# How do you dispose of a banana skin?



## Pale Rider (30 Dec 2015)

This important question cropped up on my recent ride with @Rickshaw Phil.

Neither of us are too keen on throwing the skin into a hedge.

But we both agreed there is no rational reason not to - it's organic matter and will decompose just like an apple core.

I have thrown a banana skin into a hedge, deep in the countryside, when on my own and unobserved.

The feeling of guilt afterwards wasn't worth it.

I put the skin of the banana I had with Phil in a nearby litter bin, so it will probably end up as landfill.

What are your thoughts on this important question?


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## vickster (30 Dec 2015)

In a bin, Then it can rot acceptably in landfill


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## Scoosh (30 Dec 2015)

Just give it to Phil and he can put it in with his garden compost ...


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## steveindenmark (30 Dec 2015)

I donate mine to the countryside.


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## Dave Davenport (30 Dec 2015)

steveindenmark said:


> I donate mine to the countryside.


Same here. There was a discussion on here a while ago, I chucked one onto the flower bed in my garden to see what would happen, it disappeared completely within a few days.


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## si_c (30 Dec 2015)

Hedgerow. Same place I put my Apple cores. All non organic stuff I take home or dispose of in an otherwise proper manner.


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## jonny jeez (30 Dec 2015)

Hedge...no brainer


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## Markymark (30 Dec 2015)

Throw it at the nearest peasant I see. Or in a bush.


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## mythste (30 Dec 2015)

Depends how close the rider behind me is. Things can get a little Mario when I get excited.


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## Keith Oates (30 Dec 2015)

Don't forget to eat the Banana first before throwing the skin away


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## Globalti (30 Dec 2015)

Straight in the hedge. It's not as if they contain an essential oil that makes them waterproof and keeps them fresh for weeks, like the orange peel that idiots leave on mountain tops.


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## Racing roadkill (30 Dec 2015)

'Accidentally' fumble the banana when you've just about done. It falls in the road, and it was an 'accident'.


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## Brandane (30 Dec 2015)

Lob it out of the car window onto the road.



Of course I jest; keep yer hair on! It goes out the passenger side into the hedge.


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## Tin Pot (30 Dec 2015)

I read somewhere it takes ages for banana skins to decompose, so bin/food recycle.


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## Sea of vapours (30 Dec 2015)

Two years according to the John Muir Trust, at least up a 1,000m+ mountain. 
http://www.theguardian.com/environment/2009/sep/24/bananas-litter-hikers-mountains-scotland


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## jefmcg (30 Dec 2015)

They can last rather a long time.

Personally, I think they should be left wrapped around the fruit and still attached to the plant in the tropics (or Iceland)


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## vickster (30 Dec 2015)

Brandane said:


> Lob it out of the car window onto the road.
> 
> 
> 
> Of course I jest; keep yer hair on! It goes out the passenger side into the hedge.


Preferably when there's a group of filtering MAMILs


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## vickster (30 Dec 2015)

jefmcg said:


> They can last rather a long time.
> 
> Personally, I think they should be left wrapped around the fruit and still attached to the plant in the tropics (or Iceland)


Do Iceland sell unpeeled frozen bananas then?


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## CUBE CRD (30 Dec 2015)

I try to launch mine into a dense hedgerow where it can rot away out of sight - I wait 'til there's no traffic about mind.
Suppose it's only a matter of time until someone is caught on camera and done for littering


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## Citius (30 Dec 2015)

Sea of vapours said:


> Two years according to the John Muir Trust, at least up a 1,000m+ mountain.
> http://www.theguardian.com/environment/2009/sep/24/bananas-litter-hikers-mountains-scotland



The two-year thing is an oft-repeated hoax. 2-3 weeks is the more usual time. Obviously a skin will take longer to decompose on a freezing mountain top than it will in a hedge at low level.


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## Crackle (30 Dec 2015)

If I recall, Phil carries a pannier with him, I'd slip it into that, job done


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## Pale Rider (30 Dec 2015)

Crackle said:


> If I recall, Phil carries a pannier with him, I'd slip it into that, job done



Double pannier with a top bag, all well-filled, so I doubt there would be room.

I hand-weighed Phil's rig, I reckon it's heavier than my ebike, so 20kg+.

Not that you'd think it the way he propels the bike up hills.


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## jefmcg (30 Dec 2015)

vickster said:


> Do Iceland sell unpeeled frozen bananas then?


I can't tell if you are serious; I meant the country. Though apparently that's another lie (thanks for nothing, wikipedia). They used to grow them, but they took 2 years to mature, so now they import them like everyone else.




