How green is the bike industry?

We take a look at the people, ideas and companies that are seeking to offset and eventually eliminate mountain biking’s hidden environmental impacts

- Laura Bailey

Mountain biking is inescapably and intrinsically linked to nature. Our bikes are nothing without trails and the natural environment they pass through. The mountain ranges, hillsides and woodlands are our second homes as riders, but with the world facing a climate crisis, how at risk are these precious landscapes? How much are we, as mountain bikers, contributing to and accelerating their decline?

It’s easy to think that riding our bikes isn’t adding to this problem. After all, cycling lowers fossil fuel consumption, eases traffic congestion, and improves public health by reducing the risks associated with obesity. But if we are only hitting the trails for sport and leisure, are our bikes, kit and riding habits threatening the playgrounds for generations to come?

TAKE, MAKE AND WASTE

The delivery of an extraordinary number of products across the planet at affordable prices is inextricably linked to our current pattern of rapid increasing resource extraction, waste production and pollution. As a result, we are faced with rising sea levels, more extreme weather and a decline in biodiversity. All of which threaten the very environments that enable our sport.