Here's how to offset your bike's carbon footprint

It takes just under 700km of cycling to make a bike permanently carbon neutral. Photo: AFP

Riding a bike for just under 700km is enough to offset the equivalent of C02 emissions into the atmosphere generated by its construction, according to a report published by American bike manufacturer Trek.

According to Trek's report, manufacturing one of the brand's bikes emits, on average, the equivalent of 174kg of CO2.

You would then have to travel 430 miles, or 692km, choosing your bike over your car, to save the equivalent in carbon of what it took to build it. Those 692km are enough to compensate for these emissions.