Novel 2-chain bike aims at rock-solid ride and rugged redundancy
Novel 2-chain bike aims at rock-solid ride and rugged redundancy
Chicago-based nonprofit World Bicycle Relief (WBR) doesn't distribute just any type of bicycle – it distributes bicycles meant to navigate the unimproved roads and rough terrain of developing nations, empowering populations to access healthcare, education and economic opportunities that would…
cross-posted from: https://fedia.io/m/[email protected]/t/1590564
Chicago-based nonprofit World Bicycle Relief (WBR) doesn't distribute just any type of bicycle ??? it distributes bicycles meant to navigate the unimproved roads and rough terrain of developing nations, empowering populations to access healthcare, education and economic opportunities that would???
The cost of one bike, from the extraction of its materials to delivery with its owner, is around £145 ($180). Though they can be purchased, those on the programme receive them for free.
Ok.
Where can I buy one? Today.
Also, at that price, why aren't governments in North America not buying tens of thousands to provide free to residents?
Reduce traffic, give low-income families a way to get around, encourage active transportation, reduce the need for more car parking spots... $180 is the cheapest, highly-effective strategy here.
Because nobody knows about these, a "developed" country won't "humble" itself with buying things designed for underdeveloped regions, cities are designed around cars, car manufacturing is still a major backbone to most western industries and politics won't risk jobs by providing alternatives, it's "unamerican", leftist propaganda and queer, etc. In short politics is not rational, because humans are not rational. And that is neither good nor bad, it's how humans work. To sell them these ideas you must make people excited for these changes and we are pretty fucking far from getting people excited about changing for a better, greener society.
Edit: autocorrect thinks I'm short
You can already buy bicycles that cheap. Maybe not quite as rugged, but perfectly workable. But I suspect that most people in North America wouldn't use them even if given free for various reasons (that include urban sprawl and bad weather).
Inexpensive is a bonus, but a $180 bike that's easy to maintain, but still versatile and built like a tank would be an incredible investment.
For a low income family, this would be better than an ebike rebate.
And for everyone else, it offers a bike that you wouldn't mind locking up in front of a store.
I'd get one.
I posted this comment elsewhere:
For some background about World Bicycle Relief and the original "Buffalo Bike", see this video by Berm Peak on Nebula (also YouTube).
As for the 2-chainz design, I think it's fairly brilliant, as a way to avoid a delicate derailleur, which MTBers will know is vulnerable on terrain due to being low-slung. This sort of thinking also highlights how engineering and design make tradeoffs, since the weight penalty of an extra chain is not important when the ultimate objective is a rugged, durable bicycle.
Pretty fucking neat