wahoonc

And most of the times the reality is they don't save anything, they spend it on additional fuel, time and wear and tear on the vehicle. Most people don't even think about that aspect of it. Unfortunately or probably fortunately part of my job includes cost analysis of various means and methods so things like driving 40 miles round trip to "save" a few dollars jumps out at me.

We live approximately 20 miles from the center of the nearest large town. We typically only make one major trip into town once a month and try to minimize the have to haves until that time. It takes planning, which seems to be something that has gone away in this instant gratification world of ours.

Aaron

Juha

I've never owned a car, so I've never had to pay gas/insurance/maintenance on regular basis. I don't have a monthly price tag to attach to it, so I don't consider it as money saved in that sense.

--J

rbrian

When I had a car, I was paying for a loan as well as fuel, tax, insurance, etc - the thousands I save go to charity and onto my mortgage, saving me even more over the long run - I might even pay it off in the next 3 years, having only had it for a total of ten years. Then my fixed costs will be so low I could live comfortably on minimum wage, or on my current wage I could buy a car!

gerv 

But even if you have never owned a car, you might compare a bicycle ride to other transportation costs: taxi, bus for example. Actually, I find the bus toll a good way to compute my costs for travelling to work... When I compare most any mode of transportation to bicycle travel, I think the bicycle is a better deal (unless you are riding a Colnago to the grocery store).

So when I go to pick up a part at the LBS, you won't hear me complaining about the cost of parts. It all seems like a deal to me.

dynodonn 

If a Colnago is your main ride, then compared to the price of the vehicles that many US citizens are currently driving to the grocery store, it still would be considered a good deal.

phillyskyline

Considering that our 6 bikes are worth considerably more than our crappy car, and that we've acquired 4 of those 6 bikes in the last six months, we haven't "saved" a dime in gas or maintenance yet. We're selling the car in August for (hopefully) around $2500, which will offset some of the bike purchase costs. And with insurance at about $1300/year, it won't take long to make up for the rest. It'll be interesting to see how much we spend renting Zipcar. I expect around $25/mo, tops.

Roody

If you have 6 expensive bikes, you should probably budget a big portion of the expenses as "hobby/recreation" rather than "transportation".

phillyskyline

True. All of them except for one (the R20 is just for fun) actually serve a necessary purpose for us, due to the nature of our commutes/work, but that doesn't mean we couldn't have gotten cheaper bikes if we wanted to. Thank god I ditched my other expensive hobby (planted aquariums) before taking up biking!

chandltp

Can you expand on this? I've done pretty well with 2 bikes (summer and a winter beater)

phillyskyline

Sure. There are 6 bikes between 2 people, both of us bike commute daily. We started with a folder (me) and fixie (girlfriend). They're both awesome bikes, but not so great when you need to stop at the grocery store on the way home, haul a lot of paperwork, etc. When we decided to sell the car back in late March, we got a Kona Ute cargo bike for big grocery trips, cat litter, and other heavy stuff. Then with spring temps reaching 90+ degrees on a regular basis, we both decided to get dedicated city commuter bikes with racks/panniers that are more comfortable for longer rides. It's nice to have a choice for my daily commute, as well as a back-up if I wake up to a slow leak flat.

Everyone's needs/wants are different. I'm sure if we had planned better, we could have done the same thing with fewer bikes. But we get a lot of miles and enjoyment out of all of them, they're all steel and will pretty much last forever...so I don't feel that we wasted money. The Raleigh Twenty was a total impulse buy and is our shared toy, not gonna try to defend that one

wahoonc

Funny...my Raleigh Twenty was a semi impulse purchase, but has ended up being my go to and most used bike over the past 2 years. I eventually plan to retire it and get something a bit lighter and easier to travel with, like a Brompton or a Bike Friday NWT.

Aaron

gerv 

Those bikes don't sound in any way "over the top". While it's nice to be all utilitarian, a quality steel bike is a joy and probably something you will keep for many years. We have 8 bikes in our house, among 4 people, so the only advice I can give is that a horde of bikes takes up a lot of room.

prathmann

On a per-mile basis, my bike's fuel costs almost as much as my car's fuel figuring an average of about a dollar/500 kcal for bike fuel and $3/gal. for car fuel or 6 cents/mile for the bike and 10 cents/mile for the car. As mentioned by others, I am more efficient in planning shopping trips by bike, but OTOH, bike rides are more enjoyable so I go on far more recreational bike rides than car drives. Probably ends up being about a wash overall.

But there are other intangibles - refueling my bike engine with a quart of chocolate ice cream is more pleasurable than watching the car guzzle its gallon of regular at the pump.

wahoonc

Car drivers eat too so you can subtract the base calories (which in the US are probably more) from your calculations. My bikes run on beer, unfortunately I like nice brew pub beer, I typically pay $4 a pint for my favorite, which works out to somewhere around $26 a gallon

Aaron

prathmann

My numbers were already based on just the additional calories I need to consume as a result of the energy needed for cycling. Gasoline is really pretty cheap when you consider its energy content. Each gallon (US) has over 30000 kcal. or the equivalent of almost 60 Big Mac sandwiches.

phillyskyline

Aaron, our Twenty has certainly gotten more miles on it since we replaced the awful stock seat. Now the bike is really a pleasure to ride. It's our beer run bike One of these days when we're not hemorrhaging money on our bike habit, we'll build up some new wheels to replace the heavy old steel ones.

I love the beer/Big Mac and gas comparisons. Wish I rode enough to justify "refueling" with a quart of ice cream!

wahoonc

I got new wheels coming up for my second twenty that my bride rides, trying to find a shiny rims for it, plus put a coaster brake hub on it. I usually do my wheel building during the winter months, I can sit in my recliner in the nice warm house and do wheel builds.

Aaron

dynodonn 

After watching what several family members spend on payments and other related expenses on their new or used vehicles, I no longer worry about if I'm spending too much money on my bikes or food to power my engine. Don't worry, you bike spending will eventually plateau, as mine did.

Roody

How many additional calories do you think you burn while riding? The rule of thumb is about 40 per mile.

prathmann

I was using only 30 kcal/mile in my estimates which is based on a very moderate pace of cycling and is typical for my transportational rides. Fitness or competitive cycling would be higher.

wahoonc

People quite often overlook the hidden costs. I just ran some numbers for my wife on her vehicle, she spent ~$600 on parking last year, $1200 on maintenance and repairs, $250 on taxes and registration, Insurance $525. For a nice total of: $2575 and that doesn't include gas! Vehicle is paid for which is a good thing. The maintenance and repairs included some heavy maintenance and new tires this year.

I can buy several of my type of bicycles for that kind of money!

Aaron

Roody

Still, these are marginal costs, since you will be eating whether you ride or not.

Robert Foster

A 2.5 hour group ride typically takes 2500 calories three time a week for me. Utility and transportation rides I only log the miles but I think I can knock down 100 cals and hour just cruising. I haven't plugged it in to Live Strong's site to see however. I don't wear I HRM on utility and transportation rides so I can't check calories. SO fitness cycling is higher.

dynodonn 

My wife spends approximately ten percent or more, of her gross income on her transportation needs in using a motor vehicle, and I am averaging five percent or less on my transportation expenses for my bikes.