I Need To Ride My Bicycle, I Need to Ride My Bike!

What is a bicycle?  A bicycle is a two wheeled, human powered transportation device allowing faster than human speed sustainable over time at low energy output.

If I show you a series of 3 pictures;

 you will easily and instantly determine which represents a bicycle. In this case the drawing representing the bicycle is a line drawing and as such conveys no information about materials or construction and relies totally on you stored idea of bicycle. The picture to the right is a two wheeled device that would transport a human at sustainable speeds beyond human capability and without excessive use of energy, but it does not closely represent our image of a bicycle. The line drawing above tells little about the quality or the ability of the bicycle to deliver the action of transportation as designed. The picture to the right would convey to different observers different impressions of its “bicycleness”. To a child anticipating their first bike the strange recumbent bike in the picture would not fit their imagination. To a mountain biking enthusiast this strange machine might be interesting but it would hardly constitute their idea of a proper bicycle. To an engineer the aspects of its ability to perform the tasks it is designed for would be assessed, to someone who likes “outside the box” design this machine may be exactly the ticket. Let’s assume that we all accept the common form that the line drawing represents as a bicycle, with some variations as our preferences represent.

What else makes a bike a bike? Well you can’t ride a picture, so a bike has to have the form the picture represents but in the proportions and dimensions necessary and the materials and construction expected so it can be a bicycle. What else? It needs to perform its duties and perform them for more than one ride or one day. It needs to perform its duties without constant repair, it would be preferred that the type of materials and workmanship employed meet the expectations of the rider based on their knowledge of the promised performance for the price paid.

Let’s assume our bicycle performs its duties in all manners expected over a cross section of riders who buy it.

Let’s assume that the bicycle in question is made with materials and workmanship that will allow years of carefree riding with regular reasonable maintenance.

Our bicycle would now seem to be acknowledged as a quality product. It meets our expectation of what a bicycle is and performs in a manner expected over the long term. Can we further define quality for this bicycle?

The line drawing is about as far as you can get away from the idea of bicycle and still identify it. As you give the bicycle physical existence it becomes closer to the reality (quality). If I were to produce a full size model of a bike made from papier-mâché or other substance, maybe clay or Styrofoam and I was talented I could create a 3D model that looked identical to a bike but would it be? If I purchased a well-made bicycle with all the attributes that make it good but I put it in the shed and never rode it, would it be quality? Would the neglected bike in the shed hold any more quality than the Styrofoam model? Is the consumer’s ongoing interaction with the bike part of its quality? Is the consumer (rider) implicit in the quality of the objects they buy?

The bike is a collection of resources, human and natural and these resources are finite and precious in a world where only sunlight and the odd minerals from meteorites comes in from space. No energy is lost in the construction of the bike, but the energy and the material are changed in the production and in that production the energy and materials become difficult to reuse. The bike is kind of storing the energy and natural materials in a reasonable form, if that form is used and maintained. That form could also be designed so that the stored material can be reclaimed in an efficient manner. In the case of a bike that may mean that the manufacturer includes details on how to recycle the bike when the bike fails to be a bike any more. The manufacture could even agree to take the bike back at the end of it life and reuse components and recycle others. The ideal bike however may be one build with no obsolescence in mind, one that is infinitely repairable and upgradeable. The life of the bike post useful life is part of its quality.

Much is said about products manufactured in “non-Western” countries. It is suggested that working conditions and environmental disregard make products from places like China undesirable. How does a consumer know what to buy? The problem goes beyond just the bicycles manufacturing plant but encompasses the entire supply chain right back to the mining of raw material. It is impossible to know our bike is made completely responsibly. I would likely argue that many components are not, no matter what. If the quality of a bike also depends on the quality of the resources and the environments of origin than can we still have a quality bike?

If the consumer does as much research about the manufacturers business practices of prospective bikes as she might do in regard to weight, gear systems and frame geometry then some sense of the responsible nature of the proposed bike may come to light.  If the bike owner buys the bike due to true need, uses the bike on a regular basis and maintains it intending to keep and enjoy the bike over the very long term then the negative effect of any bad business practices are reduced. If an occasional rider decides to share, borrow, or buy a used bike instead of a new choice then the total negative of bad business practice is reduced by one full bike.

I do not know, but might bet money that the manufacturers of well-made bikes would tend to have a conscience about the safe reasonable work and natural environments and the choice of quality components means the supply chain may be in the same mindset.

The bike is a product. A product is produced because someone stands to make money from someone else consuming it. If something is needed then it should be made. If something is only wanted then maybe it could just as well not ever be made. Need in regard to the product bicycle or anything is defined by the actions of the consumer pre and post purchase. The quality of the product is a combination of all aspects of the lifecycle of the bike but user choice and action is the key to the total quality.