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Common and Uncommon Failures

February 2, 2010 by tradtimbo

Part of being a sustainable bicycle component is having a long life span, or at least having a long life span worked into the design. Failure analysis is an important aspect of the design process in order to gain long life span. For parts or components that undergo load, a good design process usually involves failure analysis after the testing phase. A lot of this happens in the bicycle industry. Many bicycle and component manufactures have an entire branch of their company that tests their product to a point of failure, learns from that failure, and works that knowledge into the continued design. If the company does not have a testing department, they contract the testing out to a third party such as EFBe. Another important reason that frames and components are tested is to make sure they meet certain safety standards, or performance standards. This kind of testing usually doesn’t lead to failure.

Cycling is a good place to find failures after the product has hit the shelves. The reason for this is that the weight of the final product is an important design parameter. So important that vast amounts of research go into removing mere grams off of components. Jobst Brandt said it well: “Parts which give reliable service are often considered “overbuilt” and are redesigned to save a few grams.” Unfortunately other design parameters are sacrificed to obtain desired weight. These can include ultimate strength, fatigue strength, and lifespan. Visit Jobst’s article Some Bike Failures to see more photos of failures and some more discussion as to the reason why bike parts fail.

Failures are seen on just about every part of a bicycle,  but one of the most common failures that I see on a regular basis as a mechanic is pitting of bearing races such as this one:

Pitting on a axle cone

This pitting can happen when abrasives contaminate the grease surrounding the ball bearing and race. Put simply, a ball bearing is sandwiched in between two smooth surfaces that are parallel to each other. These surfaces are called “races”. Since it is almost impossible to get the two races perfectly parallel, the ball bearing is always a little bit closer to the races at a single point in its rotation around the surfaces. The space between the ball and race is filled with grease, so when this grease is contaminated with abrasives, the abrasives get compressed against the race and the ball at the point in the rotation where the ball is closest to the race. When this squeeze happens under load, with thousands, upon thousands of rotations, it causes the pitting you see in the picture. This is a common failure and is the result of poor maintenance and poor bearing adjustment. With proper maintenance and adjustment, bearing systems of this type will last longer than their modern brethren.

Modern bearing systems are usually sealed. This means that the two races and ball bearings come in a neat adjustment-free package that just needs to be pressed and seated into a recess, like this:

You can see two metal rings. These are the races. The balls are under that blue piece of plastic. When these types of bearings get contaminated and go bad, you remove them, throw them in the recycle bin, and put in new ones. To maximize their life span they must be installed correctly (parallel and seated), and carefully wiped clean every now and then. You want to be careful as to not push contaminants beyond the plastic seal.

Once in awhile I’m blessed with an uncommon failure. Recently I was working on a Masi Gran Criterium that was upgraded in 1985 to full Campagnolo Super Record components. The rear derailer (1984 Super Record) had a small crack in its outer cage:

Cracked SR outer cage

This is a strange spot for a crack failure since this part of a bike is under minimal load. Since the crack lies at the back of the cage, then the maximum load scenario would be when the chain is in the big-big combo. This would place the tension spring at its maximum potential to compensate for the lack of slack in the chain. In other words, the derailer would look like this:

Big-Big Combo - Tension spring at maximum

When the derailer is in this position, the tension spring is counteracting the chain by trying to pull the tension pulley back to its neutral position. This puts tension on the back surface of the pulley cages. If you have trouble visualizing this, imagine the bottom surface of a beam under load. This surface is in tension while the top surface is in compression. In this scenario the back of the cage is in tension and the front of the cage is in compression.

Now, I don’t think that this is the only factor that caused the failure. In the picture of the cracked cage, you see a nut recessed into the cage where the spring cage bolt screws into. When the bolt is tight up againast that nut then there is a portion of the cage that gets compressed. The cage material is a very lightweight aluminum alloy, and when compressed with a recessed nut that has 90 degree angles for edges it will develop microscopic cracks. Points like this are called stress risers. To get a better look, I pulled the cage apart at the crack:

Notice the nut seat has a 90deg angle at the compression point.

The thin part of metal that is below the nut seat in the above picture is compressed when the derailer is in use. The angle between this section of material and the non-compressed material is around 90 degrees. At the vertex of that angle, the compressed material is being pulled away from the non-compressed material forming a high stress point which, over time, will develop microscopic cracks, especially in lightweight aluminum alloy.

