Bjorn Bikes: really better for the environment?

[madsciencenow]

So here's a quote from the Bjorn Bikes founder:

I want to create a bike brand that thinks outside of the box and does whatever it can to be better for the environment. - Dennis Beare, Bjorn Bikes Founder

I'm wondering if recycling stainless steel is really better for the environment? I don't have any idea how they do this but it seems energetically expensive to me if they have to heat up the steel and reform it etc.

The bike JensonUSA is selling is actually pretty nice looking:

https://www.jensonusa.com/Bjorn-Recycled-S-Steel-Rival-1-Jenson-USA-Exclusive-Build

Price seems maybe a little high but not completely out-of-line, imho.

[Jaybee]

relative to mining iron and smelting it and then turning that into steel, recycling is many times better for the environment.

better still would be to use a bike/frame that already exists

[Dude]

It seems less energetic than digging it out of the ground no? probably not "better," just "not AS bad."

[bicycletricycle]

steel production typically uses some recycled content already, I would be curious to see if this is any more than usual. I have worked on some "recycled" products. The claims are usually wildly over dramatized.

[Mark McM]

Steel is the World's Most Recycle Material (https://www.steelsustainability.org/recycling):

Steel is the most recycled material on the planet, more than all other materials combined. Steel retains an extremely high overall recycling rate, which in 2014, stood at 86 percent. The amazing metallurgical properties of steel allow it to be recycled continually with no degradation in performance, and from one product to another.

Aluminum is also highly recycled (https://www.aluminum.org/sustainability/aluminum-recycling):

Aluminum first entered the mainstream U.S. product market in the early 1900s, through applications in the aluminum foil and packaging industry. Additionally, nearly 75 percent of all aluminum ever produced is still in use.


If the Bjorn frames are made from only 60% recycled steel and 70% recycled aluminum as claimed, they're doing worse than average.

[Mark McM]

And what's up with the funky geometry? The smallest size Bjorn has a stack of 555mm and a reach of 390.7mm - that would be the stack of a Medium and the reach of a Large for other brands of gravel bikes. And that head angle of 69 degrees is very slack and is going to result in a lot of flop (most other gravel bikes are in the 71 - 72 degree range). It might be best to put this bike back in the recycler, and manufacture a better geometry frame.

[rowebr]

And what's up with the funky geometry? The smallest size Bjorn has a stack of 555mm and a reach of 390.7mm - that would be the stack of a Medium and the reach of a Large for other brands of gravel bikes. And that head angle of 69 degrees is very slack and is going to result in a lot of flop (most other gravel bikes are in the 71 - 72 degree range). It might be best to put this bike back in the recycler, and manufacture a better geometry frame.

Yeah I noticed those figures for stack and reach and also thought they were bizarre.

[madsciencenow]

I didn’t bother looking at the geo but that sounds pretty screwed up.


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[unterhausen]

isn't virtually all stainless made in the U.S. recycled steel? In fact, I think almost all steel that is sourced from the U.S. is primarily recycled. We have so much scrap steal, it's idiotic to mine it and smelt from ore. This misunderstanding is why we currently have tariffs on steel in the U.S.

[mhespenheide]

And what's up with the funky geometry? The smallest size Bjorn has a stack of 555mm and a reach of 390.7mm - that would be the stack of a Medium and the reach of a Large for other brands of gravel bikes. And that head angle of 69 degrees is very slack and is going to result in a lot of flop (most other gravel bikes are in the 71 - 72 degree range). It might be best to put this bike back in the recycler, and manufacture a better geometry frame.

It looks closer to modern mountain bike geometry, with long top tubes (reach), slack head tube angles, and short stems. Some people like it and are used it.