10 Ways To Be A More Eco Friendly Cyclist

As cyclists we can all change our habits to become more eco friendly, whether that's reducing the amount of new bike parts we buy or having homemade food and snacks on a ride, to ditching those Co2 canisters.

What do you do to try and be more conscious about your environmental impact? Do you have any tips that we've missed out? Share them with us in the comments below 👇

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Look at You (Instrumental Version) - Snake City

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Leave us a comment below!

[MrRoonEz]

Thank you for making "Buy Less" your #1 tip. This is such an important message. Most people want only minor fixes, but the root of the problem truly is excessive materialism.

[CanyonWanderer]

Currently I'm commuting on a second hand bike I bought last year form a colleague (originally from 2011). So far this year I've commuted well over 3500km by bike 😃. Only last year I rediscovered my love for 🚴🏻‍♂️ after inactive for > 15 years.Funny how life goes 😃👍🏻

[richardyamin]

I am blessed I bicycle 50K / 32 miles into Portland, Oregon 5 days a week. Employer has indoor bike racks and showers. I do take the bus home at night, to increase time with my wife.

[sebastianhuvenaars]

Just in case France has subscribed to GCN :-) Pleeeease allow bike cases on all of your trains! Not wanting to fly for environmental reasons, getting to the Alps from the Netherlands was such a hassle. Booking a bike friendly train turned out to be railroad roulette. Ended up taking a flixbus. Flying was the quickest, easiest AND cheapest option by the way. How crazy is that in this day and age.

[richardggeorge]

The last two bikes I have purchased have been secondhand. Should be plenty of rim brake bikes coming up for sale over the next few years

[jimbobeire]

Glad you mentioned fixing punctures. From my time working as a bike shop mechanic, it really annoyed me how many tubes were just thrown out because people didn't know how to patch a tube. Bike shops don't have time to do that, so they just chuck the old tube, and put in a new one. We put out 2 wheelie bins a week just full of tubes, most of which could have been patched.

[twencl]

I always make any old tyres into belts that I can wear, it doesn't just look cool but is a good way of helping the environment.

[thecheshirecat]

Ooor, buy new old stock. Which in bicycles terms is like from last month. It’s already in existence (no way around it, it’s no longer in production) just as second hand items and it’s as good as new: it is new, very often at a fraction of the price of when it was new new stock.
And take good care of it once you have it: the greenest thing you can do with your stuff is make it last.

[abchaplin]

I am decades ahead of you: I haven't bought a new bicycle since the 1970s. I bought a second-hand 2018 Kona Rove NRB DL last November because I need something for riding in crap weather. My other two bicycles, a Campagnolo-equipped Torpado road bike and a Raleigh tourer, date from the early 1970s. The Torpado's gruppo is gradually evolving into a hybrid of NOS Nuovo Record and more modern bits; I want to keep it as Italian as possible. The Raleigh is now my fixed-gear hack that no one would want to nick from the pub. It still runs Normandie hubs and tubs. :)

[josemarilopez]

I now have my own road bike for first time because I see GCN in youtube and it inspires me 👌

[pimsmitheartspacers]

Another extra tip: push Sram and other companies to using mineral oil instead of Dot oil for their disc brakes. Send them an email and just politely ask for their choice as mineral oil works well and is not as bad for the environment as dot oil. Just to give it awareness.

[steveco]

How about buying aluminium bike and parts, which are easily recycled at the end of life compared to carbon?

[paulestorey]

I always try to travel with the bike inside the car rather than on the roof or a rack. The aero drag of an externally carried bike is massive, therefore adding to the fuel cost and pollution.

[paolobramucci]

“...make your own food.” This is an interesting recommendation, definitely a pro tip. Watching GCN coverage of pro teams, it was one of the things that I noticed was how they had cooks that made food for the race for the team. I find that oatmeal cookies are an excellent replacement for power/energy bars. I make my own. As cookies/biscuits go they are easy to make. Also, when you make your own, you will not be using artificial flavor enhancers or sweeteners, preservatives or colors. Another benefit, most recipes use less salt, sugar or sweeteners than the commercial products, and, you can tailor the biscuits to your taste and needs.

[Tom-vgang]

It is a massive shame that despite the rise in cycle to work schemes etc that there is not better security at bike lock up areas. The amount of people that have had bikes stolen in cities is incredible!

[ravenchant]

When the amount of patches on an inner tube gets too high, you can even repurpose them. Chainstay protectors, tool grip padding, strap retainers, and apparently bits of them make for great firestarters when bikepacking...although the smoke is probably not exactly eco-friendly.

[ultrahymio]

I think one important thing you can do is alter your diet slightly. Using reference values for calories in different food items I've calculated that I can lessen my carbon footprint for my 20 km commute by over 3 kg just by scrapping beef for chicken in my diet.

The idea behind this is that a commute is fueled by the food you as a rider eat, and depending on how much that food produces carbon dioxide per calorie some foods are more environmentally friendly than other. Beef costs the earth 27 kg of CO2 per 2500 kcal, whereas chicken costs only 7 kg for 2390 kcal.

Googling for example "beef calories" will return information on how many calories you can get from 100g.

[G-rig]

Maybe Si should lay off using wd40.. 😆

[thebelly]

You can now buy a lot of your favorite gels/supplements in bulk. I use a refillable gel bottle that fits in my jersey pocket. I think GCN did an episode where Adam Hansen (Lotto Soudal) showed how he did this for time trialing.

[ClassicalMMAChef]

We got cameos from both Matt and the BRICK!!! That was clearly the best part of the video.