London Calling

I’m going to move away from mountain bikes a bit on this so I hope you’ll bear with me on this. The other day I was reading one of my favorite news feeds, the Guardian UK and I ran across an interesting article about a bike company called Racer Rosa in London England.  While the foggy streets of London is a world away from sun-baked mountain bike trails of California the issues concerning the impact of off shore manufacturing cuts across national boundaries. Where the bike is made does effect not only on the people who make the bikes (due to lax environmental and labor oversights in the countries where the majority of most mass produced bikes are made) but the health of the industry too.

While crude oil prices have momentarily it’s simply a matter of time before they go back up . When the price of crude creeps back up that will again affect the prices of every aspect of bicycle manufacturing and distribution.

Diego Lombardi, co-owner of Racer Rosa, decided to take a different tract, a “green” tract as it were.

Recently I conducted a quick email interview with Diego of the London based bike shop and company.  Throughout the interview I’ll be asking Diego questions as “AH” and Diego will be answering questions simply as “D”. Enjoy.

AH: Why do you think larger bike manufactures don’t elect to follow a low impact model? Do you think it’s a matter of scale or priorities?

D: That is a hard question, obviously they are driven by the need to make a profit and the matter of scale plays a big part in this but I feel that there is a real inertia within the bike industry – they are happy to use the ‘green image’ of cycling as a carbon free form of transport – but they don’t really take environmental issues seriously.  In this respect they are really out of step with the cyclists I know.

When I started out with my business I knew that I would probably have to sacrifice profit margins for the sake of staying low impact. I’ve taken it as a challenge.

AH: What did you find was the hardest part about trying to establish a low impact bicycle company?

D: A lot was hard! It was particularly difficult to find companies that still produced good quality parts components in the EU, but it was even harder to try and find out whether they did or not – trying to get that sort of information from some bike companies was like getting blood out of stone.

AH: How many people work at Racer Rosa and what is the background of Racer Rosa’s backgrounds?

D: It’s three full time, two part-time freelancers, various backgrounds, graphic design, advertising, TV production, media and literature but we all have one thing in common; cycling.

AH: Where else does a low carbon footprint lifestyle impact your life?

D: A little bit everywhere in our lifestyle. We try to buy second hand, eg our telephone, computers and furniture in our bicycle studio are second hand. We are vegetarians and buy at local markets rather than Tesco or similar. We try not to fly too often.  We are far from perfect, but we try.

Saying that, we’re far from being ‘fascist’ about it.  We are not here to preach to others about their lifestyle, we just want to provide an alternative in the bike market.  People may say that we are niche or ‘greenwash’ and of course people can look at what we offer and make up their own minds – but they can’t argue that it is a bad thing to have more choice – we’re all for freedom of choice in a free market, aren’t we?

AH: Racer Rosa has made a conscious decision to try to take advantage of European made parts (Columbus tubing, Selle San Marco saddles, Deda Elementi components) do you plan on importing any American made bicycle components?

D: Obviously we favour European made parts – it keeps the carbon footprint smaller, but yes, as long as products are made in a democratic country with a good level of environment regulation and working conditions,  from companies that don’t choose to outsource their production to take advantage of cheap labour, we will consider buying their products.

People who think the big established EU and US companies have chosen to move their productions over to Taiwan because of Taiwan’s “huge investment in technology” are people who perhaps don’t want to see the truth … we all know about cheap- labour, don’t we?

AH:  What does a “green” business model mean to you?

D:  In general it means to step back a little and try to return to a more localized, artisan approach to produce things.

In particular, it means starting to generate a demand. There is obviously no short-term solution, this is the beginning… perhaps in 100 years (hopefully a little earlier) companies will start to do things differently, because in the end the demand has changed.

AH:  What tips do you have for any bike shop that may want to adopt a sustainable or “green” business model?

D: Well, no tips at all really – we are not about preaching or trying to make other people feel guilty about their behaviour.  We are just trying to offer an alternative, it may not be suitable for everyone, but it’s an alternative.  So I guess if you pressed me for a tip – I would say do it because you think that you have something else to offer that you think is better – not because you think you ought to… and never lose sight of the fact that quality is equally important.

AH:    Do you see Racer Rosa expanding into geared or internally geared hub bikes?

D: Definitely yes to gears, we already produce touring bikes with gears and mudguards and men’s and women’s cruisers with gears and mudguards… we’re unlikely to use internal hubs though.

AH: What do you think the future of Racer Rosa is?

D: We’re happy with the current set-up (small, hidden away, artisan studio). If we do grow we’d like to find a small shop front in a London high street, but will keep the local, small business identity.  Hopefully using more localized resources, like local frame builders. We have already just found a local artisan making headbadges by hand etching…. yes, expensive but viable.

