I'm not surprised by that. The article seems to have set out with a particular position in mind, and found evidence to support it. One thing that also occurred to me is from the original article is that the author has a fairly high mileage for each ride (which suggests it's not for utility purposes only) - and one way of making a bike last longer is to do less miles. I suspect a lot of people who use bikes just for utility make them last a really long time. I've seen people commuting on/riding to the pub on what many would regard as knackered old BSOs for years - they might only be doing 1-5 miles slowly each way but it all adds up.
Interesting Article on the sustainability of bicycles on solar.lowtechmagazine.com/
- Thread starter grantoury
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I'm not surprised by that. The article seems to have set out with a particular position in mind, and found evidence to support it. One thing that also occurred to me is from the original article is that the author has a fairly high mileage for each ride (which suggests it's not for utility purposes only) - and one way of making a bike last longer is to do less miles. I suspect a lot of people who use bikes just for utility make them last a really long time. I've seen people commuting on/riding to the pub on what many would regard as knackered old BSOs for years - they might only be doing 1-5 miles slowly each way but it all adds up.
I'm not sure how to expand, but I'll try since you want me to.
To me bicycle is deeply political because to me it is very much the antithesis to the direction things are going. People are desperately searching for ethical ways to continue living as luxuriously and comfortably as they are today, but everything is pointing towards humans having to make do with less, but they aren't willing to make compromises. and to genuinely make a difference, that is a requirement.
And by difference, I mean a difference not just applying to the population white, western world, which of course is more easily saved that the godforsaken south in the minds of idealists. The bicycle is therefore deeply political to me, as it acts as a solid stand point. If someone refuses to drive a motorised vehicle and instead drives an 'organically driven' vehicle like a bicycle, then that's a huge positive.
The problem though is that the bicycle industry as a whole now follows the direction of the car industry, and it's a popularity contests pushing utter nonsense you don't need. So, promoting the buying of second hand bicycles and pushing for old standards to be preserved is a good idea. Because it takes away the wasteful side of the cycling industry and focuses on the good. The bicycle could change the world in the urban regions around the world, but if we're merely pushing another luxury, expensive lithium mined electric bicycles, all that effort is wasted. Why destroy something that could be beautifully sustainable long term for the sake of a trend that won't last?
We have to reject the consumerist elements of the bicycling industry. We have to make longevous bicycle available to the masses so they can get to explore the world on their own terms while improving their physical and mental health, and we've found through a multitude of studies that exercising is the key to tackling many of the stresses and pains on modern day society, and if that's the case then I think it's worth investing into. And I think it should be pushed and encouraged in every way possible.
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The bicycle has ended up being a symbol for the poor.
As a form of exercise its then a way to show how not poor you are which is awkward as you don't want to be seen as poor so you'd better get something that expresses your wealth
Public transport is seen as for the poor, the car has always been a way to express wealth and garner respect for that wealth
1st class travel allows expression of wealth on that paupers express as again you definitely don't want to be seen as poor so you better show it
The fashion for utility bikes, you know, what those poor people ride, meant that some eyewateringly expensive kit would then be on the school run. A great way to express wealth to others again whilst (ironically) cleaning the air - well, for one day of the year the wealth expressing Range Rover stays at home
Electric cars, aha! A new way to express wealth with marketing men jumping up and down with glee as "green' electric vehicles the size and weight of a bus carries that one mother and child to school - the wealth earning father off to work in the wealth expressing Range Rover
Cynical, yes, overly, but that is simply how life works and will stay working unless there is a major intervention
As a form of exercise its then a way to show how not poor you are which is awkward as you don't want to be seen as poor so you'd better get something that expresses your wealth
Public transport is seen as for the poor, the car has always been a way to express wealth and garner respect for that wealth
1st class travel allows expression of wealth on that paupers express as again you definitely don't want to be seen as poor so you better show it
The fashion for utility bikes, you know, what those poor people ride, meant that some eyewateringly expensive kit would then be on the school run. A great way to express wealth to others again whilst (ironically) cleaning the air - well, for one day of the year the wealth expressing Range Rover stays at home
Electric cars, aha! A new way to express wealth with marketing men jumping up and down with glee as "green' electric vehicles the size and weight of a bus carries that one mother and child to school - the wealth earning father off to work in the wealth expressing Range Rover
Cynical, yes, overly, but that is simply how life works and will stay working unless there is a major intervention
grantoury
Kona Fan
A valid point in that thread is that producing bicycles has always had an impact on the environment, only compared to cars like in the article is it considerably less.
Guinessisgoodforyou
rBotM Winner
I kind of took that to be the point mate
synchronicity
Senior Retro Guru
Uh, did they take into account the CO² emissions of the additional food that cyclists consume on each journey? Probably not.
Even so, generally things (materials) that cost more on a unit basis are worse for the environment, yes. The cost is reflected in the size of the footprint (or is that better said the other way around?
My English has gone to shite whoops). There's no getting around that, and that's why we're all basically fucked and doomed as a consumer civilisation.
Even so, generally things (materials) that cost more on a unit basis are worse for the environment, yes. The cost is reflected in the size of the footprint (or is that better said the other way around?
My English has gone to shite whoops). There's no getting around that, and that's why we're all basically fucked and doomed as a consumer civilisation.
grantoury
Kona Fan
Ok. I felt it was lacking a bit in the article. Even walking has an impact, as @synchronicity reminded us, because of the food consumed in the process.I kind of took that to be the point mate
grantoury
Kona Fan
"A major intervention" ... sounds intruiging. Do you have something specific in mind? I can't wait.
Seriously though, as @Imlach alluded to as well and as suggested in the article, it always involves change and the willingness to compromise by the consumer. We are spoiled as retrocyclists with lovely light framesets and alloy components, even though they are from the recent past. Would we go back to steel cranks and wheels? Maybe for a retro rider it isn't such a big leap, but still. It always asks us to do something that is possibly a bit counter intuitive, to revert to standards of the past. Back to the time when cycling was for everyone and not just a pauper's ill fate.
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