Add one more factor to the mix, and it all becomes clear. Material flaw. There is a good chance that this part may have had a flaw on its back outersurface, such as impurity or void. I didn’t see any evidence of one, but I don’t have a scanning electron microscope at my disposal, so I may never know. It is, however, likely.

Design flaw, material flaw, and one too many times in the big-big combo sent this derailer cage to the graveyard. The problem is I don’t know the history of the bike, the rider, or when the crack developed (my customer just bought the bike), so I don’t know if it had a long life or not. I do know one thing. The bike it was on did not get ridden all that much. This crack may have developed in 1985 for all we know.

Posted in Tech Talk | Tagged , , , , , , , , , | 1 Comment »

Bike Magazine Sees the Light

January 25, 2010 by tradtimbo

A reader posted a comment on my rant about Bicycle Magazine’s transparent attempt at greenwashing that included a link to an article written by Chris Lesser at Bike Magazine. Maybe he saw what Bicycle had to say on the subject and got as angry as I did. Chris focuses his article on the most popular bicycle material, aluminum. He goes into detail about the manufacturing process and the effects it has on the environment. There are some great pictures as well. He also highlights some of the companies that are doing their part, and others that clearly are not. I hope Bicycling Magazine sees this and decides to try again. Articles like this are an important step into getting cyclists everywhere to consider the environment when purchasing bicycles and bicycle products. Way to go Chris! Keep up the good work!

shades_of_green by Chris Lesser

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Interview with Nick Frey, Owner of Boo Bicycles

January 19, 2010 by tradtimbo

People have been using bamboo as a material for bike frames for quite some time. There were even companies selling bamboo bicycles around the turn of the century:

1897 Advertisement

These guys were on to something! Bamboo bikes are back and they’re better than ever! A lot better. These days, high-end bamboo bicycles are successfully competing against their carbon fiber brethren in races as well as in the showroom. Think of the time and money mankind has spent trying to engineer the perfect material for a bicycle when, all along, mother nature was growing it in her garden! With a little bit of inspiration, engineering prowess and strive for excellence, Nick Frey, owner of Boo Bicycles, is showing us exactly what bamboo is capable of. Like many of the great names in bicycle brands, Nick is also is a professional racer. He races for Team Jamis Sutter Home. Want more? He holds a degree in Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering! Can you guess what one of his design projects was?

To keep track of what Nick is up to you can visit him at nfrey.blogspot.com. He took some time out of his busy schedule to talk The Sustainable Cyclist about bamboo and the bicycles his company is producing.

 

(The Sustainable Cyclist): Would you tell me a little about your background and what sparked your interest in bicycle design? What sparked you interest in bamboo?

(Nick Frey): I recently graduated from Princeton and now run Boo Bicycles and race for Jamis Sutter Home, the top professional team in the country.  I have been racing on the road for nine years and have been on some of the most successful teams in the country at all ages, raced in Europe and at the World Championships in Stuttgart in 2007, and am a multiple National Champion.

Boo Bicycles is the evolution of what began as a mechanical engineering design project at Princeton.  Three classmates and I were a part of a very successful project to build a bamboo bicycle, and we were inspired by Craig Calfee and his bamboo creations that we had seen at various trade shows.  We knew Calfee Design could produce a work of art that you could ride, but we wanted to produce a high-performance racing bicycle from bamboo and carbon fiber that would rival titanium and carbon fiber bicycles.

The project was so successful that we started a company to produce them, Sol Cycles, but we all had so many things going on between mechanical engineering courses and starting a company that we were unable to succeed due to lack of time and energy.  However, I knew we were onto something and I could do this after I graduated, so I started a new company called Boo Bicycles.  I do not make the bicycles–they are made by a team of expert craftsmen led by James Wolf in Saigon–but I design, test, market, and sell the bicycles worldwide.  We have formed a very successful relationship.  As a graduate of the Rhode Island School of Design, he has an incredible eye but his quality and attention to detail is unparalleled.  James has over 15 years of experience working with bamboo, designing and building furniture and complete buildings and bars, so he compliments my experience in the cycling world perfectly.

 

(SC): People have been making bicycles out of bamboo in Asia for a hundred years or more. Why do you think this is the case? What is it about bamboo that lends itself to use in a bicycle frame when compared to other types of wood? What about compared to other types of bicycle material such as carbon fiber, aluminum and steel?