AH: Is there anything else you would like to add?

D: Yes, three points to address some recent criticism:

1. Someone pointed out that mass produced bikes have less carbon impact per unit than hand-made cycles but I don’t think it is that simple. It depends on what environmental regulations that factory has and, importantly, what age-span they have in mind for their bikes.

It is very hard to find out the truth (and from an ethical point of view it depends on how much the people are paid in that factory, and their working conditions).

Also, carbon impact wise, do we want to compare the emissions of thousand and thousands of bikes mass-produced in factories, with those from any artisan who makes one or two frames a day? There is a place in the market for mass-produced bikes; it’s just that mass production could also be more ethical.

2. Cost wise, our approach is obviously more expensive than mass-produced bicycles and perhaps not accessible to everyone, but there are many people like us who are happy to spend a little more for a bespoke and artisan service. Our profit margin is very little and we’re happy with scraping by every month, because at least we’re lucky enough to make our passion our profession.

3. We have never stated that there is none of our parts is in the far east  fitted on our bikes, in fact we say on the profile page on our website that  the 100% ethical bike is still a dream.  Of course if there is no alternative in the market of parts made in EU or US, we have to go for those made in the far-east.  There is no conflict there. Like it or not, we’re trying to generate a demand as utopian as that may be.

For further reading please check out http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/green-living-blog/2010/aug/24/racer-rosa-bicycles-bike and http://www.racerrosabicycles.co.uk/index.php.

Adam H

I had quite a bit of my faith in mountain biking restored this weekend. My extended family had a family reunion and the party took place near a popular riding area up in Marin.

My wife had sprained her ankle about a month-and-half ago and as a result has missed a lot of riding opportunities but she had decided that now was as good as time as any to hit the dirt.

Also my brother came down from Sonoma County to get some dirt time. We don’t get to ride together as much as we want largely because of conflicting schedules and budgetary constraints.

As luck would have it there was a break in the dismal weather we’ve been having. With a light breeze and high clouds my brother and I couldn’t wait to hit the dirt.  My wife, however, decided to take a more leisurely approach and volunteered to act as “native guide” for some of the less experienced riders. After a brief discussion we all decided that it would break into two groups and meet up later.

With much anticipation my brother and I were off and running and no sooner as we were on our way than we stumbled across a rider who was having a mechanical problem. Apparently he had broken his chain and while he had another rider helping him the guy with the chain breaker installed the chain incorrectly and had missed wrapping the chain around the upper jockey pulley.  While the Good Samaritan’s intentions were well meaning he as hampered by the fact that his own chain tool was broken so I volunteered to help.

Even in ideal conditions trailside repairs almost always take a bit longer than if you were working in a well-lit shop with every tool you need.  After fumbling around with a dirty chain and dodgy pocket tool I’m finally able to piece together the riders chain, and do a quick check to see if there was anything else amiss.

In the middle of my repair group after group of riders stopped and asked if they could be of any assistance.  Every one was friendly and helpful and eventually as more and more riders stopped things became an ad hoc trailside party. Riders talked about their rides, checked out what other bikers were riding, compared multi tools, and generally had a good time.

With the repair complete people shook hands and went on their merry ways.

Now that seen has been repeated countless times on innumerable trails with a nearly infinite number of riders lately I’ve been struck by how rare that seems. I’ve been riding mountain bikes for a while. Not as long as some, mind you, so no one is ever going to say that during the Paleolithic period of mountain biking there was Joe, Gary, the two Charlies, and this guy…. But I’ve been riding long enough to see a lot of changes in the sport, and not all of them for the better.

One of the biggest changes I had seen, besides the obvious technical advancements, has been a shift in attitude; riders are less friendly to one another.

I’m not sure what made that happen. Maybe, like surfing, there’s an increasing sense of “locals only” or perhaps there’s a bias that’s crept into things as the sport has become more segmented into increasingly smaller sub-genres especially as the cost of even mid-range bikes have dramatically increased over the years.

Does each sub-genre view each micro-niche with suspicion?  Are we so wrapped up in our own singular pursuits that it makes dialog between groups impossible? Can common ground be established between ultra fit cross-country mileage hogs and death defying big hit speed junkies? Personally I think it’s a non-issue because stripped of all the superficial differences mountain bikes are mountain bikes.

While I can understand wanting to be protective of one’s own neighboring trails; especially ones that are sensitive to over use, I get it but we’ve all been newbies, we’ve all broken down, we’ve all been lost and we’ve all needed a hand at some point.  In the words of Eek the Cat,  “It never hurts to help”.

