Mr. Underbridge

You have to figure biking is also a hobby you'd also be doing even if you drove to work. If I look at it that way, then the only extra money I spend purely to commute is in brake pads, lube, Simple Green, and maybe some of the extra-cold weather clothing I've bought to commute on days that I wouldn't do a fun rude. I figure I save around $50/month by commuting. I was "re-investing" that much for a while, but I've tapered off.

Of course, now the problem is that bike lust is setting in. But I figure that's justified if we downsize from 2 cars to 1, right?

crhilton

It was about time for a new second car. So, while it'll be a while before I'll break even on the bikes, I won't be paying $200 a month in car payments the whole time .

jefferee

My wife and I went to MEC on Saturday, with an $80 gift card.
We left with $135 worth of gear and considered ourselves to have gotten away pretty lightly.

However, she managed to find a nice jersey and I got a new frame pump, fenders, tire gauge, spare tubes, and cyclometer (all for the soon-to-arrive new summer commuter).

The summer commuter is a Brodie Ronin (disk-brake cyclo-cross), and is my first foray into many areas:
700c tires (need new tubes), Presta valves (need new pump & gauge), clipless pedals (need new shoes) and disk brakes (need new rear rack), plus of course new fenders and I decided to get a new cyclometer for the bike (wasn't about to transfer the wired mounting unit). I figure I'll be about $250 down before I even start counting the actual bike.

But we did downsize to one car, so I'll be glad to have a backup machine for broken-bike days when transit's just not going to do the job and I don't have access to the car. Plus I figure the health benefits of being motivated to ride recreationally (i.e., having a bike that's going to be fun) are well worth the money spent.

bdinger

I'm way in the negative with my cycling... and I love it! Being who I am, I have to do budgets and such.. well.. it doesn't take much math to show I'm going to be way in the negative for years to come. Last year I basically ended the year -$948 on my "money saved by biking to work" after the purchase of a new bike and all the things that go with it. That's based upon a 6 mile daily commute that I would have done in a 12mpg pickup (I LOVE that truck! ) 5 days a week from March 1 to November 1.

This year I'm wiping the slate clean, and I'm still going to be horribly in the red.. lol! I'm selling a bike, for hopefully a net gain of $350. Then I'm going to buy a new one, which has swelled to a $1400 purchase, bringing my net loss to $1050. I now have a new job and a 7 mile direct commute that generally is a 20 mile "stretch it out and enjoy" commute. However, you tend to avoid stretching out commutes in the car, so I'm going to have to base it on the 7 miles. I intend to commute most days for the rest of the year... but...

..I'm not even going to calculate it. Why? Because I drive a little Ford station wagon that gets 30mpg, requires no maintenance and... I get reimbursed for mileage by my employer. Essentially, I hate to say this, but my mileage checks make the car expense 0, even if I were to drive to work. No, I don't get reimbursed for my daily car commute, but the low maintenance/insurance/licensing costs coupled with 30mpg make my mileage reimbursement essentially negate any car costs.

That being said.. I'll never go back to car commuting. So the little ford wagon stays parked at the parking lot here at work, and I ride back and forth. It's really an ideal situation, as I wasn't thrilled about having to drive again when I took this position, but now that everything has worked out how it has - it's about perfect. Perfect would be no cars, but whaddyaget.

Suffice to say.. I feel you!

ajay677

I started cycle commuting in Sept. 2003. We turned in a leased vehicle and did not replace it. I've spent around $3500 on bikes and equipment over the years. I didn't spend on the second car:

$400 per month payment
$ 92 per month insurance
$600 per year maintenance
4 tanks of fuel per month

Any way you do the math, I'm further ahead cycle communting.

Buglady

I figure I should get used to biking, because I am never going to be able to justify the cost of a car for myself. (I drive The Boy's car on occasion, and he lets me pay for the odd tank of gas but won't let me chip in on the lease payment or the insurance). If I had my own car, I would immediately be looking at an insurance cost upwards of $3000 a year, because I have never had car insurance in my own name in this province (the ten years in BC with a spotless driving record apparently do not count!!! ), so they treat me like a brand new driver and charge a huge premium. And that's before looking at the car itself, running expenses, and gas!

$3K buys a LOT of bikes and/or taxi rides. So until the insurance companies change their policies, I'm biking it. I refuse to hand over 10% of my income to an insurance company that won't do a realistic assessment of my driving risk. (I paid $600/year in BC because of good-driver discounts!) But that's probably a rant for another day.

