REPAIR, RECYCLE & REPURPOSE
Make do and mend to resist the throw-away society and do your bit for the environment
Abig issue for the bike industry (and society in general) is that throwing stuff away once it’s broken just isn’t sustainable. There is an age-old alternative though – repairing the broken part, upcycling it into something else, or just recycling it to be used again for something else.
Doing this doesn’t have to become a big moral crusade (unless you want it to), you can just do it to save money. And that’s the bottom line: if you
BEARING BREAKDOWN
break something and it costs
£100 to replace but you can fix it for £10, what’s not to like? The ideas we present here are just an ice crystal on the very tip of a gigantic iceberg, but they may change the way you think about our disposable culture and how we can all contribute to reducing unnecessary waste.
They may also keep you rolling on the bike, when spares are harder to source than ever.
Hope offers a menu of service options for its disc brakes, headsets and hubs, and this is one of the strongest arguments for choosing the brand – spares for repairs are always available. Replacing the bearings in a Hope headset is only £22 whereas a replacement can cost four times as much. A disc brake service can be up to £70 but the UK company still carries spares for some older model brakes and hubs. Check out the hopetech.com site for links to servicing.
SAVE YOUR SOLES
Like tyres and grips, flat-pedal shoes wear down with use – go ahead and get some minor repairs done with Shoe Goo, liquid rubber that goes off to fill a few holes. There comes a time when there are more holes than shoe though, so contact a specialist repair company to have it re-soled. Lancashire Sports Repairs can do the business on any shoe using the new Vibram stealth dotty rubber, for £50 per pair plus £8 return postage. This obviously makes sense if you have some Five Ten Freeriders and the uppers are still in good condition, but it will also allow you to bond the soft rubber to a rival brand. Contact lancashiresportsrepairs.co.uk for more details.
It’s not just the soles of your shoes you can jazz up either – a new set of laces can make old pumps feel like new. It’d also be a good time to replace the flimsy footbeds found in most flat shoes with something more supportive and comfortable – try Fizik’s 3D flex custom insoles (£59.99 from extrauk.co.uk), which are professionally moulded in-store to the shape of your feet.
RAG TRADE
Mountain bike clothes have a hard life, dealing with rips and scrapes from foliage and sometimes the ground, before being shoved in a washing machine on an inappropriate cycle. The obvious repair is to reproof your waterproof clothing with Nikwax and restore its DWR coating.
There’s more that can be done, though – plenty of brands now offer a re-taping and tear-fixing service for their jackets, and some supply little patches with the original product so you can do it at home. Endura’s Repair Service covers any garment no matter the age and starts at £15 for a standard repair, increasing for anything more extensive. Obviously, there is an assessment procedure so you’ll know what it’ll cost and whether that 10-yearold waterproof really is worth mending. It’s a great way to breathe life into your old gear. There’s a two-week turn around and return postage is £5.
Contact endurasport.com for more details.