Two Things

Twisted and scarred spokes .

I've been dealing with some backlash from heat related riding over the past week and so riding has been on the down-low. Urban riding, mostly here, just to stay fit. So, I've no "Country Views" to share today, but a couple of things on my bench motivated me to write another "Two Things" post for your consideration today.

#1: Since I've taken the job at the Cedar Valley Bicycle Collective, repairs have been predictably similar in nature. I don't see a lot of things on my stand that I used to see on a regular basis. That's why when two identical wheel issues cropped up within days of each other, it made an impression on me. 

I should note that these were both off the clock, non-CVBC deals. I do get the occasional ask from friends and acquaintances for help with repairs, and this is what these two things were about. Both were related to over-shifted chains and damage to spokes as a result. I like wheel repairs, so these were nice diversions from replacing bottom brackets and stringing new cables and housings. 

I also like that I have bicycle mechanic friends and that I am able to lean on them from time to time for advice. This time I went to wheel builder Ben Witt, who is the owner of Heath Creek Cycles . He sent me in the right direction on one of my repairs and he can certainly build you a great wheel set. Check him out if you are in the market for a nice custom set of wheels. 

The other job was a much more straight forward deal and so I completed that one on my own. Now with both jobs done, who knows when I'll be breaking out the wheel tools again? But it's nice to know that I have the capability to help out friends and acquaintances when they are in need. 

Can we stop putting hardware in plastic?

#2: So, the other thing I noted was something I saw when cleaning up my bench a bit. Plastic bags, bits of shredded plastic bags, and just plastic in general. Can we, as bicycle folk, ask that brands and manufacturers quit using plastic to put their hardware bits in? 

I think we should.

The bicycle industry is a supposed "green" industry, focusing on human powered, non-fossil-fueled transportation and recreation.  The bicycle businesses have made a big deal in some cases about using less plastic in packing bicycles going to shops, but there still are all these itty-bitty plastic baggie, heat sealed packages that are ubiquitous throughout, not only the complete bicycle packaging, but within brands selling accessories as well. 

I wager that tons of these plastic baggies get thrown in the trash on a daily basis. That's criminal and totally unnecessary. I suggest we go to old-school paper envelope type hardware packaging that used to be common 60-70 years ago. Paper is easily recyclable, environmentally friendly (compared to plastic) and could easily be implemented tomorrow in our cycling world. 

So, a challenge to all bicycle businesses- Ditch plastic baggies, use paper, make our world better.

And that's "Two Things" for your Monday.