Fair Use Policy

This policy covers Bike Archive, the reference database operated by Hank Bicycle Company, LLC.

A non-commercial reference

Bike Archive is non-commercial. It exists to give riders, mechanics, and the bicycle industry a shared, sourced reference, and it is free to use, with no ads and no paid features. We don't sell or license manufacturer photos, manuals, or other documents, and we don't sell visitor data.

Nominative fair use

Bike Archive references bicycle manufacturer names, model names, and brand names throughout the site strictly to identify the products being cataloged — for example, referring to a "Trek Fuel EX" or a "Shimano XT" component so that the entry can be found and understood. This is a textbook case of nominative fair use: using a trademark to refer to the actual trademarked product, not to imply sponsorship or endorsement.

No affiliation is implied

Bike Archive is not affiliated with, authorized by, sponsored by, or endorsed by any bicycle manufacturer or brand featured on the site. All trademarks, logos, and brand names are the property of their respective owners.

Manufacturer logos

Where manufacturer logos appear (for example, on manufacturer index pages), they are used solely to identify the manufacturer being referenced, in the same nominative spirit as using the brand name in text. We use no more of the mark than necessary for identification, and don't alter or stylize logos in a way that suggests endorsement.

Specifications are facts, not creative works

Torque values, geometry measurements, and similar specifications are factual data. Facts themselves aren't copyrightable, though the specific expression of them (e.g. an original manual's exact wording or layout) can be. Bike Archive extracts the underlying factual specifications and presents them in its own tables, pages, and diagrams.

Product photos

Bike entries show the manufacturer's product photos so readers can identify the exact model, model year, and color being described. Each image is stored with a record of where it came from. Many entries cover models the manufacturer no longer lists, where these photos are the only public record of what the bike looked like. Bike Archive is free to use, and it doesn't sell or license manufacturer images.

Archived source documents

Torque specifications on Bike Archive cite the manufacturer manual they come from, down to the page. Manufacturers move and remove documents over time, so to keep those citations checkable we keep a reference copy of each manual cited as a torque source, served from files.bikearchive.org. These are documents manufacturers publish for free. The copies are kept so readers can verify the specific values we cite; the document viewer opens to the cited page, and the copies are excluded from search engines. Other documents are linked at their original location rather than copied.

Rights holder concerns

If you're a rights holder and believe something on the site goes beyond fair use, or you'd like an entry removed or corrected, see our Notice and Takedown page for how to reach us. If you'd rather we show your own copy of a document or image instead of ours, tell us: we'll remove our copy and link to yours.