(NF): Bamboo is an incredible plant as well as building material.  Here’s this for a quick summary: it is one of the fastest growing plants known to man, it is one of the most efficient means of sequestering carbon dioxide known to man, it is one of the strongest natural materials known to man, it grows back after being cut, and it spreads like a weed.  It is truly one of the world’s most amazing living things, plant or animal.

Bamboo has been used in everything from water wheels to scaffolding for skyscrapers because it is readily available, easy to work with, and very strong and durable.  Use in a bicycle frame is just another application for which it is perfect.  One of the most interesting characteristics is the ability to dampen high frequency vibrations, meaning a stiff and light bicycle frame can also be very comfortable, a property that is unique and very desirable in a bicycle.

 

(SC): Many people these days understand that bamboo is a versatile sustainable resource. It is abundant, grows quickly, and can be made into bicycle frame tubing with little production because, well, it grows as a tube. Where do you see bamboo as a bicycle frame material headed as we get deeper into the 21st century?

(NF): Actually, that’s not entirely true.  Our tubes go through an extensive treatment process over the course of four months to maximize stiffness and durability, and then every tube is drilled out internally to a specific wall thickness to minimize weight and tune the ride characteristics for each frame size.  We preserve the natural finish and shape of the tube rather than using a laminate because we feel Mother Nature has perfected the material, and we only need to massage it to make it into a top-end racing frame.

I see bamboo as the next big frame material.  There was steel for decades, then titanium and aluminum promised lighter weight, higher stiffness, and an improved ride quality (for the former).  Then carbon came along and reduced weight further while maintaining or increasing stiffness, but durability and ride properties often suffered.  It is quite difficult to reduce weight, increase stiffness and durability, and preserve a smooth and lively road feel.  Bamboo is never going to be as light and stiff as carbon, but it is close–and for 99% of riders today, they are not looking for the ultra-stiff race only frame anyway.  The ride quality and handling of bamboo is unmatched, and I feel that Boo is on the forefront of this movement–we make a race-winning bamboo-carbon fiber hybrid bicycle that blends the best aspects of both materials to make a unique and superior product.

 

(SC): Would you like to share some of the work you’ve done (and I’m sure continue to do), on the life span of bamboo frames? From my understanding, over time bamboo will develop longitudinal cracks. Is this preventable? What are some reasonable outlooks on bamboo frame life span when ridden on a daily basis?

(NF): The cracks that bamboo experiences are purely cosmetic when paired with carbon fiber joints.  We have done much structural testing on this, and the bamboo’s strength is not affected by longitudinal splits.  They are the result of a different contraction rate from the inner, younger bamboo material to the denser, older material on the exterior of the tube, so when they are dried during the treatment process, the material naturally wants to split.  We have invested a great deal into preventing splits through tube treatment processes as well as our bamboo source.

We have a ten year warranty on our frames and believe they are far more durable than most carbon fiber frames.  A Boo Bicycle is an investment and we want our customers to be happy for many years and thousands of miles!

 

(SC): Boo Bicycles makes high-end, artisan bicycle frames, but that’s not the end of the road for bamboo. There are programs in Africa that teach people how to make basic bamboo bicycles from their native bamboo plants. Is Boo Bicycles involved with any organizations that provide assistance to poor communities in need of transportation that have easy access to bamboo? If not, do you see Boo bicycles participating in these sorts of activities in the future?

(NF): Boo Bicycles is working with the Bamboo Bicycle Project as a consultant and a potential future partner.  I have personally taught the BBP’s founders some things about bamboo bicycle frame construction and I think they are doing great things in Ghana and have plans to sell low-cost sustainable bamboo bicycles throughout Africa.  It’s a ways off in the future, and Boo will be focusing exclusively on the high-end market for the time being, but a low-cost model is definitely something we envision for the future.

 

(SC): There is a place in New York City where you can go and make your own bicycle from bamboo. There are independent folks sprouting up left and right making their very own frames from bamboo in their back yard. The Sustainable Cyclist even has a research project of its own that involves building one. In a sense, this shows how accessible building frames with bamboo is here in the United States. Soon we may see many more people out there riding homemade bamboo bikes to work, and then hopping on their Boo for that weekend group ride or race. How is the rest of the industry going to react to this, especially the powerhouses like Trek and Specialized? Will they try to come out with a bamboo product line?