Citius said:


> The two-year thing is an oft-repeated hoax. 2-3 weeks is the more usual time. Obviously a skin will take longer to decompose on a freezing mountain top than it will in a hedge at low level.


Or in a rubbish tip in Southwark, 500 years. http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/370550.stm


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## rualexander (30 Dec 2015)

Take it home, or to a bin, same with an apple core, it's all litter, if you can carry it out, you can carry it back.


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## Crackle (30 Dec 2015)

Pale Rider said:


> Double pannier with a top bag, all well-filled, so I doubt there would be room.
> 
> I hand-weighed Phil's rig, I reckon it's heavier than my ebike, so 20kg+.
> 
> Not that you'd think it the way he propels the bike up hills.


There's actually two Phils. The spare one is kept in the pannier.


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## Milkfloat (30 Dec 2015)

I save mine to use when playing Mario Cart.


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## Rickshaw Phil (30 Dec 2015)

Crackle said:


> There's actually two Phils. The spare one is kept in the pannier.


 Drat! I've been rumbled.


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## graham bowers (30 Dec 2015)

Left to decompose in the great outdoors, but hidden from view.


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## vickster (30 Dec 2015)

jefmcg said:


> I can't tell if you are serious


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## steveindenmark (30 Dec 2015)

When you see the speed they rot in a fruit Bowl, leaving them in the countryside is not a bad thing.


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## winjim (30 Dec 2015)

Just chuck 'em on the side of the road, same as my gel wrappers.













Only joking of course, I don't even eat bananas.


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## Dogtrousers (30 Dec 2015)

Goes back into my bar bag and into the compost bin when I get home.

I certainly don't throw them at other road users, whatever I may think of their choice of shorts.


vickster said:


> Preferably when there's a group of filtering MAMILs


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## xxDarkRiderxx (30 Dec 2015)

Ahh... I always eat the skin! I thought that's what your supposed to do.


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## Pat "5mph" (30 Dec 2015)

I don't usually take bananas on a ride, if I do I'll find a bin for the skin or take it away with me.
Don't know why, because at home it goes in the compost bin, so should be ok to leave it in a hedge.
Interesting link here, it says that banana skins can be fed to cows, goats and pigs and it's good for them.


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## Fab Foodie (30 Dec 2015)

si_c said:


> Hedgerow. Same place I put my Apple cores. All non organic stuff I take home or dispose of in an otherwise proper manner.


This.


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## Pale Rider (30 Dec 2015)

From Pat's link I see peels can be fed to snails, but they give 'lower performance' than other peels.

"Fresh plantain peels could be fed successfully to West African snails with no adverse effects but gave lower performance than papaya peels (Omole et al., 2004)."

I wonder how you measure the performance of a snail.

Presumably very carefully.


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## gavroche (30 Dec 2015)

Mother nature will recycle it in no time at all, so chuck it, it will do no harm to the environment.


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## Scoosh (30 Dec 2015)

Pale Rider said:


> I wonder how you measure the performance of a snail.
> 
> Presumably very carefully.


... and very s-l-o-w-l-y


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## Markymark (30 Dec 2015)

What do you guys do with the empty bottles of champagne and the lobster shells?


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## annedonnelly (30 Dec 2015)

I bring them home for the compost bin - the worms love them.

I expect the rate of decomposition varies depending on the weather but there's a skin lying on a cycle path near me for more than two weeks now. It'd be nice if they at least made the effort to put it in the hedge.


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## Cuchilo (30 Dec 2015)

0-markymark-0 said:


> What do you guys do with the empty bottles of champagne and the lobster shells?


Make wind chimes .


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## Scoosh (30 Dec 2015)

Cuchilo said:


> Make wind chimes .


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## Trickedem (30 Dec 2015)

Wrap it around your gel wrappers and drop it on the road to give the illusion that you care about the environment


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## hopless500 (30 Dec 2015)

Crackle said:


> If I recall, Phil carries a pannier with him, I'd slip it into that, job done


Pls don't. Last time he carried some of my 5hite for me  I don't need spare banana skins


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## hopless500 (30 Dec 2015)

Pat "5mph" said:


> I don't usually take bananas on a ride, if I do I'll find a bin for the skin or take it away with me.
> Don't know why, because at home it goes in the compost bin, so should be ok to leave it in a hedge.
> Interesting link here, it says that banana skins can be fed to cows, goats and pigs and it's good for them.


Any good for chickens??


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## Pat "5mph" (30 Dec 2015)

hopless500 said:


> Any good for chickens??


Apparently makes them lose weight!


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## Pale Rider (30 Dec 2015)

Pat "5mph" said:


> Apparently makes them lose weight!



That's no good, I like a nice, plump bird.


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## hopless500 (30 Dec 2015)

Pat "5mph" said:


> Apparently makes them lose weight!


