2. Why you should build your own bike

Why build and not buy a new bike: buying a new bicycle is not always the best solution. Here are some reasons why you might NOT want to buy a bicycle:

  1. According to the Edinburgh Bike Station Project, 2009, in the UK there are about 23 million bicycles and about another 2.7 million new bicycles sold each year. Thus, vast numbers can end up as waste in landfill sites
  2. A DfT National Travel Survey found that cycling represents no more than 2% of trips in the general household. This probably means that bicycles are being bought or owned but not necessarily used
  3. Furthermore, Transport for London estimates the annual number of discarded bicycles in London to be 27,500. This estimate being about 5% of total new bicycle sales in London, of around 560,000 per annum
  4. You have to fork our £200 - £400, the cost of a decent new bicycle for City riding
  5. Reusing and recycling bikes and their parts uses far less energy than building a new bike from scratch