RAI, Swastik (2026) Barriers Influencing Bicycle Maintenance and Repair: Perspectives from Bicycle Businesses in the Netherlands and India. Master thesis, Sustainable Entrepreneurship (SE).
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Abstract
Bicycle maintenance and repair are the major reasons behind the achievement of the intended goals of longer product lifetime, sustainable mobility, and the circular economy. When it comes to the practical problems, studies have mainly addressedconsumers, sustainability, and repair habits. On the other hand, business views about maintenance and repair service provision have been little explored. This study is carried out on this gap by examining the elements that affect bike maintenance and repairing from the point of view of bicycle repair and maintenance companies in India and the Netherlands. The research involved a qualitative exploratory design with eight semi-structured interviews being held with owners and managers of bicycle businesses operating in diverse kinds of repair and maintenance facilities in India and the Netherlands. Through thematic analysis the interviews were examined to establish the barriers, operational hurdles and the cross-context patterns among the data. The results show that bicycle fixing and caring for are affected by such a multifaceted interaction of the behavioural, economic, accessibility, technical, and the repair ecosystem factors as it is none else. Both the countries display similar trends where in most cases, customers reported that they often would go for reactive repairs rather than preventive maintenance, thus servicing is postponed until really serious problems emerge. Economic issues like repair versus replacement decision making and the way the bike is valued by the customer influence maintenance taking part in. Moreover, the companies marked the accessibility issues, the lack of skilled workers, the more advanced technological solutions, and the procurement of spare parts as the main problems. The most remarkable indication is to be found in the repair ecosystem context where, due to the limited standardization, proprietary components, and manufacturer-controlled systems, the efficient and accessible repair services are affected the most. This research adds to the already thriving literature on repair and maintenance by offering fieldwork of repair practitioners and service providers, which remain a less appreciated perspective in the contemporary studies. Moreover, the results imply that to effectively promote bicycle maintenance and repair, it takes more than just increases in consumer awareness. The suggestion to strengthen the repair ecosystems by ensuring the easy availability of spare parts, training of the workforce, and adopting common standard components are the other two equally important avenues to the repair of lifespans, repair adequacy, and broader circular economy goals. This study thus underscores the need for both playback alternatives and the prevailing repair-system infrastructure to be taken into account when trying to achieve the promotional goal of cycling in a more sustainable way.
| Item Type: | Thesis (Master) |
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| Name supervisor: | Cardoso Chrispim, M. |
| Date Deposited: | 06 Jul 2026 09:04 |
| Last Modified: | 06 Jul 2026 09:04 |
| URI: | https://campus-fryslan.studenttheses.ub.rug.nl/id/eprint/882 |
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