# Can Commuting Get Any Greener?



## TraumaARNP (Oct 13, 2005)




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## perttime (Aug 26, 2005)

mmm, there's still a lot of metal there  Calfee can do better, and there's a few shops that do wooden frames with much less metal.


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## rodar y rodar (Jul 21, 2006)

I recently overheard a bike shop clerk talking to a customer about chain lube. I could have sworn she called one bottle "soy based". A moment later, she said very clearly that it was organic and biodegradeable, so probably really is soy. I think I draw the line a long time before I reach organic biodegradeable chain lube. Got any with DDT?


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## Solomon76 (Jul 22, 2008)

Renovo makes nicer looking wooden frames but I've never ridden one.














































Can someone please let me know if you can see the pictures above? I had some difficulties embedding the images.

Edit: Images should be visible now.


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## hydrogeek (Feb 20, 2006)

Solomon76 said:


> Renovo makes nicer looking wooden frames but I've never ridden one.
> 
> 
> 
> ...


Solomon, I don't see any pictures in your post.


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## rodar y rodar (Jul 21, 2006)

I don`t see them either. Pics of Renovos? They really are beautiful bikes.
http://www.renovobikes.com/


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## fattybikejones (Aug 17, 2008)

What pictures??


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## perttime (Aug 26, 2005)

I see the pics in Solomon76's post. Pretty good.


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## TraumaARNP (Oct 13, 2005)

perttime said:


> mmm, there's still a lot of metal there  Calfee can do better, and there's a few shops that do wooden frames with much less metal.


Yup, but do they make a MTP frame?


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## perttime (Aug 26, 2005)

TraumaARNP said:


> Yup, but do they make a MTP frame?


MTB?

Calfee: bamboo and hemp:










A student's take on wooden MTB:










Waldmeister bike (laminated wood):


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## fattybikejones (Aug 17, 2008)

If you ever cracked the frame on the Calfee, you could run it through a chipper and smoke it!:skep:


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## perttime (Aug 26, 2005)

fattybikejones said:


> If you ever cracked the frame on the Calfee, you could run it through a chipper and smoke it!:skep:


Actually, I think Calfees process for the bamboo includes smoking the material...

Hemp is one of the better natural fibers. It used to be the standard in rope material and such. Bow strings too. Unfortunately, other parts of the plant are famous for different uses.


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## fattybikejones (Aug 17, 2008)

..haha got that:thumbsup:


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## TraumaARNP (Oct 13, 2005)

perttime said:


> Actually, I think Calfees process for the bamboo includes smoking the material...
> 
> Hemp is one of the better natural fibers. It used to be the standard in rope material and such. Bow strings too. *Unfortunately, other parts of the plant are famous for different uses*.


I guess for the drug addict cyclist, if you trash the frame, they'll smoke it....gotta' love secular progressives.


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## rodar y rodar (Jul 21, 2006)

Naw, that wasn`t Calfee. Those were Cheech and Chong bikes. To match their smokeable van.


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## disfocus (Aug 26, 2009)

TraumaARNP said:


> I guess for the drug addict cyclist, if you trash the frame, they'll smoke it....gotta' love secular progressives.


I'm a little confused. You're talking as if 'progressives' are people who smoke pot, but 'progressive' implies changing the status quo, yeah? Whereas the biggest change to the status quo as far as non-medicinal use of hemp goes was making it illegal after thousands of years of being used for various purposes all over the world!

gotta' love how those 'conservatives' can make the most sweeping changes imaginable, then act like that's how things were all along


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## TraumaARNP (Oct 13, 2005)

disfocus said:


> I'm a little confused. You're talking as if 'progressives' are people who smoke pot, but 'progressive' implies changing the status quo, yeah? Whereas the biggest change to the status quo as far as non-medicinal use of hemp goes was making it illegal after thousands of years of being used for various purposes all over the world!
> 
> gotta' love how those 'conservatives' can make the most sweeping changes imaginable, then act like that's how things were all along


There are many natural drugs/narcotics that have been used for thousands of years, and are now illegal or controlled, and in most cases, for good reason. Don't forget, these "thousand" year old "pharmaceuticals" have a long documented history of abuse by the masses, with resulting consequences, all not good. Fast forward to today, these "pharmaceuticals" are now provided by the most violent narco-terrorists on earth, and anyone who uses/abuses these illegal drugs is no better then the folks who traffic in them; actually, the traffickers are a cut above the users, they atleast know there will always be an American idiot who'll by their $hit and make them rich.


