Originally Posted by
RubeRad
As OP of the thread (and borderline OCD), I will provide a more detailed breakdown of my commuter. There are probably a few other numberphiles that would be able to, willingness is another question, and probably most will only hazard an estimate (which was my original intent for this thread anyways)
OK here we go.
That was at the start of my commuting. Since then I've commuted for 6 years. Purchases have included (many of these costs estimated to within $5)
Pair of Schwalbe marathon supreme 700x50: $138.60
Pair of Schwalbe marathon mondial 700x42: $88.96
2 extra chains: $30 (1 chain broke, 2 are in rotation)
Coupla tubes, patch kits: ~$30
Selle An-atomica Titanico X seat: $92
Bar tape, housing for accent color change: ~$25
Wellgo MG-1 pinned platform pedals, $25
2 helmets: $40
2pr kool-stop salmon pads: $30
Cable lock: $10
Total $1853. In case I forgot some other things, round up to $1900. Less than my original guesstimate of $2000.
Miles: I just checked my odometer and it says 17504. 6 years of avg 175 commutes/year at min 11mi rt = 11550. Since some commutes take longer routes and there is other non-commuting riding on that bike, but also a lot of miles on my old MTB, the number of miles on that bike are somewhere in between.
$1900/11550 = 16c/mi
$1900/17504 = 11c/mi
So my initial estimate of 13c/mi is smack in the middle of that window.
Nickel/mile over 15000 miles gives a budget of $750. If you start with a $100 sturdy vintage steel bike, that seems pretty easy.