Greener bikes

[Yellow Fang]

Saw this in the Guardian yesterday (link). Nice looking bikes, but what do you think? Are they being a bit holier than thou? Is cycle manufacture in the far east really that environmentally damaging. Isn't it a bit depressing they can't find British craftsmen capable of brazing bicycle frames any more.

 

[Davidc]

No more or less environmentally damaging than anything else manufactured on the other side of the world.

Some bikes may be air-freighted to us but I'd be surprised if most don't arrive at Felixstowe, Immingham or similar in a sea freighted container.

Of course we could braze together bike frames - we do - it just costs much more than TIG welding. We could make carbon fibre frames here, but it costs more. It's us, the buyers of bikes, who push for low prices and at present that means far-eastern manufacture.

The economics of manufacturing remotely and shipping goods thousands of miles isn't going to change soon, and the natural environment and its resources will go on being accounted for as of no value for a long time yet, so don't expect the situation to change, it's a capitalist world and it's going to stay that way.

 

[Flying_Monkey]

The author has already admitted that he was wrong about the air-freight issue (and it is just a bike blog-post by the way, not an article in the main newspaper). Seems to me that most of the response to this post onthe Guardian site are either anti-cycling trolls or people who haven't got anything good to say about anything. The company seems to be making an effort, they have a sound philosophy, and they have identified a market. That market may or may not be you or me, but that's no reason to start sneering as so many comments do, and I hope we don't even start being so completely and inanely negative here.

 

[Yellow Fang]

I've almost given up reading the comments posted on newspaper sites. They rarely add anything. They are either wry bon mots or cynical rants.

I must say, I like some of the lug work on those frames.

 

[661-Pete]

I take it, these guys are not connected with De Rosa in any way - or are they? Nice looking frames but a niche market.