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## GlassTrain (Oct 22, 2008)

Those Renovo bikes are simply stunning.


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## stumonky (Mar 27, 2004)

TraumaARNP said:


> View attachment 556395
> 
> 
> View attachment 556396
> ...


How much does that "f a g g o t" weigh?


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## perttime (Aug 26, 2005)

Had to go and check on "hemp"

As far as I could tell, there are different varieties of hemp, and the ones grown for fiber are pretty useless as drugs, and the other way round.

"""
There are broadly three groups of Cannabis varieties being cultivated today:

- Varieties primarily cultivated for their fibre, characterized by long stems and little branching, extreme red, yellow, blue or purple coloration, or thickness of stem and solid core, such as hemp cannabis oglalas, and more generally called industrial hemp. 
- Varieties grown for seed from which hemp oil is extracted or which can be dehulled. 
- Varieties grown for medicinal, spiritual development or recreational purposes.

A nominal, if not legal distinction is often made between hemp, with concentrations of the psychoactive chemical THC far too low to be useful as a drug, and Cannabis used for medical, recreational, or spiritual purposes.
...

Over 30 countries produce industrial hemp including Australia, Austria, Canada, China, Great Britain, France, Russia and Spain.
"""
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hemp


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## AndrwSwitch (Nov 8, 2007)

I bumped into a discussion of hybrids that compared the environmental impact of building a new car with the environmental impact of continuing to drive an older, conventionally-fueled car. They showed continuing to use the old car to be better.

It's even easier with bikes, because the impact of continuing to operate an old one is negligible - it's almost all in the initial build and shipping.

Not that those Renovos aren't very beautiful.


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## chewymilk99 (Nov 26, 2008)

Well wouldnt making it out of wood be...well not green. You have to kill a few trees to make one bike  Unless it's reclaimed timber or something. Wouldnt making it out of bones be greener. You kill an animal that breaths out co2. You eat the tastey meat that when rotting would create co2 (not to mention all the bugs and bacteria that would live in it that also breath out c02) Dry the bones out (of course using solar power) Tie it together using tendend and sinew (no hemp that's a plant. You cant kill a plant) and enjoy.


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## s0ckeyeus (Jun 20, 2008)

I wouldn't mind riding that Calfee...


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## jeffscott (May 10, 2006)

Commuting is green only if you don't eat beans.


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## rodar y rodar (Jul 21, 2006)

They`re green if you shoot `em with the correct Krylon.

Note that this has turned into a "green" discussion, which is fine, but the title claimed "organic"- not the same thing. No matter how green or not green, organic simply means something that was once alive, doesn`t it? As in: "Ain`t no such thing as non-organic vegies".


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## AndrwSwitch (Nov 8, 2007)

I didn't see anything about organic in the title.

As far as wooden bikes... if they're made out of farmed timber, I bet the impact of those operations is a lot less than the impact of mining and refining metals.


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## mtnbiker72 (Jan 22, 2007)

perttime said:


> Hemp is one of the better natural fibers. It used to be the standard in rope material and such. Bow strings too. Unfortunately, other parts of the plant are famous for different uses.





TraumaARNP said:


> I guess for the drug addict cyclist, if you trash the frame, they'll smoke it....gotta' love secular progressives.


Agricultural Hemp doesn't produce enough THC to get you even the buzz sucking a whippit off of a whip cream can can get you if you smoke 1000# of the crap.