Oh. Not so good then.


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## Domus (30 Dec 2015)

Take all litter home - simple. Can't understand people who can carry a full banana but not an empty one.


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## Brandane (31 Dec 2015)

Domus said:


> Take all litter home - simple. Can't understand people who can carry a full banana but not an empty one.


A full one doesn't leave a slimy mess in your pocket/saddle pack.


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## Dec66 (31 Dec 2015)

Chuck it at the nearest narrowboat as I tear down the towpath trying to beat my Strava best, scattering dogs and their owners, as well as drunken narrowboaters, as I do so.**











** all "tongue in cheek", obviously


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## Accy cyclist (31 Dec 2015)

This is the trouble with club rides. There's always one who'll frown at you for throwing your banana skin into a field or dropping it on the road. Where if you ride alone you don't have that problem. There's a fellow rider who's mentioned my banana skin disposal methods on a few occasions to the other riders. I've noticed he sits behind me in the group now, probably waiting for me to lob my skin, so he can grass me up to the others. I tend to put them in my back pocket now when he's about then throw them in a field when the group has split up. I'm not being untidy as i think banana skins and apple cores are food to some insects which keeps the food chain going. If you bin them you're denying some little creature a meal.


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## rovers1875 (31 Dec 2015)

If you can mange to carry them when they are full and heavy, then why can you not manage to carry them home when they are empty? Sorry but litter is litter it does not matter if it's a can, a wrapper of some sort of decomposable matter. If you brought it with you then take it home or dispose of it correctly.


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## EasyPeez (2 Jan 2016)

vickster said:


> In a bin, Then it can rot acceptably in landfill


Not sure if this is meant to be tongue-in-cheek, but what a strange animal the human is, that we think of burying food to rot in a way that causes great damage to the planet and hence the future survival of our own species as 'acceptable'. A banana skin rotting outdoors nourishes the soil as it breaks down (ask anyone who grows tomatoes) and/or provides food for wildlife, but this is, by inference, unacceptable somehow. Bonkers aren't we?!



rovers1875 said:


> If you brought it with you then take it home or dispose of it correctly


What constitutes "correctly" though? Correct in terms of the type of disposal which adheres to legislation? Or correct in terms of the form of disposal which is most natural and in the best interests of the environment? I'm more concerned by the latter than the former so choose to discreetly deposit mine out of sight outdoors


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## slowmotion (2 Jan 2016)

@vernon just listlessly hands it to Fenton. He divides it amongst the poor on The Estate.


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## Fab Foodie (2 Jan 2016)

slowmotion said:


> @vernon just listlessly hands it to Fenton. He divides it amongst the poor on The Estate.


... and they chuck it in the hedgerow ....


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## subaqua (2 Jan 2016)

Take home, dry in oven , crumble into fag paper , roll up and smoke


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## deptfordmarmoset (2 Jan 2016)

Childhood training was if nature made it you can throw it away, if man made it stick it in a bin. Probably a bit Swiss for Leeds in the 50s. Personally, though, every time I take a banana out with me I end up forgetting about it and arrive home with a considerably blackened and bruised banana that I no longer have any desire to eat. I don't think bananas like bikes.


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## Andy_R (2 Jan 2016)

0-markymark-0 said:


> What do you guys do with the empty bottles of champagne and the lobster shells?


The empties are used to practice juggling skiils by my nouveau riche juggling troope and the lobster shells are flambe'd with Remy Martin Black Pearl Louis XIII before being poached in a Krug '96 to make stock for the next bisque....what do you do with yours?


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## Andy_R (2 Jan 2016)

subaqua said:


> Take home, dry in oven , crumble into fag paper , roll up and smoke


oo..I bet times were hard when you was a kid...casually eyeing the gutters for tab ends with more than a half inch left......and lipstick on the filter, cos you didn't want to be smoking a bloke's tab


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## clid61 (2 Jan 2016)

I eat the skin too


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## classic33 (2 Jan 2016)

deptfordmarmoset said:


> Childhood training was if nature made it you can throw it away, if man made it stick it in a bin. Probably a bit Swiss for Leeds in the 50s. Personally, though, every time I take a banana out with me I end up forgetting about it and arrive home with a considerably blackened and bruised banana that I no longer have any desire to eat. I don't think bananas like bikes.


Rusty banana skins.


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## Tim Hall (2 Jan 2016)

deptfordmarmoset said:


> Childhood training was if nature made it you can throw it away, if man made it stick it in a bin. Probably a bit Swiss for Leeds in the 50s. Personally, though, every time I take a banana out with me I end up forgetting about it and arrive home with a considerably blackened and bruised banana that I no longer have any desire to eat. I don't think bananas like bikes.


