Ideas for greater Sustainability

September 19, 2021

Cycling seems like a sustainable sport. After all the act of cycling itself doesn’t produce any emissions or clog up traffic, so it must be Green; mustn’t it..? Well, due to some great initiatives by some of the cycling industry media we are getting more information about the dirty underbelly of the cycling industry, and it seems it may not be as Green as most of us think. But we believe there are things that we can all do to make our beautiful sport even Greener..

We have asked our suppliers as well as our pro and enthusiast community to get involved and here are some of their top tips.

Recycle – Re-use

Did you know that you can repair punctures in your tyres tubes!

For some reason it became uncool to repair our tubes (for those of us that are still using tubes that is) but we believe it is un-cool not to repair your tubes! There are some great little repair kits available that don’t even require glue so we suggest that you get with the cool kids and start repairing those tubes. Once you have repaired the tube as much as is safe then don’t forget to recycle.

And did you know that cleaning your drive-train and lubing your chain can significantly extend the life of your chain and cassette. Follow this link to read more in a great article written by Dave Rome from Cyclingtips.

Repair carbon bikes

We all know that Carbon is really strong in one direction and not so strong in other directions, consequently our carbon bikes can break when we crash. The good news is that carbon can be repaired and restored. We first experienced this when our sponsored team competed in a race in China in 2014 when one of our team members crashed and with no spare bikes our lead rider looked like he would be out of the race! One of the other team managers (who was a carbon expert) stepped up and said, don’t worry, I will repair the bike for you and long story short he repaired the bike and we were back in the race! Check out this video from GCN about carbon bike repairs

Purchase kit made from recycled fabrics

Synthetic recycling is advancing at a rapid pace with new tech in a number of different sectors. At present the most stable solutions are pre-consumer recycled fabrics and many of the leading Italian fabric suppliers are now providing these products as part of their ranges. So, look out for kit made with recycled fabrics from reputable manufacturers and you will be pleasantly surprised by the quality and you will be doing a good deed for the environment.

Resist fast fashion trends

Lets face it, in many parts of the world, particularly with road cycling, every ride has become a fashion parade. Don’t get the wrong idea, we are all for looking great on the bike. It only becomes a problem when brands are introducing new colourways almost every month so that the jersey you saved up for and purchased a month ago is now out of fashion because your favourite brand has completely changed the colours they are promoting.

A good jersey should last for years which is why we maintain our colourways for a 2 year cycle and we evolve our colours so that you are always in fashion, even if your jerseys is 4 or more years old.

ISO standards

Many cycling brands have global supply chains, so it is hard for consumers to know where their products are made or what impact these brands are having on our planets sustainability. In our view, fancy environmental statements are all fine but they are just sentiments and as consumers we need to demand more than good intentions. The best way around that is to only purchase products that comply with international standards; that way you know the products you are wearing are positively contributing to making our planet a greener and cleaner place for us all to live. So be on the lookout for the certification not the sentiment!