Can we make bicycles sustainable again?
lowtechmagazine.com
Can we make bicycles sustainable again?
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Re: Can we make bicycles sustainable again?
#2There's nothing wrong with continuous improvement but when you are trying to fine tune something in the flat portion of an exponential scale, and lets face it, even the most expensive bike shown here is 1/2 the burden of an ICE engine car, you have to ask yourself: is this optimisation really the core problem?
I argue: it's not. It's polishing. It's functionally a bit time-wast-y compared to reductions in the cost, and price of ebikes.
I tell you what I'd like as a bike rider: I'd like the post evergiven/covid supply chain behind my brake fluid fixed. It's insanely expensive to replace brakes and gears and wheels on a street bike these days: I ride a Movida 200 which is a pretty average, low end disc-brake unit with fluid breaklines, and I am up for a horrendous cost in parts to replace: the labour I can understand, this isn't a zero-work job. But the supply chain fragility in bicycles is truly scary: I paid twice the base cost of my (admitedly secondhand) bike, repairing it these last 2 years.
I know: I should learn to do this myself. I did once long ago last century take apart a sturmy-archer 3 speed hub gear, and remake it, and I did have no left over parts. Amazing. Some of the springs were like fairy-floss. Now, I have old person shakey hands and to be frank I'd rather pay a hipster to do it for me, but the parts cost is just obscene. I'm not paying his tattoo costs, this is some anonymous bike part warehouse in the cloud, which is ripping us all off worldwide.
Re: Can we make bicycles sustainable again?
#3Are there any brands that are specifically known for having highly compatible parts of long lifespans of products?
Re: Can we make bicycles sustainable again?
#4Discussed recently: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=34981363
Re: Can we make bicycles sustainable again?
#5There's nothing wrong with continuous improvement but when you are trying to fine tune something in the flat portion of an exponential scale, and lets face it, even the most expensive bike shown here is 1/2 the burden of an ICE engine car, you have to ask yourself: is this optimisation really the core problem? I argue: it's not. It's polishing. It's functionally a bit time-wast-y compared to reductions in the cost, a…
Low Tech Magazine has always been more of an entertainment blog with creative and unusual solutions. Their stuff rarely seems to be practical or reasonable but it is a fascinating read anyway.
>I paid twice the base cost of my (admitedly secondhand) bike, repairing it these last 2 years.
Because the base price of a bike is just about nothing. So it makes sense that skilled labor quickly overtakes the cost. And you usually get a hefty discount on the price of the bike when you buy it second hand considering just about everything on the bike excluding the frame is a consumable item.
Re: Can we make bicycles sustainable again?
#6Are there any brands that are specifically known for having highly compatible parts of long lifespans of products?
At least some of the big name bike brands have lifetime warranties on the frames. Everything else can be considered a consumable item. Not because it's designed poorly but because you'd rather your bike weigh 10kg less than increase the lifespan of some parts from 5 to 50 years.
Re: Can we make bicycles sustainable again?
#7Are there any brands that are specifically known for having highly compatible parts of long lifespans of products?
Unless you buy $10k+ bikes from the big brands (which in recent years go all for integrated components), you'd be fine.
Ask your local, independent bike shop for specific recommendations if you need those. Bikes components are highly standardized.
Re: Can we make bicycles sustainable again?
#8From the graph: yes. Just compare electric bikes to cars instead of old bikes, and they are relatively sustainable.
Re: Can we make bicycles sustainable again?
#9Are there any brands that are specifically known for having highly compatible parts of long lifespans of products?
At least some of the big name bike brands have lifetime warranties on the frames. Everything else can be considered a consumable item. Not because it's designed poorly but because you'd rather your bike weigh 10kg less than increase the lifespan of some parts from 5 to 50 years.
Proper maintenance and quality parts last 50 years (my commuter bike and most of its components are 40 years old. Tires, chains, cogs, brakepads, saddle and bartape are the exception).
Anything but the cheapest of components would last years with proper maintenance (which has cost in service charges: good bike mechanics don't come cheap)
Re: Can we make bicycles sustainable again?
#10There's nothing wrong with continuous improvement but when you are trying to fine tune something in the flat portion of an exponential scale, and lets face it, even the most expensive bike shown here is 1/2 the burden of an ICE engine car, you have to ask yourself: is this optimisation really the core problem? I argue: it's not. It's polishing. It's functionally a bit time-wast-y compared to reductions in the cost, a…
What kind of weird brakes do you have on your bike? I can easily buy Shimano Ultegra (which is pretty high-end) brake calipers on Amazon for roughly USD$65, and a big bottle of brake oil is less than $15. Cheaper-brand or lower-end calipers are of course, cheaper, easily less than $50 each. And brake calipers aren't something you normally need to replace anyway. Pads are easily available too, both name-brand and Chinese knock-offs that probably last 1/3 as long for 1/10 the cost. What supply-chain problem are you referring to? I don't see any.