Not the same thing at all...and it shouldn't be a political issue because there are no drugs involved here.:madman:


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## rodar y rodar (Jul 21, 2006)

@Andrew S
You`re right, no organic in the title. I realized the error in my ways and tried to edit out that part, but kept getting "Server busy" and couldn`t get through.


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## BrianMc (Jan 5, 2010)

I have coveted the Renovo bikes since discovering them about 2 years ago. Since my boy racer days are over, the Pandurban bikes caught my fancy:

http://www.renovobikes.com/pandurbancommuter/

Here the bamboo is laminated instead of used in its native tubular state as in Calffee's bikes. Being bamboo, it is a sustainable bike material. Not quite as gorgeous as some of the mulitcolor hardwood road frames they make, it still has a subtle beauty.


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## 29Clyde (Jan 15, 2010)

I am a firm believer that truest measure of a man's manliness is the size of his carbon footprint (Al Gore is a Man's Man many times over) and for this reason alone I was very reluctant to bike to work. For the first couple of years I would offset the decrease in my carbon footprint caused by the biking by letting my truck idle in the driveway for a couple of hours after biking home from work. While probably not as effective as driving the big V8 behemoth 40 minutes each way to and from work in bumper to bumper traffic, at least I was doing something to maintain my carbon manliness.

And then one day while biking to work, I had an epiphany. Biking to work actually increases my carbon footprint. How you ask? According to my fancy, high tech Garmin computer, I burn over 4000 extra calories every time I bike to/from work. And those calories don't grow on trees..... okay, well some do but not trees in my backyard. The production and transportation of food is one of the most carbon intensive industries in the world. The pittance of fuel that I was burning while driving to work was nothing compared to the carbon footprint I can build by eating my New Zeland Lamp, steaks from Argentina, shrimp from Asia, beer from the Czech republic, and pasta from Italy. Now granted, I haven't done any math to prove this true but it is such a cool concept that I am sure that I can't be wrong.

Armed with my new found facts I have found so much enjoyment out 'greening' those so called eco-warriors who don't know what I know. I call them out for smuggly driving around in their hybrids: "So, how are you going to dispose of all those batteries Big Boy?" I ask them while perched atop my carbon munching bicycle. 

Oh yeah, so back to the thread. This is perfection. An Eco bike. Even though the 'greeness' of these bikes is complete BS it is even better camouflage for a carbon fiend like me - if I get me one of these no eco-warrior will be safe - plastic water bottles and disposable coffee cups from Starbucks? tisk tisk tisk. I can beat them at their own game while maintaining my ultra manly carbon footprint. Life is good.


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## rodar y rodar (Jul 21, 2006)

BrianMc said:


> I have coveted the Renovo bikes since discovering them about 2 years ago....
> ....the Pandurban bikes caught my fancy:
> Not quite as gorgeous as some of the mulitcolor hardwood road frames they make, it still has a subtle beauty.


Same here about coveting those gorgeous frames, but only about a year for me. And no racerboy for me, even when I was younger.

Wow, I hadn`t noticed the Pandurbans before. Like you say, not as pretty as the hardwood frames, but actually bordering on affordable. Well under 2K for a complete? That`s starting to get into the "danger zone" where I gotta be careful not to whoop out the Visa card in a moment of irrational exhuberance!


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## rodar y rodar (Jul 21, 2006)

Great plan, Clyde :thumbsup: 
But maybe you`d better keep the engine idling when the Prius Meisters can`t see your exhaust pipe (just to be on the safe side). And would it be more effective if you advanced your ignition timing a little bit?


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## golden boy (Oct 29, 2008)

*Bone bike!*



chewymilk99 said:


> Well wouldnt making it out of wood be...well not green. You have to kill a few trees to make one bike  Unless it's reclaimed timber or something. Wouldnt making it out of bones be greener. You kill an animal that breaths out co2. You eat the tastey meat that when rotting would create co2 (not to mention all the bugs and bacteria that would live in it that also breath out c02) Dry the bones out (of course using solar power) Tie it together using tendend and sinew (no hemp that's a plant. You cant kill a plant) and enjoy.


