Originally Posted by
ScottCommutes
The dirty little secret that I have never seen discussed on these forums is the pennies per mile to ride a bike. Take everything bike related (including shop repairs, special underpants, shoes, parts, tools, upgrades, whole bikes, tires, etc) you ever bought over a certain time period, and divide by the number of miles you rode.
Many beginners no doubt have a $700 bike with 100 miles on it and are in the dollars per mile category.
Many others ride cheap bikes into the ground and are probably at $0.10 per mile. Even then, a 20 mile ride costs a couple of bucks worth of bike wear.
I would guess that many here are around $0.50 per mile, but I have no actual data.
You're new here, right? We've had quite a few discussions over the years. FWIW, last time I tried to add everything up (including bikes, accessories, clothes, etc.) I came up with 3-7 cents per mile.
Some people do their best to skew the numbers. They will claim I cheated -- I did not account for all the steaks (though I really eat only one a month or so) -- extra food to fuel all those miles! I also included recreational riding, which some people were adamant should NOT be included, only commuting miles count. And only the shortest distance, don't count the long way home. Etc. These are often the same people who claim you should not count on saving $0.67 per mile driving, even though your current vehicle may save you from trading it in and buying a new one. Chip on their shoulder, maybe?
Commuting cyclists do some of the most consistent cycling. The people who buy a $4,000 bike for a couple hundred miles per summer? They're not riding to and from work every day. (But they move the average cost!) A good bicycle will last a very long time, so the cyclo-commuter will amortize their bike cost down to nearly zero per mile. Then the only recurring costs are brakes, tires, chains, and perhaps bar tape on the bike. Bike shorts and perhaps cleats are recurring costs on the body -- bike jerseys hardly ever wear out.