I find it puzzling that shipping bikes across the Pacific would be said to have less of a carbon footprint than activities on the ground in North America, where the bikes would be shipped on the ground anyway (ideally, and ideally by rail). I do appreciate Xtracycle, though tops in this category would be Green Gear in Eugene, Oregon, who manufactures the Bike Friday and the Haul-a-Day cargo bike. They have used least-toxic practices since their inception and continue to.

One word about steel bikes, though, they last and last, and with a little work they can get a new life. The fixie craze a few years back was touched off by people taking old 10-speeds and cutting off the derailleurs, for example. Even Xtracycle began as an add-on longtail for old bikes. (That said, I also love Craig Calfee’s bamboo bikes and have fantasized about them, but haven’t gotten one.)