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Comment by wtvanhest | Hacker News Reader

The cheapest brake pads available for bikes cost about $4.99 or roughly 25% of the cost of what he says this bike could cost. So how exactly can you build the remainder of a bike for $15.01?

It doesn’t make any sense at all.

At the end of the day, everyone would be better off if no one built cheap bikes, and they only built high quality bikes that people would resell in a used market as they got older. Riding a cheap bike is at best uncomfortable and at worst dangerous.

[Added] Bicycle frames last for 20+ years, it doesn't seem like the environment is really a factor here whatsoever.

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Quality bikes get resold after being stolen. Theft is the biggest reason, IMO, why cheap bikes are important.

Comfort on a bike, on well-maintained paved road, is mostly a matter of ergonomics - measurements, essentially.

Safety on a bike is mostly a matter of maintenance and fairly basic requirements of the materials and construction. Can it stop when you want it to? Will it stop suddenly when you don't want it to? Will the frame remain the same shape for the lifetime of the bike? Are the fasteners secure? This stuff isn't expensive and doesn't need to be.

I personally would never spend more than 200 USD equivalent on a new bike as a practical form of transport. Any more than that and thinking about security starts to dominate use, creating anxiety wherever you've chained it up, etc.

Oh, and cheapest brake pads? Here are some sold in the UK, free delivery, for 3.84 USD equivalent: http://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B002VWP0FK

Too expensive? Here are some sold from Hong Kong, free delivery again, for 1.92 USD equivalent (half the price): http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=270...

I'm fairly sure you could get these for a tenth the price buying them in bulk further upstream.

Bicycle frames last for 20+ years

That's conservative - my mom has (steel) bike frames hanging in her garage that date back to the 1970's that are in great shape and they've barely been maintained in the interim. I'm guessing a well-maintained frame could last for 50 years.

My niece was given the little red bicycle my mom learned to ride a bike on after my dad refinished it, the frame was great, just the aesthetics needed touching up. This bike is in the running for 60 or 70+ years, which is probably not an uncommon occurrence..

Over the summer my brother lent me his bike to use for a month or two. It is a 1974 Gitane racing/road bike, so nearly 40 years old, and it was still in fantastic shape. Practically zero visible rust, frame was still decently straight, etc. (I did have to replace a plastic gear in the derailleur)

No kidding. I've worked with a few people who have done bicycle advocacy in West Africa (through the awesome https://bikesnotbombs.org/). They learned that West Africa is awash in cheap used bike frames - it's about the only part of the bike that is eternally repairable. Instead, the finer parts eventually get chewed up and need to be replaced. Things like ball bearings, derailleurs, chains, and tires eventually die. Wheels last a long time, but also have a limited life.

This project (and other ones I've seen, like bamboo bikes) generally only create bike frames, the one part that won't really help the developing world.

To the cardboard bike's credit, the wheels are pretty cool. Find a way to make brake pads, chains, tubes, and tires from locally sourced or recycled materials, and you'll really be on to something!

When you talk about the cheapest brake pads available, are you talking about consumer price from a retailer?

Plus bike frames are made from steel or aluminum, both completely recyclable materials.

That's your objection? The $20 version is a fixie. What's your next objection?

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