[Rich_cb]

I’m in the market for a new bike but given the well documented supply issues I’ve had a lot more time to think about my choice than I was expecting.

As a consequence I’ve now started thinking about the most sustainable options.

My gut feeling is that steel/Aluminium frame and components would be more sustainable than carbon fibre and that mechanical groupsets would also be the best option.

SRAM and Campy seem to offer better long term serviceability than Shimano.

Hope seem a good bet for miscellaneous other components.

Topic

[Tom_77]

How Green Is Cycling? – https

How Green Is Cycling? – https://www.bikeradar.com/features/long-reads/cycling-environmental-impact/

Personally, I wouldn’t worry too much about it. The above article reckons producing a bicycle takes 96 Kg of CO2, that’s the same as driving a few hundred miles.

[Rich_cb]

I have a battered commuter
I have a battered commuter which I bought for £100 second hand. It’s hideous but thankfully that makes it fairly theft proof.

Definitely my most environmentally friendly purchase as I use it almost every day.

[Rich_cb]

I am open to a second hand
I am open to a second hand refurb project.

Have been thinking about a caad 12, get it resprayed, stick SRAM red mechanical on it.

Could then use that Ratio kit to make it 12 speed.

Would be a fun little project.

[Rich_cb]

I did watch a couple of
I did watch a couple of YouTube videos about that.

It would definitely be sustainable and my rapid demise would drastically reduce my carbon footprint.

I’ll put it on the list.

[TheBillder]

This is exactly right. Far
This is exactly right. Far less resource goes into an old bike refurbishment than into a complete new bike, and you probably get better value if you choose carefully. We need to wean ourselves off shiny, and the recent hill climb test shows that little real performance is lost.

The only other absolutes as far as I know are:

a) not carbon as you can’t recycle it at end of life
b) spares availablity is important but most things are available somewhere, though perhaps at a price.

I’ve just bought an axle end cap for a very fancy but old Mavic wheel that was being binned as useless without it. USD 53, including postage, for a part that would have cost about 10p to make when current. But that $53 has, in effect, bought me a whole fancy wheel. So expensive but also not.

[Chris Hayes]

…..a Speedwagen, on mech

…..a Speedwagen, on mech Chorus – or as Peter has suggested below, get an old bike (er, classic, surely?) and do it up. I got into cycling in the 90s and now have a fine collection of bikes I couldn’t afford then – much to the annoyance of Mrs Hayes.  Latest project: Jan Ullrich’s Pinarello Prince from the 1999 Vuelta! 

I think my most sustainable bike is my Brompton as that is used in lieu of tube, bus and car journeys. 

[ktache]

Hope have repeatadly replaced

Hope have repeatadly replaced the cables on my lights, only recently charged for it.  One of the reasons I went for their disk brakes, that and apparently they continue to support their old stuff, with parts availability, long after others seem to.

Chris King headset, proper quality and the excellent seals mean that they will last longer than any other, plus parts should always be there.

One advantage of my Rohloff is the lack of a need to constantly replace worn cassettes and jockey wheels, and the chain seems to last a long time too. Month and a half of an initially filthy commute, and it’s only just hit 0.25%.  I was waiting on a replacement frame last winter, but the shortest quality 8 speed chain only lasted 2 and a half weeks for the old getting to work bike.

[hawkinspeter]

One answer would be to buy a

One answer would be to buy a second-hand bike – that’s surely got to be far more sustainable and gets around the issues with new bike supply chains.

However, I suspect that isn’t the answer you want.

[Sriracha]

Well, someone’s got to get in
Well, someone’s got to get in with this one first;
https://bamboobicycleclub.org/

[Rich_cb]

Anyone got any thoughts?
Anyone got any thoughts?

Or even better any links to articles etc which go into this in some detail?

[Author]

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