Make some calls to hardwood floor installers and see if you can get some "waste" (unfinished bamboo or oak could work well IMO). The planks ripped for fit are what you would pick out (typically 4-6 foot x 5/8" thick).

If it's vertical grain you can likely slice it to 1/4"x5/8" and bend (with steam or just heat).
If it's flat grain, re-saw the cutoffs and salvage as many ~1" wide strips as you can out of the laminate.

I'd be surprised if you couldn't get enough free pieces to both experiment with and/or make the 20-30 ribs you might need.

Let us know if you try this (I haven't) ... not sure how/if the glue used to laminate the bamboo holds up to heat and/or water ...