N+1 is Dead: Consolidate all your cycling gear into a Kies Steel Limited

A marketing guru said once that "comments are content too". That is one reason why I reply to all of them.

The short I produced titled " N + 1 is Dead: Consolidate all your cycling gear into a Kies Steel Limited" has turned out to be one of the most widely viewed shorts I have ever made. Yes, I get excited if a short clears 100 views in its lifetime: this one cleared 2,000 in four days.

The short also generated the following question from a viewer: Why should I buy one new bike if I actually have three old bikes I can use? Or why should I throw them away if I get a new one? What's "sustainable" about that?

The question is a good one and required me to articulate the ideas that I am formulating as part of the repositioning of the A-D brand. Below is my reply.

Thank you log it for the comment. If you are using three bikes then don't change a thing! But let's say for example you wanted to buy a Kies, and you wanted to keep the number of bikes at three. We would take that fourth bike, hand it over to our deproduction division (Frame and Wheel), disassemble it, sell what has value (components frameset etc), recycle the rest (tires, tubes) and pay you the net proceeds from the sale (or you could use it towards the cost of the Kies). The person who buys your frame (which let's say still has many miles of use in it) is refraining from buying a new frame until yours is thoroughly worn out. And that is the sustainability angle: the resources that would have been used to make the new frame will remain in the ground and the emissions associated with its production will remain out of the atmosphere. It is all a bit prosaic, but we are doing it because we can, no one else is doing it and I have to say that when it hits 60 degrees and pours rain in late December in Maine, I can't help but think that a small effort towards sustainability could help stabilize the climate for future generations. I think the correct number of bikes to own math for you could be: 3N + 2W - (x + y) where N = bikes, W = wheelsets x = old bikes, components, frames whees and y = old accessories. Thanks for asking. Fred

Here's the short. I filmed it on one ride around Riverbend Park in Jupiter, Florida and produced it on iMovie. That allowed me to get the intro, titles and sound track right (Paul Rodgers reimagining Feel Like Making Love). Rock on!