In an world of seemingly perpetual waste and planned obsolescence, a bicycle platform that endures the test of time and serves numerous years of use has become rendered a thing of yesteryear. Today's industry standards last long enough to blink the eye a few times only to reopen with the view of a new "it" size, material, design and designated use. Innumerable bikes with innumerable niches fill the market in such a dense fashion that it is no wonder how and why the Craig's List bicycle pages fill anew after only a few hours having lapsed. Yesterdays mountain bike is today's obsolete "donor" bike that at best tends to serve as a component platform to build up yet another new bike with supposedly better aforementioned attributes. The preexisting frame set usually ends up being stored in a garage for years, sold away as scrap or if lucky, pawned off for a few extra dollars to facilitate that new build. Seldom it is these days that bearings, shocks, brake parts and drivetrains are cross compatible enough to mix and match one derailleur with another, one rear shock for the next. Sometimes you get lucky with a bicycle that manages to swallow up most of the parts in that box that was created when the last project was stripped down, but the real question that looms here is whether or not we need anywhere near as many bikes as most of us self proclaimed "bike nerds" own, or if the cyclical tide of seemingly endless upgrades is indeed necessary, resourceful or cost effective altogether. To explore the question is to simultaneously explore inherently foundational facets that compose the bicycle industry as we know it today. What is found can be seen as something that stimulates a massive portion of the economy which in principle, generates equal business in virtually every other niche in the world of retail.
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| Having formerly frequented the scrap yards for years, I have seen images that directly parallel this. |
Used is Bad
Over the last decade or so I have slowly discovered a painfully evident correlation that exists between manufacturer, consumer and the environment within which all parties operate: what is good for people, products and our ever important planet is typically bad for the economy. When a product is strong, highly serviceable and capable of enduring repetition, fill-in-the-blank manufacturer/designer/facilitator/ becomes incapable of doing the one thing that constitutes their sustenance: growing quickly. Old bikes out on the road don't sell anything. Old bikes receiving service oriented labor sells very little in the way of new componentry and lifestyle accessories. Repair labor is and never will be a lucrative tangible in the eyes of the biggest companies that require no naming. Without a constant flow of new product to hit the shelves, such companies will never fulfil the exponential growth models that compose the business plans of nearly every company that strives to be on top and branch into multinational status. Paradoxical though it may seem, according to this worldview things must fail to work. In order for things to fail, we need to either be sold just that, or conversely be sold the idea at the very least. If we constantly believe that what we have has become of little value in capacity, so long as we are feeble minded enough we will constantly consume, upgrade and entertain the notion that it may just be time again to jump on-board with the latest buzz idea of the year. This simple yet dangerous notion epitomizes the very essence of what it means to be a consumer in modernity.
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| An image depicting the myriad breed of thin tired "road" bikes. |
Used is good
When we are critical of our belongings and relationships, consumption habits and environmental pattern, it doesn't take much for one to see that in order to maintain the good, one must gravitate toward things that are conducive to longevity, growth and ultimately happiness. When it comes to the simple device that is the bicycle, and the little-big world that we cycle around, the circumstances are no different. As cyclists we hold an invisible torch of responsibility to contemplate our consumption habits just as in any other context. We can either jump on the bandwagon of the "Newer is better" mentality that seems to permeate the airwaves, data streams and magazine pages, or put the foot down and say in one way or another that this ideal of overnight obsolescence is a thing of our past. Almost more than any other does the bicycle industry as a whole exhibit double standards that render our "green" activities a farce. What is so eco-friendly about deliberately disposing of a tool that was designed, manufactured and reallocated to end up in your possession? What is it that makes a colossal stable of seldom ridden, semi to massively redundant bicycles a thing of our sustainable future when many of the worlds inhabitants will never see the luxury of two wheels between their legs. Upon investigation and inevitably contrary to popular belief, this reemerging age of the bicycle is not as clean as we would like it to be.
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| Someone, somewhere, making good use of an early 90's French" mountain" bike. |
Turning the pedals forward
Never has there been a more important time for us all to consider the implications of our actions in a world of ever elusive resources, economic degradation and moral strife. Bicycles are and will always be a simple object, suggestive of a classically simple activity. Whether its daily commuting or innocent play, the bicycle ride is something that no one needs a small fortune to afford and enjoy. To see your dollar, actions, and environment go as far as they can, it depends entirely on you and the next person to exhibit maturity and restraint in an age of excess and disposal. To put thought, love and maintenance into the products we purchase and markets we support with our dollar can we make a difference today as we simultaneously set an positive example for those around us. Maybe the next time we stop by the local bike shop for whatever may be on the list we can we consider the options for a brighter, more logical and sustainable future.