(NF): Interestingly the build-your-own-bamboo-bike operation in NYC is run by the very friends of mine working on the Bamboo Bicycle Project.  I think that operations like this are a reflection of the interest in the material, just like there an incredible numbers of individual steel and titanium builders.  It gives us confidence that more and more people will come to accept bamboo as a viable building material for bicycles, and we have focused on building the very BEST bamboo frame on the market.  While it is not very difficult to source bamboo, make a jig, and miter and wrap some tubes to create a frame, it is quite difficult to make a refined product that is stiff, light, responsive, and beautifully finished.  I raced our first bamboo bicycle, a Princeton design project, in the Rutgers Season Opener, but it was not stiff at all, not very light, unimpressively finished, and unrefined.  It has been almost two years since that first bamboo bike was built and it’s been an incredible amount of testing and refinement not possible with the expertise of James Wolf and the racing experience of yours truly.  This is why Boo will be positioned to take advantage of this growing wave of bamboo bicycle design, and also why manufacturers like Trek and Specialized will likely never get into it.  There is too much investment needed to perfect the frames and too much handwork–these will always be handmade, high-end, artisan frames.

 

(SC): Whats next for Boo Bicycles?

(NF): We will be growing our brand at the North American Handmade Bicycle Show, Eurobike, and Interbike in 2010.  We will be building our dealer network to include one top bicycle shop in each major metro area, and I have a network of sales representatives riding and racing Boo around the country, spreading the word.  There will always be a focus on refining and improving our bicycles, bringing out new models, and advancing the product.  For the near future, Boo’s focus is on increasing visibility and sales while maintaining excellent customer service.

 

(SC): In closing, please say anything you’d like about sustainability within the bicycle industry.

(NF): The bicycle industry is fragmented.  There are racers and commuters, freeriders and BMXers.  We need to come together to promote certain causes, and green/sustainable is one.  The entire bicycle industry can benefit from this through improved sales, and while it may not seem that racers and commuters have anything in common, that is simply not true. Many of my racer friends commute to work for training, and many of my racer friends actually STARTED racing after riding more and more when commuting.  It should not be a fragmented or divisive industry because, let’s face it, just riding a bike is green and healthy!  I would like to see, at minimum, at acknowledgment that cyclists are all part of the same family, whether a top professional or a two-mile commuter.

Posted in Interviews | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 3 Comments »

76,000 Dead Americans

December 30, 2009 by tradtimbo

“In the last 15 years, more than 76,000 Americans have been killed while crossing or walking along a street in their community. More than 43,000 Americans – including 3,906 children under 16 – have been killed this decade alone. This is the equivalent of a jumbo jet going down roughly every month, yet it receives nothing like the kind of attention that would surely follow such a disaster.”

This is a sickening thought. As a Civil Engineer I know what goes on behind the scenes during the design of a roadway. Pedestrians and cyclists need to know the facts.

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged , , | 2 Comments »

The Streets of Copenhagen

December 15, 2009 by tradtimbo

A brief look at one of the worlds most cycling friendly cities. You can find a nice article on Streetfilms.

more about “The Streets of Copenhagen“, posted with vodpod

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The Power of Bamboo!

November 13, 2009 by tradtimbo

After researching and writing the article on alternative materials, I knew I needed to write an article dedicated to bamboo.  According to the Book of Bamboo by David Farelly people have been making bicycles from bamboo since at least the late 19th century. Its a natural material for a bicycles since it grows in strong tubes that are relatively straight. It also happens to be lightweight, very strong, and in abundance in many parts of the world. Bamboo takes as little as 3 years to mature for use, and can grow almost anywhere. To make bicycle tubing from raw bamboo you don’t need to do that much. Harvest, cure, and cut to size. All other bicycle tubing material requires some kind of production that involves many more steps than what bamboo requires. The point I’m trying to make is that bamboo could be the most sustainable material to make a bicycle from. There is no mining involved to obtain the raw material, almost no energy is used to produce the tubing, and when grown responsibly bamboo is a source that just keeps on giving!

I’d like to show you some examples of bamboo bicycles that are currently being made. I’ll start off with Craig Calfee. Take a look what Calfee has done with Bamboo. The properties of bamboo make it a competitive material for making high end racing bikes of this very style.

