Tired of waste, Montrealer is making high-end bikes locally and ethically
Montreal bike builder uses recycled steel, ethical suppliers and local labour
What do you do if you're a bike builder and you don't like what you're seeing in the high-end road bike industry? If you're Montreal's Ben Adler, you develop your own line of bikes, Etique.
Adler, 34, has been supplying Montreal bike commuters with an environmentally friendly option for about six years with his Rebicycle line.
He upcycles vintage bike frames that would otherwise be destined for the garbage, by sandblasting and repainting, and then custom-fitting them to prospective customers.
"We're avoiding throwing out these vintage frames, and making something that's beautiful and highly functional at the same time," said Adler.
But Adler soon set his sights on the high-end road bike business as well.
There was something about those bikes that didn't sit well with the avid cyclist and former racer.
Adler said he was seeing standards change from year to year, forcing cyclists to abandon perfectly good components that would not work on a newer frame.
"I just had never seen a company really come at it from the beginning, trying to build a bike that lasts a long time, that has standards that don't change, that is recyclable, and uses recycled materials," said Adler. "No one was doing it, so I did it."
Similar to the way parts of the clothing industry moved to sourcing fabrics from ethical suppliers, Adler wanted to do the same thing with road bikes.
He looks at where the metal for the frame comes from and under which conditions it's manufactured.
King Cycle Group, one of Adler's parts suppliers, was the first bicycle-parts manufacturer to achieve B Corporation certification - an industry standard that looks at the impact on workers, community and the environment.
The carbon footprint for shipping is also important.
Most Etique components come from North American suppliers. Only the gearing system, the chain and the brakes come from Japan.
The global COVID-19 pandemic drove home for Adler how important it is to develop local supply chains.
He says production in factories overseas, and shipping to Canada, stopped for a while, leaving him without parts, on occasion, for his Rebicycle line. Adler often had to trade parts with other repair shops this summer.
"The pandemic has really crystallized in a lot of people's heads that the supply chains are way too long and complicated and fragile," said Adler. "Relying more on North American or Canadian or even Québecois suppliers as much as possible means you have a more robust supply chain."
"We're really trying to develop these partnerships with suppliers that are as local as possible [getting] craftsmen and manufacturers to not rely on suppliers that are so far away."
Watch: Montrealer peddles bikes in attempt to change bicycle industry
Building a bike in the circular economy
Adler says he was driven to make a bike that would work in the circular economy, where parts can be repaired instead of thrown out and replaced.
"It's really important that the pieces that we choose have replacement pieces. For example, if the bearing of the headset wears out, we can get a new bearing, or if the pulley wheel of the derailleur wears out, we can get a new pulley," said Adler.
"Basically, we just want to keep these products on the road for as long as possible where we can replace small parts as they wear out instead of having to throw out a complete component."
As with his Rebicycle line, frames are important.
Many high-end road bikes are made from carbon fibre, a product which Adler says, can be made under dubious conditions in factories in Asia, is more fragile, and is not recyclable.
Adler's frames are made of recycled steel, either from England or Italy.
"We're starting with a tube that has a high recycled content, unlike carbon fibre which has no recycled content when you make a new carbon fibre bike," said Adler. "Steel has no fatigue limit."
"As long as it doesn't have a big shock, the frame could theoretically last many tens of thousands of kilometres."
Designed and built in Montreal
In addition to sourcing the parts as locally as possible, the building of Etique bikes is also done in and around Montreal.
Adler designs the frame.
A local blacksmith based in the city's Mile End neighborhood, welds it together.
The paint job is done in Terrebonne just north of the city.
And Adler puts it all together once it's done.
Montreal café owner and cyclist Laurent St-Cyr is Adler's latest client, purchasing bike number 4 from the fledgling business.
He was drawn by the environmental aspect of the project, but also by the fact his new road bike was built practically in his own backyard.
"It was a pretty great experience to have this welder, one kilometre away," said St-Cyr. "The paint job was near the Montreal area as well. And I had all of those professionals, including Ben, building it, creating it, the geometry and everything."
St-Cyr chose top of the line components for his Etique and will shell out about $10,000.
Adler says that's on the high end. He says he can custom build an Etique bike starting at about $3,500, which is on par with an average factory-built road bike in a Montreal shop.
