substructure

I was a golfer in the past and it's way more expensive.
For instance when a guy called me a *** because I played golf and I broke my 200 dollar Ping G2 driver over his head, I had to replace it. But, I didn't replace it equally, oh no, I had to upgrade to a 300 dollar G5. I went through a whole bag of clubs before these rednecks got the idea. I was out several thousand dollars by then.

I've been cycling for several months now without breaking my bike over someone's head.

va_cyclist

After the initial outlay for equipment (in my case, around $2000), it costs me next to nothing to go for a bike ride (maybe a buck or two for drinks or snacks). I do my own maintenance, so annual costs are maybe a set of tires, some bar wrap, and chain degreaser, probably about $100. I have no idea what it costs to play a round of golf or maintain a club membership, but it's got to be more than a hundred bucks a year. Don't forget to account for the beers at the 19th hole.

'nother

I don't really care about the rest of this thread, but that one is a keeper. Thanks for the laugh

Don Cook

If this were a business proposal to assess which of the two ventures were more cost effective, we'd have someone throw together a cost-bennefit analysis. If the expected benefit from both golf and cycling isn't the same, for both you and your buddy, then no comparison is valid. If they are the same, then you can settle on specific indices or measuremnents to assess which is delivering the greatest of the desired benefit for the least dollar.

An example would be an agreed measurement where the benefit desired is the lowest dollar spent for each 100 calories burned. Cycling isn't the automatic winner in this case. How much you spend on the hobby and how often you cycle and at what speed determines the winner. Someone that just purchased a new $3000 bike, with all of the bells and whistles, shoes, pedals, jersey's shorts etc. could loose the comparison if they ended up riding a couple hundred miles and decided they like chess better.
The golfer may have spent $500 dollars on clubs, charge the club membership to the company, never rent a cart but actually jog from tee to tee carrying their clubs. And if the tee is backed up, they hit the ground and do pushups and situps waiting for their turn. The golfer could come the victor in case. Point being, the answer is there but you have to figure it out yourself. None of us on the forum can do it.

mporter410

Golfing is for sissys and old men.

caloso

I like golf. Very relaxing. I think I'm going to take it up seriously when I get too old to do anything strenuous.

Seriously, until they start charging me $50 every time I pull the bike out of the driveway, there's no comparison in my mind.

timmhaan

cycling can be very cheap. you actually don't need specific gear to do it. i could spend about $300 on a good used bike, wear regular clothes, and log in several thousand miles a year. unless something breaks on the bike - tubes, tires, and cleaner are the only items that need replacing. and over a year, it's not much at all.

and if you replace car trips with bicycle trips - you're actually saving money. nobody has ever taken up golf to save money, have they?

SDRider

I don't know how the golf courses are where you live but they are horribly crowded around here. At some courses you have to get up at the crack of early just to call and make a reservation. Unless you are playing at some fancy (meaning expensive) country club you have to deal with crowded golf courses. Many courses will stick 5 guys to a group and many times you'll be standing around waiting as the groups bunch up behind a slow player.

Yeah, I'd much rather ride. Cycling is much much better physically too.

Ineedhelp

It's like comparing apples and oranges, the two do not equate.

Bicycling is often a solitary sport, while golfing usually a social one.

Businessmen don't join the country club for the "status" alone. They join it because they may be able to conduct more business on the golf course than in the boardroom. It's where they find investors interested in capital ventures, and can spend the day with them in a casual, relaxed atmosphere, where they can spend the entire day promoting their ideas to their golfing partners--who they can count on being a captive audience, and not having to run out to another meeting, right up to the 18th round.

The more expensive the club, the greater assurance you have that you will be rubbing shoulders with other members who have the financial capability to assist you, and business acumen to provide you with the business advice, critical to success.

Golfing is your pass to the "good ole boy's club".

Bicycling is your pass to ensure better health.

Neither is mutually exclusive.

14max

What a troglodytic thought. Please, enlighten us as to why golf is only for sissies and old men.