I took it upon myself to do a few simple calculations comparing steel to bamboo. For comparison I used a 4130 steel cross section having an outer diameter of 28.6mm and a wall thickness of 0.6mm. This is a common size for seat tubes and down tubes on road bikes. Using the yield strength of 4130 steel I determined the maximum load this section could bear before yielding in compression or tension. I then took that load and determined what area of bamboo would be strong enough to support it without breaking. 4130 steel has a Yield strength of 63,100 psi, and bamboo has a Ultimate strength of 8,700psi (Janssenn, 1991). The reason I used the yield strength of steel and the ultimate strength of bamboo is because failure is considered when steel yields and when bamboo cracks.

I then took the resulting section of bamboo and tested it against the steel section in bending. I imparted a maximum moment on a simple beam end to obtain the maximum deflection. The maximum moment was determined by the sections geometry, and strength. The maximum deflection was determined from the sections geometry, strength and modulus of elasticity (E). The E of 4130 steel is 30×10^6psi and the E of bamboo is 2.7×10^6psi (Janssenn, 1991).

From that simple structural analysis I determined that a bamboo tube with a length of 24″ having a diameter of 1.5″ (38.1mm) and a wall thickness of 0.15″ (3.8mm) will have the same strength in compression and tension as a 4130 steel tube of the same length and diameter of 28.6mm (1.12″) and wall thickness of o.6mm (0.02″). These two tubes also deflect the same amount when a maximum moment is put on one of the tube ends (see the bending diagram below).

Bending Diagram

Bending Diagram: Simple beam, End Moment

Now, having two tubes of similar axial strength and rigidness, I calculated the weight of each tube. For the density of 4130 steel I used 0.283 lb/cubic inch and for bamboo I used 0.014 lb/cubic inch (Jansenn, 1991). The weight of the steel tube comes out to be 0.56 punds while the weight of the bamboo comes out to be 0.21 pounds. This of course does not include the internodes of the bamboo. The steel tube is over twice the weight! No wonder folks build bikes from this stuff! The next set of calculations I’ll do is to compare how these tubes act in torsion as well as repetitive stress. If you want copies of the calculations I’ve done, just ask. I didn’t want to post them so as not to bore people. Now, how to connect these tubes to get a lightweight, stiff bicycle?

Calfee uses carbon fiber with resin to secure the joints of the bamboo. For the high end bamboo bicycle makers out there, this seems to be the method of choice. Here is a photo from Brano Meres Engineering:

Brano Meres Engineering

There are also folks out there constructing these bikes using natural fiber and resin at the joints such as Bamboo Bike Studio and Evolve Bicycles:

Bamboo Bicycle Studio

The other type of joint I’ve seen out there is by the newest builders to the bamboo scene, Panda Bicycles. The are making bamboo bikes from external steel lugs. Similar to how older steel road bikes (and many new ones too!) are made.

Panda Bicycles

The tubing on the Panda bike is smaller than on the others, and clearly the joints are different. They hope to be a more economical bike than those other fancy ones. Right off the bat, Panda’s tubing is looking slightly thin to me, and I’d worry about stress spots forming along the edges of those lugs, but I think they are on to something. I think there on to making bamboo bikes for everyday people here in America and not just the high end market. Lets get a sustainable material in the mass market for new frames! Bamboo Bike Studio in New York is also on to this idea, except they offer a class for one weekend where you walk away with bicycle in hand for about $1000. Evolve Bicycles also has the right idea offering their pre-built bikes for $800.

Since bamboo grows everywhere, bamboo bikes can be made anywhere. There are organizations like Bamboo Bike Project who have dedicated their cause to showing certain groups in Africa how to make bicycles from their native grass, and now there are groups sprouting up in America showing Americans how they too can make bicycles from bamboo. What an exiting time!

I’ve started my own project revolving around bamboo. Looking at the joining methods currently used, I’m not completely satisfied. I don’t believe the joint needs to be as bulky as the fiber wrapped joints, and I think having steel external lugs on bamboo tubes may present problems in the long run. I’ll try building a frame with another method I’ve devised to see if it is viable. You’ll be able to keep track of the project here at The Sustainable Cyclist.

Posted in Articles | Tagged , , , , | 3 Comments »

Bicycling Magazine, Greenwashing, and Anger!

