Quite interesting:
https://www.theguardian.com/environment/bike-blog/2016/oct/21/islabikes-radical-new-plan-means-you-may-never-need-to-buy-your-child-a-bike-again
CityCyclingEdinburgh Forum » Cycling News
Islabikes recycling scheme
(19 posts)-
Posted 7 years ago #
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Hard to know where I stand on this one. Definitely room in the market for it, but would I use it myself.
Their pricing model would decide whether it would extend the customer demographic at all.
Posted 7 years ago # -
I'm glad someone in the bike industry is thinking about these things, and I'm glad Isla is doing some of the thinking.
She pretty much reinvented the kids bike by starting with the basic idea that they shouldn't be as heavy as some adult bikes!
"
This idea is – has to be – far bigger than just Islabikes; bigger than the bicycle industry itself. It’s a new, collaborative way of doing business, and it won’t work unless everyone comes onboard. Islabikes are consciously setting themselves up as evangelists for this new system.
“What we’re doing is embarking on a journey to find out how to do this,” explains Rowntree. She has five full-time members of staff working on the Imagine Project. As yet, no other bike companies have adopted this new sustainable model, but several component companies are on board, including Reynolds, who have developed prototype tube sets for the new bikes.
...
This is truly a sharing economy – where all parties benefit the more they collaborate. And it has to happen soon, insists Rowntree. The cost of raw materials is set to rise steeply in the next few years.
“So that might mean that at some point in the future a bike that I sell for £300 might be £1,000 – or £2,000, or £4,000. And at that point it’s not accessible for most families to buy – so children don’t ride bikes any more, because nobody can afford them.”
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Well yes and no.
If prices of raw materials and manufacturing go up that much it won't just be bikes that are 'too expensive'!
'Renting' bikes might suit some people - I assume a large proportion of cars are leased(?)
There's also merit in 'send it back to the manufacturer for refurbishing' and improving 'design for ease of recycling'.
In practice Islabikes are much recycled/reowned via eBay. This is because the bike and brand quality mean that they retain good resale value. Not true of many bikes (though realistically most kids bikes don't many miles.)
Posted 7 years ago # -
I've just recycled an Islabike, in the sense that it's already helped teach three wee boys to balance a bike, and, now that the little bike is mine (to give for Christmas), I'm hoping it'll be enjoyed by a fourth wee boy.
Posted 7 years ago # -
"
Swedish retail giant H&M seems an unlikely poster child for ecological living.
The High Street group, which owns brands including Monki and Cos and has more than 4,000 shops across the world, is one of the best known proponents of fast fashion.
It's a cheap and reliable source of trendy clothes which can be discarded as soon as another trend comes in.
Yet it has pledged to become "100% circular", ultimately using only recycled or other sustainable materials to make its clothes.
"
Posted 7 years ago # -
More on the Islabike project - rice pedals anyone? http://www.cyclesprog.co.uk/blog/rice-pedals-islabikes-imagine-project/
Posted 7 years ago # -
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Intensive tests have shown that the material using CO2 is at least as good as conventional products. The carbon dioxide replaces some of the petroleum that these kinds of polyols and polyurethanes are usually based on. “The plastics industry has long been looking for an alternative raw material basis to relieve the reliance on increasingly scarce fossil fuels,” explained Malsch. There is also growing demand for sustainable products in society. “We believe that our new process can offer a solution in both these areas.”
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Posted 7 years ago # -
Posted 7 years ago #
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Isla Rowntree on Women's Hour tomorrow.
Posted 7 years ago # -
On now.
Posted 7 years ago # -
“
Isla Rowntree set up a successful bike manufacturing business. To many people a thriving business that's courted by private equity might be considered successful. How hard is it to balance all that when your moral compass kicks in and you decide to walk away from further success because it feels like the right thing to do.
“
Posted 5 years ago # -
Quite long but full of interesting stuff -
Posted 4 years ago # -
Posted 4 years ago #
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Lovely though the SA hubs are from a maintenance perspective, aren't they a bit heavy for a kid's bike?
Posted 4 years ago # -
“aren't they a bit heavy for a kid's bike?”
Nope.
Fine for 3yos
Useful gear range.
Posted 4 years ago # -
Interesting.
Clearly I'm not going to actually disagree with @chdot, given our relative levels of experience and knowledge on bike-related things. However...
The front hub on the demo bike was an SA drum-brake. Brilliant from a maintenance perspective. I wonder what the relative weight difference is, though, between that hub and a more conventional hub combined with caliper brakes. I know Isla Bikes take that kind of thing very seriously, and will have 'done the maths', but it's certainly counter-intuitive.
I do agree about the rear hub, though. I don't know why kids need lots of gears, and an SA 3-speed is just so much easier to understand, use and maintain than a derailleur.
Posted 4 years ago # -
Ah, hub brakes.
Early Islabikes had back-pedal brakes, which I don’t favour for various reasons.
Obviously there is an essential contradiction in the fact that one reason for the existence of Islabikes is that she found that too many kids’ bikes weren’t suitable for kids.
Weight was a key issue, but also not having scaled down components - notably brake levers.
3 speed hub not fitted by Islabikes.
Posted 4 years ago # -
@Greenroofer
The pic you were seeing is a 24” I think - certainly for older children that I was thinking about.
Also has hub gears. Don’t know if 3 or more.
Posted 4 years ago #
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