acidfast7

note: will adjust to a 4-week bus pass for £69 if that is cheaper for comparison once I hit one 4-week period of commuting savings. this would provide a more accurate estimate of cost savings.

start date of first 4-week period: 22 JUL 2014

wphamilton

Buy something! Seat bag, repair tool, lights ...

acidfast7

stats:

2254km/1400mi
£544/$865 total
£0.24/km
€0.30/km
$0.61/mi
net money saved (bus fare saved minus running costs): £14.10 / $24.01

photos:

acidfast7

will do! maybe some new bar tape!

any suggestions that a fledgling commuter needs?

DiegoFrogs

Yeah, an internally geared hub!

I-Like-To-Bike

Fledgling and experienced commuters should consider IGH equipped with coaster brake. Best of all combinations for flexibility and practicality for all weather commuting.

DiegoFrogs

Actually, the coaster brake is the one part of the equation that I'm not thrilled about (my bike has one).

I hadn't used a coaster brake in about 25 years, since I was a child thrashing on a Huffy BMX bike, before I bought this bike. I had also never used an IGH except on a borrowed bike on an extremely short ride where everything was frozen in a single gear.

I'd prefer to be able to backpedal to find my starting foot-point, and I'd like to be able to use oil instead of high-temperature grease when rebuilding the hub. Besides, I don't have a problem with rim brakes in most situations. Having said this, for years I rode all of my miles on fixed gear bikes, and I like that, too. I think I want a disc-braked IGH, really! We'll see how the budget works out.

I-Like-To-Bike

How often do you think have to rebuild IGH/coaster hubs? Once a decade or so after heavy use is my experience with Sachs/SRAM products, only problem child I ever ran into was the long departed SA TCW 3 speed coaster. I don't have much experience with the Schimano offerings.

acidfast7

stats:

2272km/1411mi
£544/$865 total
£0.23/km
€0.30/km
$0.61/mi
net money saved (bus fare saved minus running costs): £18.80 / $31.85

photos:

acidfast7

stats:

2292km/1424mi
£544/$865 total
£0.23/km
€0.29/km
$0.60/mi
net money saved (bus fare saved minus running costs): £23.50 / $39.74

photos:

fietsbob

yawn

acidfast7

I try to make it break every day

acidfast7

stats:

2311km/1435mi
£544/$865 total
£0.23/km
€0.29/km
$0.60/mi
net money saved (bus fare saved minus running costs): £28.20/ $47.60

photos:

bigbenaugust 

I am waiting for the orange bike to hit 10000km before doing any more math.

acidfast7

stats:

2330km/1447mi
£544/$865 total
£0.23/km
€0.29/km
$0.59/mi
net money saved (bus fare saved minus running costs): £32.90 / $55.37

photos:

acidfast7

makes the math easy, like SI units

acidfast7

changed the background behind the bike to save the wall

stats:

2349km/1459mi
£544/$865 total
£0.23/km
€0.29/km
$0.59/mi
net money saved (bus fare saved minus running costs): £37.60 / $63.36

photos:

acidfast7

There seems to be some resentment to posting EuroPop videos, so this is a synopsis of Britain compared to Frankfurt, Copenhagen and Stockholm so far:


It's quite accurate from a language and landscape perspective.

The language may NOT be suitable for work, depending on where you work!

acidfast7

stats:

2382km/1480mi
£544/$865 total
£0.22/km
€0.28/km
$0.58/mi
net money saved (bus fare saved minus running costs): £47.00 / $78.46

photos:

acidfast7

a little bit of German festival music that I was at last year

https://soundcloud.com/dancefield/atb#t=960

acidfast7

stats:

2401km/1491mi
£544/$865 total
£0.22/km
€0.28/km
$0.58/mi
net money saved (bus fare saved minus running costs): £51.70 / $86.48

photos:

acidfast7

stats:

2420km/1503mi
£544/$865 total
£0.22/km
€0.27/km
$0.57/mi
net money saved (bus fare saved minus running costs): £56.50 / $93.73

photos:

Sixty Fiver

The suspense is almost palatable... will there be another 19km commute tomorrow ?



I like the idea of calculating that break even cost and have done that with my wife's bicycle which cost $900.00 and has seen 7 years of use and over 20,000 km without needing much more than one new set of tyres, several sets of brake pads, and a new chain (it has an IGH and full chaincase).

The current running cost is .22 / km and the cost of the bike was less than a year of bus passes so it's all win.

The running cost for my car shaped object over the past three years has also been cheaper than monthly bus passes (for a family of 4) and sits at .20 / km which includes servicing, fuel, and my purchase cost.

But then the car only cost $1.00

acidfast7

1. No evidence is no calculation.
2. It could get very interesting quite soon as I have an interview for a "higher" professorship in London at the beginning of next month. So, I'd me moving again for a promotion, which is quite OK.
3. It's important to remember that a Real evaluation of a product is tedious but the end result is interesting (for example, your claim of 0.22 USD/mi has no validity as there is no evidence.)

Sixty Fiver

I calculated the respective purchase costs, maintenance, and running costs against the respective mileage of each vehicle... sorry if I did not show my work professor.

As it is, not buying a bus pass every month more than paid for my wife's bicycle in less than a year when it needed nothing but to be ridden.

When I went car free and had no car payment, insurance premium, or operating expenses that saved me over 10k / year before I even calculated depreciation... I did that for 5 years.