaolin Temple in New York City, where they meet founder Shi Yan Ming who is known for his super-human abilities-such as breaking rocks with his skull. They end the week with Nat Paynter, director of water programs at Charity Water.