General Cycling Discussion - We were WRONG! Bicycling is not cheaper than motoring.

I have taken some glee in the rising gas prices. Of course, I bicycle everywhere and only use my car about once every three months or so. I can count the money saved every week by not buying gas.

THEN, I stopped by the convenience store to buy a bottle of water. They were asking the going rate of 89 cents per pint bottle.

As I biked away, glad to have not been buying gas, it occurred to me that the water it took me to bike cost more than the gas it would require to go the same distance.

Figure this: My car gets 32 miles per gallon. Gas is $1.79 per gallon. So, for math purposes, let's say that in my automobile, I can travel 32 miles for $1.79.

If I bike 32 miles, I will drink three pints of water (including after-ride cool down). That's three pints @ $0.89 per pint = $2.67 worth of water!

Based on the math, it will continue to be cheaper to drive than it is to bike until gas goes to $2.67 per gallon. That assumes, of course, that water prices don't increase. Sheesh, I didn't even include the cost of the cookies that I use for fuel in my bike tank.

I have to get a car with worse fuel efficiency in order to manipulate the numbers so I can justify the expensive bicycling mode of transport.

Originally posted by mike
Figure this: My car gets 32 miles per gallon...If I bike 32 miles, I will drink three pints of water (including after-ride cool down). That's three pints @ $0.89 per pint = $2.67 worth of water!

Based on the math, it will continue to be cheaper to drive than it is to bike until gas goes to $2.67 per gallon. That assumes, of course, that water prices don't increase. Sheesh, I didn't even include the cost of the cookies that I use for fuel in my bike tank.
Mike, Mike, Mike (shaking head, back and forth...)

You are definItely thinking too much, mate! :rolleyes:

Someone pour ice-cold cherry-beer over Mike's head and snap him outta it!

Lake Michigan tap water. Affordable and tasty.

You could always get a hydration pack on sale somewhere. Someone always has them on sale, and fill it for free.

Mike,

Seriously, I really do get it. I was just pulling your chain.

My wife and I were grocery shopping (a perfect setup for an argument, second only to being in the same room together). She asked me, "Do you mind if I get this bottled water? I'm really thirsty."

Stupid Pete. Dumb, Dumb, Dumb-squared, to the n-th power. "How much is it?" I ask.

Cold stare.

A bit tired, I persisted in my madness. "Honey, there's a cold water fountain right over there," and I even pointed to it. Absolute insanity!

Anyway, we bought the bottled water, 99 cents + tax. I wouldn't want to shower with that... :rolleyes:

And today, I was right in this train of thought. "If I drink this Coke, my 4 mile walk will be more expensive than driving." But not as fun! ;)

Tap water has always worked for me!! One brand of bottled water is Evian. That spells Naive. No pun intended ofcourse. LOL

I am in a group at work that gets the big bottles of water on a dispenser. Costs me $4 per month. I fill my bottles there or I use tap water. The bottled water just tastes better than our tap water. I have one Polar bottle, but actually, I prefer Ozarka Sport Pack 24 oz bottles. They fit in a bottle cage. They are easier to squeeze. I keep 2 or 3 all the time, replacing them as they get too beat up from being dropped, squeezed, etc. I now have 4 cages on my bike and keep two bottles full all the time since the day I ran out of water on a long ride and didn't pass a store on the way home. One cage has my battery pack. I also have a hydration pack but haven't been on a long enough ride to fool with it.
Regards,
Raymond

GET a camel back.!!!!?????

Well, I don't know. If I was going to buy a car it would probably cost me about $20,000 (don't laugh, remember the value of the Australian Peso), that's a lot of water!

Chris

Mike knew this "bottled water" thread would start a fire!

The year: 2020. Pete Clark is cycling home from work (he hasn't retired because of the high cost of bicycling in the USA). Unusually weary, he stops into a "Wal-Mart" convenience store/grocery/medical center. He's looking for a little "breather."

"That'll be $25.00," says the clerk-computer screen.

"What?! For CANNED AIR? Oh well, it's highway robbery, but when you gotta breathe, you gotta breathe!"

Thank you, Ba-Dg-Er!

Your cheap water supply advice has saved me. For the past two weeks, I have been drinking Sam's Club Cola because water was too darned expensive.

My kids liked brushing their teeth with it, but my wife was skeptical.

Now that we are back onto the water scene, maybe the neighbor kids won't be hanging around so much.

