The best all around option to bring a bike to Burning Man (if you’re not driving to the playa with your personal bike) is to rent a single speed beach cruiser.

Many burners will explore buying a cheap bike from a “big box store” like Walmart or Target etc. for one time use. Here’s a few reasons why that might not be the best option for the planet:

• Carbon footprint: it’s estimated that manufacturing an average new bike results in the emissions of around 530 pounds of greenhouse gasses.
• Additional CO2 emissions are generated by transporting the bikes from China in container ships and moving them to their destination in the US via semi trucks.
• Each new bike brings with it a lot of cardboard and other packing materials. While some of it can be recycled a lot of it becomes trash.
• The cheaply made department store bikes are often sloppily assembled and end up being abandoned and discarded to the landfill after the burn.
• Lastly, it’s well known that the giant box stores squash local business, pay their workers poverty wages and hire part-time workers to avoid providing health care benefits.

So renting a quality bike from a small business, a bike that returns to the playa year after year, avoids the environmental pitfalls and is hands down the best sustainable option.

There are many reasons not to shop at Walmart but from a bicycle perspective the cheap bikes that come from department stores are often sloppily (or even dangerously) assembled and don’t do well on the playa.  Make sure that your playa bike is built by a pro bike mechanic at a local bike shop.

A lot of good arguments exist to not to use Walmart for your burn supplies, the main one is that they seriously hurt communities by driving out locally owned small businesses.  Please shop locally and support family owned small business!  Thank you!

Check out the full bike article at:  Bicycling.com

Cheap Walmart bikes are not the most reliable choice for the playa. Get your bike from a real bike shop, they are well built, safe and work the best.

One burner’s advice on how to attend Burning Man without taking a bicycle.

In this video Burners talk about riding electric bikes in Black Rock City and on the playa.

When you’re looking for a bicycle to take to Burning Man please help a small business and use your Local Bike Shop. You will get a better bike that fits you and is assembled by a pro!

At 2017 Burning Man  3,754 bikes were abandoned at Black Rock City by participants.

The following link is an interesting article on how the Yellow Bike Program handled the crisis.

https://journal.burningman.org/2017/10/black-rock-city/leaving-no-trace/how-we-solved-the-great-bikeageddon-of-2017/

From  John “Halcyon” Styn on the Burning Man Journal “You need a bike. And you need to lock it. Or you need to borrow a Yellow Bike, and follow the rules. You can’t park in the street and (if you borrow a Yellow Bike) you need to wear pants.

Burning Man is not a utopia It is a self-correcting system.”

The optimum Burning Man bike is a single speed beach cruiser.  This playa bicycle is characterized by:

• Fat tires.  2.0″ wide or wider pneumatic tires to  allow your bike to easily glide over the sand and soft spots in Black Rock City and to provide some cushion on the washboard playa roads.
• Single speed drive train.  No chain derailleurs to get bent in transport or cables to get gunked up with playa grit. One speed is all you need on the playa.
• Coaster brake. A simple back pedal brake that is perfectly adequate for flat playa riding. There are no brake cable or brake alignment maintenance issues with a coaster brake.
• Saddle. A wide, cushy, sprung, comfortable bike seat. Consider a “seat cover” so that the black vinyl saddle doesn’t get so hot in the sun and burn your ass.
• Kickstand. To park your bike easily. A tennis ball attached to the end helps the kickstand to not sink into the sand.
• Lights.  The more lights the better – but at the minimum have a headlight and a tail light plus extra batteries.
• Lock.  Every bike needs a lock at the burn.  A simple cable combo lock or word lock works fine at BRC.
• Comfortable upright riding position. Beach cruisers are easy and fun to ride.
• Reliable.  Make sure your Burning Man bicycle is in good workable order. So:  1. tires in good shape – they hold air and are not rotted 2. chain is not rusty 3. wheels, cranks and pedals turn smoothly. If you have any doubts take it to your local bike shop before the burn for a tune up.

Keep it simple!

“Having a bicycle at Burning Man is crucial, if not essential, to your overall enjoyment and experience within Black Rock City. Given the rapid growth and expansion of the city in recent years, a pedal-powered means of navigation is a prudent, high-priority item when you’re packing.” ~ Burningman.org

brought to you by      

Black Rock Community Transit (BRCT) is a collectively run organization within DPW that builds hundreds of bicycles every year and deploys them for free use around Black Rock City. Get on our bikes and ride!

Our vision is that each Black Rock City citizen is empowered to rely on bicycling as a reliable, pleasurable and realistic mode of everyday transportation. Furthermore, we want those citizens to:

1. Take this behavior back to their hometown, and
2. Become agents of change within their communities.