OC Roadie

I own a business and write off about 80% of my cycling expenses. My business "Sponsors" my "Team" (myself). My CPA told me to print a small sticker with my business name and put it on my bike, and that would be the advertising that the sponsorship would buy. Works for me, when I come home with new crap, I just tell my wife that "the shop gave it to me", the write off is is nice too

Inverted

Look at the success rate of golfers vs. bikers over, say, a year.

I am willing to bet there are SIGNIFICANTLY more people who go buy a set of clubs, hit the driving range a few times, get impatient, and give up, than there are people who buy a bike, hit the road, and decide biking is not for them.

fruitless

Between May and September I try to golf at least once a week. I bought all my clubs off e-bay and though they are quite good I probably have less than $300 in them. I never rent a power-cart and the most expensive green fees of the 3 local courses is $35 (a military course). Even with a couple beers after a round I think I am spending less on golf than biking.

Portis

Comparing golf to cycling is like comparing life to......................living. It might cost $500,000,000 per year for Donald Trump to live, whereas many live on $5 per year. (or the equivilant in 3rd world countries)

You can buy a single driver that costs thousands of dollars just like you can buy a road bike that costs tens of thousands of dollars. Conversely, you can buy a $199 full set of clubs at Walmart and also a $69 bike at Walmart.

It all depends on what you buy.

TassR700

As an avid cyclist and also a golfer, the biggest difference for me is the time commitment. A bike ride can be any length and my rides can be squeezed into the time available. To play a round of 18 holes is about a six hour commitment when you add in the drive to and from the course and warm up on the range. A three hour bike ride is a lot easier to sell to the home front on a Saturday morning than a six hour round of golf. Even a century can be completed in about the same time, although I'm not good for much when it's done. And for me, cycling has been way cheaper than golf and I even make my own clubs. Whether it's dollars or spousal stress, cycling wins hands down.

PedalMasher

Thank you, after reading all the informative responses, above is what can be said with the most certainty. Certainly a competitive non-sponsored cyclist can spend much more than a reacreational golfer, and vice versa.

A couple of things I learned:
Clubs can be hella expensive... I know my friend plays with high end clubs. I will find out how much he paid from his wife - I think he lowballed me.

He does belong to a club so his dues based on the responses probably exceed $1000 per year and could be much more.

I am not a competitve cyclist beyond beginner night at the track or raceway. In either of these cases. I either use my CF bike or rent a track bike so costs are minimal.

Yes, at least in our case, my sport is cheaper hands down. Thanks for educating me about golf. Poker night this Friday I'm going to settle this one for good.

The most interesting point I read in the responses was comparing the number of people who try both cycling and golf then quit. The definition of quit is of course relative, but I could see more people proportionately giving up golfing rather than cycling. When I flirted with golf years ago, I guess I couldn't handle the "time trial" as someone put it and find cycling more to my liking. Thanks again.

caloso

Dang right.

roadwarrior

Tiger Woods might take exception.

hiracer

Golf creates stress; cycling relieves it. 'Nuff said.

DannoXYZ 

Don't know of very many sissies and old-men married to this either:

EventServices

Zoiks! That makes my next words rather inconsequential.


I'll take the bet about golfing to work. I bet I could do it.
It's a little over a mile.
It's relatively straight.
There's water on the right.
And I'd say it's about a Par 14.

But I'll bet you that if I place a cup in my office and a tee box in my front yard, I'll have to reserve a damn tee time!

DocRay

What a load. All I get from my golf course is leeches who prey after the wealthy with BS investment schemes. If you think a golf partner is letting you in on a deal, you're getting swindled. My local club is private, expensive, and full of people the world is much better off without.

I can not say this about cyclists.

substructure

C'MON! Just look at a golfer's attire:


Compared to a cyclists:


'nuff said

craign04

and drunken college kids who like to go to the driving range to try to hit the poor schmuck who has to pick up the balls

DannoXYZ 

I say it's a wash on the clothing. UCI should make a new rule banning pink clothing, like their previous ban on shorts that aren't black...