Originally Posted by
noglider
You've been frugal, yet I'm surprised to see that the cost has been $0.25 per mile. I wish more people did this to see what the average for many riders and bikes is. I would have hoped it's less, and maybe it is. Lots of people with little money ride bikes in Asia.
Cost per time is important as well, perhaps even more so. I keep track of all the investments (parts costs, don't pay for labour). For all the vehicles I use. But I don't bother with odometers on bicycles, so can only get a rough estimate of the mileage. Except from reletively recently, when I started a chain durability comparison experiment and "forced" myself to place odometer on one bicycle.
For a "common sense - budget" commuter it goes below 4 euros per month, without using poor quality parts.
For a good quality bicycle, it's around 10 euros per month (if you buy 50 euro tyres, more expensive saddle, etc...) for a relatively high mileage use (30 km per day and up).
In terms of commute time, there's little difference.