November 9, 2009 by tradtimbo

I don’t subscribe to Bicycling magazine, so I don’t get to read the editors introductions all too often. It just so happens my grandmother-in-law likes to send me things about bicycles. In the mail today, I got the September issue of Bicycling magazine courtesy of her. Who knows how she got it, but that’s not the point. Loren Mooney, the editor-in-chief of this publication, wrote a letter to the readers entitled “It’s Easy Being Green”. She starts the piece by announcing this issue of Bicycling is the Green issue, even though there is nothing to indicate this on the cover and none of the content is different than usual. She then goes on to say that Bicycling magazine is “Green” every month. Why? well because cycling is green! Thus, her logic is that her magazine is “green” as well. This, ladies and gentlemen is GREENWASHING!!!!

I couldn’t find an online version of this prime example of greenwashing, so I scanned the magazine page.

It's easy being green

It's Easy Being Green by Loren Mooney

She goes on to say that cyclists are more environmentally friendly people. She backs this up with personal anecdotes. So, because Loren grows her own lettuce and buys organic milk, ALL cyclists are more environmentally friendly than the rest of the population. right! Also according to Loren a characteristic of being environmentally friendly is noticing those ugly bottles, cans, and trash on the side of the road as well as breathing, and appreciating fresh air. Gee wiz! according to Loren, all you have to do to be green is ride your bike, enjoy fresh air, and dislike garbage on the side of the road! This may even give you more ideas, like buying local and organic food products. So, after you go on your evening training ride dressed in spandex riding your titanium steed that was just upgraded to Dura-Ace last season, you can sit down to an organic dinner and a copy of Bicycling magazine and know that you’re helping the earth. And just in case your feeling a little guilty about buying a magazine printed on paper every month, Loren assures us that bicycling recently switched to paper stock that use’s “slightly less fiber” and ink that is “vegetable based“. Oh boy, so instead of switching to FSC certified and recycled sources, you decided to uses “slightly less fiber“. Apparently the reduction in the fiber is so small, she had to use the word slightly. I’m not impressed Bicycling magazine, and I hope your readers are smart enough to recognize this poor attempt at greenwashing.

What is greenwashing? Simply put greenwashing is a company’s attempt to jump on the eco-friendly/green/sustainable band wagon without actually doing anything except change their marketing. You can read more on wiki. They want people to think “wow, that Bicycling magazine sure is doing their part to save our fragile planet” when actually, they are doing absolutely nothing. In fact, I could argue that they are doing more to hurt the earth then if Loren never wrote that pathetic piece of marketing crap. How? by the very act of greenwashing! There are legitimate companies out there trying to do their part to be more sustainable and eco-friendly, but when a company partakes in greenwashing, the consumer has a tougher time determining what is a legit green product, and what is not. This pulls attention away from the companies that are actually trying to help our Earth. Companies who greenwash essentially muck things up and it pisses me off!

Bicycling magazine really could do a green issue. They could interview community bicycle shops that work tirelessly to get used bicycles back on the road. They could promote steel bicycles over carbon fiber. They could eliminate their advertisements and articles promoting titanium. They could eliminate car advertisements in the magazine. They could feature articles on Bamboo bicycles and the people who build them. They could print their magazine on 100% post-consumer recycled paper. They could showcase the clothing companies using wool instead of synthetics. They could focus on bicycle commuting over bicycle racing. These things are just a minimal start. I can think of hundreds of things they could do for a green issue!

I’m angry! I’m angry because Loren and Bicycling wrote this piece as a strategic marking move and nothing more. It distorts the view on companies that really do care about the earth and strive to make sure it’s habitable for generations to come. This is just another example of the bicycle industry being way behind.  Just because you ride a bike does not make you “green”. It takes a lot of hard work to live your life in a sustainable way. It is not “easy“. Riding a bike instead of a car for transportation is one way of being more sustainable, but if you drive your car to work everyday and only ride your bike in the evenings and weekends, you’ve done more harm to the earth than if you never bought a bike in the first place. Why? Because in order for you to be a “green” bicycle owner, you have to use it instead of your car, otherwise, your doing more harm than good by purchasing a non-sustainable bike product. Bicycling magazine owes it’s entire community an apology for trying to mislead them.

Posted in Rants and Raves | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , | 9 Comments »

CompetitiveCyclist.com, are they with us?

