"SMS" <
[email protected]> wrote in message
news:
[email protected]...
> Jeff Strickland wrote:
>
>> Shimano probably knows how many gearsets it sells, and where they are
>> consumed. I suspect the 50M number is a bit high too, but I don't make
>> and sell gearsets, so I don't really know. But, I am not calling them
>> liars, you are. And when you call somebody a liar, that's a bit like the
>> pot calling the kettle black, ergo I'm right. Again.
>
> Shimano never stated that 50 million Americans mountain bike. What they
> said was "50 million Americans ride a mountain bike." What they didn't say
> was that many of those mountain bikes are not ridden off-road, and that in
> fact many could not be ridden off road for very long before falling apart,
> being of the Target/Wal-Mart variety.
>
> "http://bike.shimano.com/publish/content/cycle/sac/us/en/news_and_information/news0/shimano_and_imba_release.html"
>
> It's a good cause that Shimano's become involved in since scientific
> research has shown mountain biking to be a low impact environmentally
> sustainable activity with no more impact on natural resources than hiking,
> and far less than many other recreational activities.
Thanks, but I get all of that. I was responding to Vandeman's assertion that
there is no way for there to be 50M mountain bikes. He asserts that Shimano
is not in a position to know this sort of stuff.
I agree with the assessment that mountain biking is a low impact and
environmentally sustainable activity. I also agree that there are places
where the impact is quite high, but as a practical matter these areas (the
affected location of the high impact) is typically in the range of about 100
sq ft or less per location. Hardly a significant problem, and one that will
typically mend itself in short order as weather conditions change.
I would suggest that the typical bicycle route is going to be about 18
inches wide unless the route is also a motor vehicle route (in which case
the damage caused is more likely to be a result fo the motor vehicles that
the bicycles) and that areas where there is high impact are also areas where
there is water left standing after a rain. As the area dries out, the impact
returns to a low state, and while the area remains wet, any activity is
likely to be high impact for the duration of the standing water. So, for
there to be 100 square feet of high impact on an 18-inch route, the running
length of the impact has to be 66 feet, and that's a very long way. I'd
suggest that it is very rare for anybody to try and muddle through 66 feet
of mud and crud to get to where the trail is going. Indeed, the trail would
not go someplace where 66 feet of obsticles would be present and where high
impact is likely to be present.
Human nature and the laws of physics demands that the easy route be
followed. The demanding route is difficult to sustain over time, therefore
the easy route is the one that will be established. The easy route will be,
by definition, least problematic for the environment.