This is genius! A bone bike! Somebody's gotta do it. Aren't bones one of the highest strength-to-weight materials known?

Imagine the looks you'd get riding down the street on your bone bike. :eekster:


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## GlassTrain (Oct 22, 2008)

Caller them Boner Bikes.

In the same vein as Breeze became _Breezer_ bikes.

_"Come test ride a rigid Boner today!" _

On second thought, the idea will probably go limp... never mind.


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## TraumaARNP (Oct 13, 2005)

The Renovo's may be exquisite, and the Calfee could be a _"smoker," _but nothing says it more orgasmic like a lugged bamboo bike.


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## BrianMc (Jan 5, 2010)

*29Clyde*:
Somebody did the calorie count thing using the most expensive protein sources and showed that cycling had a higher carbon foot print than the fuel used by an average car in a commute...BUT...they did not include the energy needed to get the fuel from the ground as crude to the car's tank. Sort of like saying without my arms and legs I weigh the same as a supermodel. It may be true but the comparison is invalid.

Can't come up with that reference but I think it was a thread in the CPF Green Forum.

Still, like the sense of fun.

Maybe buy a house (or threee the housing industry need the help) that use $1200 a mouth to heat and cool, like Al.

*rodar y rodar*: 
Yeah. A not impossible dream bike.

*GlassTrain*:
A lot of cheap joke potential there. Having young idiots falling down laughing as you ride by is not likely a safe thing and difficult for marketing. Levitra, Cialis, and Viagra models? Likely get the animal activists throwing paint on you and your bike or running you over. Just what I need more people trying to do me in. Now if they could use in vitro tissue culture to grow the bone tubes, then no animals would have been injured in the making of the bike and it would no longer be 'bone'. With an external layer of tooth enamel, it could look like Ivory. A scrimshaw bike! Or layers of nacre for a Pearlessence finish.


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## golden boy (Oct 29, 2008)

*"Come test ride a rigid Boner today!"*

LOL! Funniest thing I've heard in a while. :thumbsup:

Why does junior high humor never get old?


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## EDM Mike (Feb 2, 2010)

*Sylvan Cycles*

*Stainless steel and locally harvested wood

https://www.sylvancycles.com*


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## [email protected] (Oct 17, 2009)

EDM Mike said:


> *Stainless steel and locally harvested wood*


*
That looks like a #2 Pencil with wheels.*


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## TraumaARNP (Oct 13, 2005)

Very nice, Mike...like everything "green", those puppies start at $3900.00. I hate to say it, but until going green costs get down to pedestrian levels, I'm all about leaving that big carbon footprint.

The wife and I wanted solar panels installed in our house in the OBX, and those folks thought nothing of telling us how gratefull the earth will be, and for a mere pittance, we could help save the world for $60,000+. My wife said it all when she told the guys doing the work up, "Screw the earth!"


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## BrianMc (Jan 5, 2010)

There is a lot of new parts on those.

I think my old Schwinn errand bike which was headed to the salvage/dump plus a Sugino Crank, Campy pedals, and old Brooks saddle, I had lying around, even with the new (actually round! amazing!) 700C wheels and 9 speed cassette is pretty good on a carbon footprint basis.

Recycling: one of the greenest ways to commute and WAY cheaper!


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## rodar y rodar (Jul 21, 2006)

[email protected] said:


> That looks like a #2 Pencil with wheels.


That`s what came to my mind, too! 
Dixon Ticonderoga.


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## BrianMc (Jan 5, 2010)

rodar y rodar said:


> That`s what came to my mind, too!
> Dixon Ticonderoga.


You can almost smell the fresh pencil shavings and graphite dust! Do you have to treat the frame to prevent termite damage?  Might be dangerous to ride in Canada the porcupines and beaver might present a problem. The insurance claim : something ate my bike.:madman:


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## wunderkind (Aug 11, 2009)

Nice, now Chi Chi the Panda will have one more competition for their sole food source. 

How ironic that trees are fell to achieve "green products". Don't you love green-washing companies.....


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