Which brings me to the next encounter my brother and I had during our ride. At the trail’s half-way-point there’s a porta potty, a good place to shed some extra weight and refuel … just not in the same facility.

Any way we were cooling our jets and a group of three riders came up, a guy and two gals. By the way they were looking at the park’s map they looked pretty lost. My brother asked them if they needed any help and guy said that he was trying to make a more complete loop of the park. The new rider said he was from out of town and wasn’t really familiar with the trails in the park.

Being the helpful guy that he is my brother outlined a route with his finger on the park’s map and despite his best efforts the rider said that he was still a little vague concerning the instructions.

After a brief discussion between my brother and I we decided to augment our all ready nebulous plans and act as local guides and the out-of-towner said he’d be willing to tag along.

In the mean time my wife had was able to wrangle her posy together with her cousin dragging a younger relationship behind a trail-a-bike and one slightly older child who were comparatively more self-propelled.

It’s a good bet that this may had been one of the first times that any of my wife’s extended family had hit this stretch of dirt and she was determined to make sure they had a positive experience. She’s thoughtful that way.

After a fair amount of climbing, followed by some more climbing and even more climbing still we eventually got on top of a rise that offered and unreasonably scenic view of the San Francisco Bay.  At this point the trail split into several directions, one “legal” and the other of, um… Questionable legal status…  I told the out-of-towner that due to the inherent risks of riding on a trail of questionable legal status during a high use period that it was best to bypass that trail entirely.

Pointing our bikes downwards we head towards the road more traveled and eventually looped back around where the two gals were waiting for our return near the porta potty. The out of towner shook our hands and thanked my brother and I for showing him the loop and let us know that there wouldn’t have been any way he would have found his way around the trails without our help.

And isn’t that what mountain biking all about? If we’re supposed to be a community we need to act like one.  Perhaps we simply need a little more “Aloha Spirit”.

Shaka brah

Adam H

Charlie’s Green Machine 1982

This weekend I was reminded of my slovenly, nay, negligent bicycle maintenance schedule. I thought I was on top of things but apparently I wasn’t. For one thing I firmly believe that you should change out your bike’s chain on a regular basis and, depending on the conditions and frequency of use that can be upwards to replacing your chain three times a year.

Now, that may seem somewhat excessive but chains are in expensive in comparison to a full compliment of chainrings and an upper end cassette.

There are many methods and tools that are available http://www.mountain-bike-buzz.com/mountain-bike-chain.html http://www.rohloff.de/en/products/caliber_2/index.html but if you are still confused please consult a trusted bike shop.

I was supposed to meet a couple of buddies for a ride down in Santa Cruz this weekend and my chain was getting a bit long in the tooth.  So I figured it was time to lie my current chain to rest and install a new one.

What I didn’t account for was a favored chain ring that had become notched by use. “Snort. How can it be used? It’s only been on the bike for three years and I swap out my chain on a regular basis. Sir, I cry foul”.

Well, after numerous hours of being subjected to stress, contamination, crashes, mistimed shifts, more stress, stuff just wears out.

Now that I’m faced with the inevitable I can’t help but think should I replace my drive train with self same chain rings and cassette or should I modify my setup and adopt one of the numerous “alternative “ drive train setups.

Obviously the multi chain ring set up has been around for quite some time now but if you spend enough time looking at archival mountain bike photos there are examples of single speeds, single chain ring setups with wide range freewheels http://www.cunninghambikes.com/bicycles/12.html and even just double chainring setups. Each has their advantages and disadvantages but what I find compelling about some of the newer iterations of the single chainring and double chainring setups is their simplicity and improved log and rock clearance.  Right now my large chainring largely serves as a bash guard and I seldom move my chain into it save for increasing my derailleur’s spring tension for downhill sections – even if I immediately switch it again to the mid ring as things start to go up hill again.

I’m attached to the triple idea but it’s more out of nostalgia rather than for any practical purposes. Both Shimano and Sram are going to be launching high-end double mountain cranksets with ten-speed cassettes. Tom Ritchey had been a pioneer in alternative mountain bike drivetrain setups first with his own 2×9 in 1996 and later with a 2×10 in 1999  http://www.retrobike.co.uk/?p=100 . Granted, Ritchey’s setups were geared towards ultra fit racing studs but it goes to show how ahead of the curve he was.

That does it  for the history lesson… I’ve decided to ditch my large chain ring. It’s not that I don’t like pushing the outside limit of my skills but for technical trail riding it’s about as useful as a screen door on a submarine.

I’m looking forward to lessening my impact on the trails because let’s face it, a large chainring scar on a tree stump is pretty ugly.

So that’s why I’m burning my large chain ring.

Adam H