Pig_Chaser

I'd rather spend money on gear than gas.

baillieul

The real cost savings are when you can get rid of a car. Unfortunately, we are still a 2 car family but are certainly less dependent on the car. After you acquire the basics, the 'support' of the bike lifestyle is pretty minimal. Perhaps it can be hard to seperate needs from wants ( tubes vs new commuter jacket ) , but there are health benefits and some financial ones.

jyossarian

After the initial buying spree wears off, you find yourself w/ gear for any condition and a bike that works. So even though you spend a couple bucks replacing wearable items, you come out ahead a few years later. Plus, you can't count new bike purchases unless you use them for commuting. I've got 3 bikes; one was retired from commuting and is back to mtb duty and serves as the backup commuter. The main commuter is a fg so hardly any maintenance cost and the roadie will probably never be used for commuting. So the costs counted for commuting are those directly associated w/ the main commuter. The other two bikes are "fun" bikes although they get ridden the least. Cuz fg is too much fun.

stevage

The more time you obsess over your bike, the less you're spending on other more expensive hobbies. To be really efficient, just try and reduce the $/hr agonising rate. So, agonising for 5 hours then buying a $40 chainring is ok, but spending 30 hours researching then buying a $30 tyre is much better.

Steve

GreenPremier

Must've been a weak helmet, how well would that have protected you in a crash?

tarwheel 

I've bike commuted over 3,000 miles in the past year and I doubt that I saved a dime. But at least my money is going to bike companies rather than oil companies and Mideast countries.

murphstahoe

+1

GreenPremier

Plus Two, ooooooooohhh

alpinist

Yeah, but most climbing pro & gear lasts for years, it's the stuff like boots & clothes that wear out, and after a few years you need to retire ropes & biners and such. I spend hundreds on this & that each year, and I've been doing it for years. Hey - I own 5 sleeping bags and 6 packs! And I use them all for different purposes. (I get out aroud 40 times a year.)

I figure biking is similar... The commuter bike and the road bike, the panniers and the trunk bag, the floor pump at home and the hand pump on the road, just like climbing - the plastic boots for ice climbing, the rubber slippers for rock, the -20 degree bag for high altitude glacier climbing, the 40 degree half bag for rock bivies... on and on.

fordfasterr

pffft, some people spend more than that on a car payment every month !

bq2001

My truck has been paid off for a couple years now so I only pay for a tank of gas a month and insurance.
My commuter is a fixed gear/single speed that I put together for ~$300. Although I now have 5 bikes after my tri bike purchase last month, so I am in the cycling hole, but making progress at breaking even again Oh, and I had to pull the trigger on that bike because after months of hinting to the wife she finally said yes and I had to buy it before she changed her mind.

Intheloonybin

I've spent $1000 this year. I will be close to breaking even in a month when school ends.

At least I won't have to buy the stuff again for quite awhile. Next year will pay off.

Abneycat

I'll stop spending money on bikes soon. Just need that recumbent to complete my "dream team"..

Oh, who am I kidding?

N+1!

m_yates

I created a spreadsheet when I bought my bike (only about a month ago) on which I add up all money saved on gas by bike commuting. I subtract all bike related expenses from that total. So far, I am at -$800 (including the cost of the bike), but the deficit is slowly decreasing.

My old bike lasted 15 years, so I have to assume that this new bike will eventually pay for itself.

wahoonc

I tried that...too depressing I would rather ride and forget about the cost!

Aaron

m_yates

You probably have a better attitude. Funny, no one thinks of a car as a "money saver". Transportation, even by bike, costs money. It is clear that commuting by bike costs far less than by car and is much more enjoyable.

caloso

I'm not allowed in the LBS without a note from my wife.

alpinist

I recently bought a bike and was tempted to do the spreadsheet thing, but decided not too because it would just take so friggin' LONG. I'd rather just ride. But by my calculations, I figure that by riding to work, the bike will pay for itself in just gas and parking in about 6.5 months. All the other stuff I bought? Helmet, pump, rack, fenders, head light, blinkys, trunk bag, jacket, shorts, gloves, lock, panniers, zip ties, tools, bungee cords... All that crap will take another year! (Okay, maybe 6 months. And by then I'll be ready to buy another bike...)

wahoonc

Actually a lot of the stuff like tools, etc to me is hobby cost vs commuting cost. It gets used on other bikes I got my payback years ago. In 1982 I bought a 197? Raleigh Sports from a pawn shop for $25. It was my only transportation for 5 years and was still used as a commuter for 3 more, then I bought a Giant Iguana with a spare set of wheels, used it for trail riding and commuting for another 7 years, then lost my commutable job and had to start driving again Now my job keeps me on the road, but sometimes I luck up and get a hotel close enough to the job site I can cycle commute.

Aaron