Originally posted by Pete Clark


"What?! For CANNED AIR? Oh well, it's highway robbery, but when you gotta breathe, you gotta breathe!"


cold stare....


Do you have to buy the name brand air? Generic isn't good enough for you? :irritated

I'm going to have to go back to driving my truck if the price of "hi-octane"(Gatorade) goes any higher.:rolleyes:

Originally posted by mike
I have taken some glee in the rising gas prices.
Yes, well, most of us still drive, Mike.

Of course, I bicycle everywhere and only use my car about once every three months or so.
If you believe that one, I want to sell you a little rock called, "Stone Mountain."

I can count the money saved every week by not buying gas.
Scrooge, eh?

THEN, I stopped by the convenience store to buy a bottle of water.
Until now, Mike, I looked up to you.

They were asking the going rate of 89 cents per pint bottle.
What did you expect to find in there? A sale?

As I biked away, glad to have not been buying gas, it occurred to me that the water it took me to bike cost more than the gas it would require to go the same distance...Based on the math, it will continue to be cheaper to drive than it is to bike until gas goes to $2.67 per gallon...Sheesh, I didn't even include the cost of the cookies that I use for fuel in my bike tank.
Prob'ly spent a fortune on the cookies, too!

I have to get a car with worse fuel efficiency in order to manipulate the numbers so I can justify the expensive bicycling mode of transport.
I hope when you get that car, you continue to buy your not only your gas at that "convenience" store, but all your groceries. Then you'll really be saving money on bicycling!

;)

Why does this remind me of a little habit of mine--namely, I will resist buying something because I really can't afford it. Then I figure I saved that money, so I can buy something else with it... :rolleyes:

When I bought my "new" bike in March, I did some math to justify it to my wife.

I know I've seen literature/sites that compare the cost of driving to cycling. They, however, include fixed costs, like the purchase price, licensing, and insurance. Unless you're going to live without a car - I know some of us do, and I have, and would love to again - you can't count fixed costs. You can count purchase price, since it's not completely fixed. You can estimate that it costs $13,000 (or whatever) in purchase price for every 200,000 miles.

Anyway, I divided all the cost of maintenance that is done by mileage - e.g. oil change, tune up, brakes, tire replacement, rotation, alignment - by the mileage intervals. Knowing that I surely didn't account for everything, I came up with a little over $0.20 (USD) per mile, including fuel cost. Fuel is only about half of that cost. At our current price quote of $1.799/gal, the total comes to $0.21/mile.

So, my 11 mile r/t to work costs $2.20 per day. That made the $50 I spent on the used Trek look cheap, even adding other costs, like the rack.

For your analogy, water isn't the fuel. It's more the lubricant, coolant, and all other necessary fluids in one. The real fuel is macronutrients - food measured in calories.

On the bike, I figure I use maybe 45 calories per mile at my current weight. That's a half a piece of bread. Even bread at $2.00 a loaf makes that around $0.05 per mile. Other fuels are even cheaper. Less than $0.01 per mile, if you use Ramen Noodles.

Back to the water, for which I refill my own gallon bottles, locally, with reverse-osmosis, carbon, UV cleaned water for $0.25 per gallon. That's $0.03 per pint. At 10 miles per pint, that's $0.003 per mile. With your own filter, it's even less.

I'll leave the bike maintenance costs for later - or for someone else. But, we all know they are very low, even if you grease up every 100 miles.

Jonathan

jramsey,

You either have too much time or a really nice calculator.

The info is much appreciated. I am always on the look out for statistics to back up my biking habit.

Let me give you a good example of bike cost vs. car costs. My girlfriend drives a 1988 Olds. Now, this car has been in the shop at least once a month during the last year. Each repair is $50-200. I myself do no own a car, but do spend a fair amount of money on my bike (give me a bike catalog and I will show you hundreds of things I absolutely need.) With the money I spend on my bike, I do not even come close. I purchased my bike for $600 on sale three years ago. Since then I have spend ~$500 on upgrades/repairs/accessories, and I know I could have gotten by with a lot less. But now I own a really nice bike and my girlfriend still owns her rattle-trap car.

Since I am in the middle of a three year savings plan to buy a house, I have decided I do not need a car and have been able to save a lot of money not having one (even with my occasional bike accessory purchase).

Moral of the story...get rid of your car (or use less) and you will realize you do not need it. This does not hold true with bikes.