November 7, 2009 by tradtimbo

If you travel the online world of cycling its hard not to come across Competitive Cyclist. They are the keepers of all things “high end”. This includes repair work as well. As I’ve eluded to before, a common perception among aficionados of the high end, is that if it’s a couple seasons old, its time for some new stuff. I’m not sure where they get this idea. Hmmmm, lets see, it couldn’t be that the major companies in the component industry come out with new products every single year and need their marketing departments to get consumers to buy the new product and ditch their perfectly working older model for the sake of performance? could it? In order to stay competitive with each other, these companies believe they need a new product every year, and they need to convince us that the stuff we already have needs to be upgraded. That way, we buy it, they make a profit, and their sale numbers are better than the competitions. When Campagnolo came out with 11 speed Super Record, I was reminded of that MadTV skit about razors. Now, of course, Shimano has electronic shifting. What’s next? I’m all for innovation, but not for making stuff just for the sake of making stuff.

Here is a bit of evidence that marketing goes a long way to make sure planned obsolescence stays part of their game. Listen to what Andy says about his old group! Its quite clear from this video that the folks over at CC could care less about the sustainability of their products. All they seem to care about is selling top shelf bikes and bits in as large a quantity as possible. You still riding that Ultegra groupo from 2004? Whats wrong with you?

In case you couldn’t hear him, this is what he said: “…and since my Dura-Ace 78oo was a few years old, it was the perfect time for me to shop for new components…”

So, if your components are a few years old, you better hop right on over to CC and pick up yourself some brand new components that will be ready for ditching in just a few years time! What a deal!

I’m ashamed this sort of marketing goes on in the cycling industry. Why not sell a product that is ethically sourced, will last forever, is completely serviceable, performs well, and is as innovative as I need it to be. I would pay a little more for that!!!! To boost sales, the companies could invest in lobbying in order to pass laws that make our streets more cycling friendly. They could also invest in advocacy programs and community bike shops that strive to get folks riding bikes. This would mean more people riding bikes, thus more customers for them to sell their goods too. As of now, they focus their attention on the top shelf riders, and count on all the other riders to keep upgrading, because maybe, just maybe, that 11th cog will get you that Cat 1 status you’ve been dreaming about.

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Mars Hill College Cycling Team

November 5, 2009 by tradtimbo

Another team doing it right! Here is quote from head coach Hugh Moran:

“So my thinking went something like this: if the bicycle is the ultimate ecological vehicle, then couldn’t the cycling team be the perfect promotional vehicle for the college’s “green” initiatives and its partners in the effort?”
Good idea Hugh! Things like this make us at The Sustainable Cyclist a bit more hopeful. You can read about the team at usacycling.org.

Go Mars Hill!

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Sustainable Cycling: The Racing Team!!!

October 28, 2009 by tradtimbo

Every now and then I stick the words Sustainable and Cyclist in Google to see what comes up besides this site. Today, Sustainable Cycling popped up! This is a race team out of Indiana that had 14 wins this past season! It makes me very happy to see these guys doing their part. Maybe I can convince them to buy a fleet of used steel bikes for their next race, or maybe wool jerseys! One step at a time. Here is a quote from their mission page:

“Sustainable Cycling will strive to be the most dominant amateur cycling team in the state of Indiana. Our program will focus on developing our elite riders into the most competitive, cohesive category 3 cycling team centered around sportsmanship and teamwork.

Sustainable Cycling will not only strive to advance the sport of cycling, but we will also promote environmental sustainability through our carbon-neutral initiative and local environmental projects. We will set a positive image for fellow cyclists by identifying constructive ways to influence our environmental surroundings.

Sustainable Cycling will uphold the obligations to our sponsors by acting as “live” marketing tools to spread brand awareness during training and racing events. We will maintain close ties with sponsors to ultimately help them achieve their goals through this venture.”

I really do hope these guys continue to win. It brings awareness to the fact that the cycling industry has a long way to go. If I lived in Indiana, I would be at the first 2010 race to meet these guys. If you do live in Indiana and want to cover this team for the The Sustainable Cyclist in the 2010 season, please Contact Us. For now, I’ll give them a link and try to check in every now and then. Go Sustainable Cyclist!!!

Here is their logo:

Sustainable Cycling

Sustainable Cycling Race Team

 

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