Certain members here choose their bananas to match the curve of their drop handlebars and secure them with a length of velcro. No more bruised and blackened bananas.


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## Pale Rider (3 Jan 2016)

Tim Hall said:


> Certain members here choose their bananas to match the curve of their drop handlebars and secure them with a length of velcro. No more bruised and blackened bananas.



Safe and unbruised banana carriage on a bicycle is not easy.

I've seen plastic banana-shaped boxes, but getting one the correct radius would be a worry for me.


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## slowmotion (3 Jan 2016)

I ate a banana before the FNRttC that began in an NCP near Victoria a few years ago. I wandered round an entire block looking for a waste bin. Eventually, and frustrated, I angrily stuffed it into the narrow slot of a ciggie butt bin outside a smart office building. I skinned my knuckles.


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## classic33 (3 Jan 2016)

_Why throw them!

*Remove Warts*
Sick and tired of that nasty wart that just won’t go away? Tried everything at the pharmacy and the natural health store, but nothing seems to work? Don’t despair! You can use banana peel to get rid of these persistent blemishes. Simply rub a piece of ripe peel over the wart each night before bed and watch it fade._
_
*Shine Your Shoes*
Just as banana peels are great for your skin, you can also use them to condition and polish your leather shoes. Simply rub the soft inside of a piece of ripe peel over the leather to refresh, clean, and shine!

*Polish Silver*
The same fruit acids that make banana peels ideal for rejuvenating skin also make them perfect for polishing silver. Rub the inside of a piece of rip peel over dull and tarnished silver to restore its natural glow.

*Whiten Teeth*
Rub the soft inside of a fresh piece of banana peel on your teeth once per day for two weeks to remove stains and shine them without the use of potentially harmful chemicals.
_


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## snorri (3 Jan 2016)

Take the skins home, dry them and post them back to the banana plantation, it's the only way.


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## Dec66 (3 Jan 2016)

Pale Rider said:


> Safe and unbruised banana carriage on a bicycle is not easy.
> 
> I've seen plastic banana-shaped boxes, but getting one the correct radius would be a worry for me.


Is this not what the back pockets of jerseys are for?


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## OskarTennisChampion (3 Jan 2016)

Pat "5mph" said:


> I don't usually take bananas on a ride, if I do I'll find a bin for the skin or take it away with me.
> Don't know why, because at home it goes in the compost bin, so should be ok to leave it in a hedge.
> Interesting link here, it says that banana skins can be fed to cows, goats and pigs and it's good for them.



There is your answer there.
Chuck it to the livestock,job done.
Everybody win,Everybody happy.


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## Accy cyclist (3 Jan 2016)

On the subject of bananas, did any of you have one of these?





The girl next door had one in the early 1980's


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## Markymark (3 Jan 2016)

Andy_R said:


> The empties are used to practice juggling skiils by my nouveau riche juggling troope and the lobster shells are flambe'd with Remy Martin Black Pearl Louis XIII before being poached in a Krug '96 to make stock for the next bisque....what do you do with yours?


Throw them at peasants, or what you do, obviously.


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## subaqua (3 Jan 2016)

Andy_R said:


> oo..I bet times were hard when you was a kid...casually eyeing the gutters for tab ends with more than a half inch left......and lipstick on the filter, cos you didn't want to be smoking a bloke's tab



there was a rumour when I was a kid that dried banana skins when smoked got you high.


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## sackville d (3 Jan 2016)

I like to toss them over a wall then wait for a herd of cattle to come along and watch them take turns at slipping on it and falling over. Oh the humanity.


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## jefmcg (3 Jan 2016)

Of course it depends where you are. In the city, you should find a bin. On a pristine mountain top, carry it out with you (even nutritious garbage can be harmful in fragile ecosystems and is an eyesore). On a rural road, with nitrate fertilisers, poisons, diesel particulates, fences, farm machinery, plastic litter etc etc just fling it out of harms way; it will quietly rot causing no harm.


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## Glow worm (3 Jan 2016)

I bring all my apple cores/ banana skins home for the green bin to enjoy. Lobbing anything into hedges / verges just doesn't seem right to me, no matter what it is.


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## deptfordmarmoset (3 Jan 2016)

Tim Hall said:


> Certain members here choose their bananas to match the curve of their drop handlebars and secure them with a length of velcro. No more bruised and blackened bananas.


I believe I have witnessed this in action, though I thought it was white tape. Unfortunately, I lack that member's evident patience and tidiness. And with bar end shifters I'd be fondling the banana end each time I changed gears, which would prove too much of a distraction for me and might be deleterious to the the banana's pristine state.


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