Originally Posted by
Rcrxjlb
When did bicycles become disposable items?
There are threads here where folks have found bikes in the trash, on the curb, etc.
I assemble bikes for Walmart, and i sell @ 15-20 bikes a week. Seems like folks go through bikes like toilet paper.
Sadly this is true for most consumer products and appliances. Very few things are designed to be maintained, such that's an unusual pleasure to work on something that actually was.
Windows installation ate itself? Buy a new computer.
Blender won't turn on one day? Buy a new one.
So, when did such a reliable means of transportation become a throw-away object...?
Big box store bikes are probably intended for the few-times-a-year recreational user (or kids given a new one every year) not for "transport". These are the ones that might not displace enough car miles to payoff the energy expended in their manufacture. Those users may also see a rarely-used bicycle as the easiest thing to discard when moving, returning from college to a car-based lifestyle, etc - if they find they want one they can always get another.
Of course these bikes may get pressed into transport service by those who can't afford much else. Fortunately at least with bikes most parts are still exposed to view, bolt-on replaceable, and quasi standard - as a guess they remain among the most repairable of products from such stores.