Bike Manufacturers Are Making Bikes Less Repairable

ever think the government should (externally) tax non-repairable stuff?

Sort of like gas-guzzler taxes?

Great idea!

Who decides if it’s repairable?

Even a small start would be useful, like "user-replacable battery".

not bike related, but say airpods would fail, 12v car battery would pass.

I'm not necessarily disagreeing, but what does "(externally)" mean ? A tariff ? In large enough trading blocs I would be concerned that manufacturing of the non-repairable part would just move within the bloc. I'm in favour of the idea but the mechanism might need some thought.

Does that mean a removable battery because who is to say that your bikes brand of batteries is going to be available for purchase tomorrow?

open standard battery > standard battery > removable proprietary battery > glued-in phone battery > whatever airpods do

I don't. I think they should force people to redesign if things are unnecessarily non-repairable, and in some cases subsidize that redesign. The government should also create standards (including standard component designs) that automatically pass the product if adhered to.

If we're going to be officially judging what is repairable and not repairable, we should commit to dealing with it fully rather than half-assing and leaving infinite loopholes.

Sorry, I was thinking outside the whole corporate tax system. Tax stuff as it is sold, like gas taxes happen at point-of-sale.

I suspect subsidies and corporate taxes and the rest are a convoluted mess that might not serve people as well.

Mandate a ten year warranty that covers labor but (maybe) not parts.

I guess I don’t need to say that you need to define all those things and also the person who decides is you apparently. convenient

Mandate customers paying for a warranty no thanks