First, solve bike theft.<p>(Then, don't demonize the e-bike. It allows longer journeys by bike, makes a bike a realistic option for older and less healthy people who couldn't get around by pedal power alone, and makes it a more fun/appealing option for healthy people)
Amen to that! An old steel bike like that, aside from lasting almost indefinitely if you don't let it rust to pieces, is a platform.<p>I could take the bike shown at the top of the article and upgrade it to a modern 2x11 road geartrain, with external bottom bracket bearings, hollow shaft bottom bracket, brifters, the whole works. Longer axles on modern rear wheels? No problem to bend the frame slightly - it's steel! - to make them fit perfectly. I've done it. I have a 40 year old steelie that is currently at 2x8 and could go to 2x10 without changing the rear hub again. It rides at least as nice as a modern carbon fiber marvel. It is of course heavier (12kg all up).<p>Another of my road bikes has the drive train from a similar vintage mountain bike. I wanted a triple, and the simplest way was to just transplant the long cage derailer to go with it.<p>Modern bikes that I see in the bike racks at work? Carbon fiber marvels with integrated e-bike drivetrain. They're only a motor failure, or even a worn out battery pack (assuming not available any more from the manufacturer as spares) away from being e-waste just like all other modern gadgets. Retrofit to different brand stuff? Forget it. The frame is an integrated design with the drivetrain.<p>But how do you roll back time and get people to ride "sensible" bikes again? When the modern marvels can be manufactured just as cheaply and they're just so much cooler? Good luck with that.
The author points out that China produces 55,000 bikes a day in factories using robotics with a certain energy and CO2 impact -- but should compare that impact to that of laborers producing the same amount of bicycles the old-fashioned way, including the impact of transporting them to and from the place of work.
Very frustrating to have an otherwise well maintained mountain bike and bombproof wheelset with a snapped fork. To get a new fork I need a new frame and front wheel. 20mm-thru axles are no longer popular. Headsets similarly have changed design.<p>At this point I have a room of partial bicycles just collecting dust.<p>When new some of these bicycles were more valuable (retail price of all components) than a cheap used car. Then there's the problem of importing them, dealing with customs shakedowns or traveling abroad to purchase them.<p>Internal gearhubs and fat chains are a good choice if you are looking for longevity. Avoid the latest fads where possible. For my usage weight savings is secondary to overall durability.<p><a href="https://www.sheldonbrown.com/internal-gears.html" rel="nofollow">https://www.sheldonbrown.com/internal-gears.html</a>
Bicycle shaped objects[1] should just be banned.<p>They're a major contributor to the reason that people think that cycling is some sort of sweaty uncomfortable grimness, because they're sold some sort of double-suspension chinesium thing that barely even moves before it breaks a few months later.<p>Literally everyone who rides these, you introduce them to a 300 quid hybrid or road bike and they're dumbfounded by how smooth the experience is.<p>[1]<a href="https://www.thecyclingexperts.co.uk/get-cycling/buying-a-bike/the-bicycle-shaped-object/" rel="nofollow">https://www.thecyclingexperts.co.uk/get-cycling/buying-a-bik...</a>
I am all for reparability, but personally I don't want to go back to some of the ways things were done 30-40 years ago and bikes are still great for the environment compared to the alternatives. My old car which I purchased used and had for 17 years is equal in weight to about 150 bicycles!<p>It's true that modern cycling uses more disposable assemblies than in the past, but I've never had any problems finding parts to repair old bikes. I recently restored a 90's flat-bar mountain bike for a friend of mine. It had an integrated brake/shifter lever that I replaced with generic 3x7 shifters. Most flat-bar bikes with Shimano-compatible drive trains use Shimano index shifting (SIS) for both the front and rear derailleurs. The drive trains on bikes with higher-end drive trains are serviceable. Even when a part is not designed to be serviceable, there are often ways to service it. RJ the Bike Guy on YouTube does this a lot.<p>All that said, the market is headed towards single-derailleur drive trains with a large cassette on the back. It's a change in technology. It simplifies the operation and maintenance of the bike. I prefer it. So, I may upgrade by road bike with a 3x7 drivetrain to a 1x12 drivetrain at some point in the future. I am sure tech will continue to improve so there will probably other upgrades I'll want to make in the future too.<p>The amount of waste generated by these upgrades and part-swaps is inconsequential in the grand scheme of things.
Shared bikes should be at the top because they will actually be ridden for that 15K or 50K miles, whereas a personal bike gets no where near that mileage.
I'm surprised there aren't greater economies of scale for bicycles, especially bikeshare bikes. A rough approximation... Bikes are almost 3 times more expensive per pound than cars while being much simpler.<p>A citibike weighs 45 lbs, costs $1000 which equals $22/lb<p>A Toyota Corolla weighs 2950 lbs, costs $20,000 which equals $7/lb<p>I would think that we could have quality bikes for $500-$800, and high end bikes for $1000-$2000. Citibikes might be cheaper because they are contract manufactured for motivate, lower economies of scale, but probably cutting out a distributor/bike shop middleman.
As people noted in previous thread about it being invalid on thru-axle measurements, it's also invalid on cross-compatibility. All shimano road drivetrain components are cross compatible if they share the amount of gears <a href="https://productinfo.shimano.com/#/com?cid=C-453&acid=C-455" rel="nofollow">https://productinfo.shimano.com/#/com?cid=C-453&acid=C-455</a>. I can replace components on my 2015 11 speed shimano with ones from this year if they are also 11 speed.
I do think that old bikes are generally just better.<p>I'm finally on a modern road/commuter bike, after two decades of only ever being on 19070s/80s steel road bikes, and it's just not as good. I paid more than three times as much for it, it's heavier, and it's harder to maintain, what with things like pneumatic disc brakes.<p>When this one finally goes, I'll go back to craigslist like I always did and pick myself up an old road bike for $200.
From a day or two ago:<p><a href="https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=34968743" rel="nofollow">https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=34968743</a>
Shimano Cues was recently announced and might help with some of the compatibility issues moving forward.
<a href="https://bike.shimano.com/en-US/product/component/cues.html" rel="nofollow">https://bike.shimano.com/en-US/product/component/cues.html</a>