Originally Posted by
Photosmith
Now see that's exactly what I've been looking at myself. I've had my Honda Civic for 11 years now and done a pretty good job of tracking expenses. I look at it on a cost per mile basis and at least so far, my car is cheaper, but I figure that the bike would be cheaper eventually. Well, eventually.
For the car, I figure I've spent around $46,000 in the last 11 years and 165,000 miles I've had it if you increase the gas price to today's dollars.
Car + financing: 18000
Gas @ $3/gal: 14100
Insurance: 9900
Maintenance: 3000
Repairs: 1000
Total: $46000
$46,000 / 165,000 miles = $0.28/mile
My bike on the other hand I've spent $1078 on so far and logged 360 miles. I won't document exactly how I've managed to spend $1078 when the bike itself was only $348 other than to point out what you and everyone else knows, which is that accessories add up.
Bike: $348
Accessories so far: $730
Total: $1078
$1078 / 360 miles = $2.99/mile
So yeah, right now my bike is 10 times as expensive as my car BUT in theory I could probably log at least 5000 miles or so and only rack up another $400 or so in expenses. That brings it to $1500 / 5000 = $0.30. At that point the two are in price parity and over time the bike will get even cheaper per mile while my car on the other hand is getting very close to the end of it's useful lifespan.
So.. yeah. Bikes are a LOT less expensive up front, cost nothing to insure as long as you have excellent health insurance coverage that covers road accidents on a bicycle and once you've logged enough miles, the overall cost potential of a bike is to be cheaper per mile. Now if you factor in the fact my bike seats only me, while I can put my whole family in my car, well then... it becomes clear why I'm not able to give up owning a car completely, but I do think it's a fine idea to have both a car and a bike and use each appropriately.
Holy crap! Wow, that's an expensive bike for such little riding.
My commuter bike will end up putting in 1,000 miles by the end of the year. I've spent $145 on it total with all accessories but, I know I might spend another $10 on tubes (you never know when it'll pop). The chain won't need replacing till I reach about 1,800-2,000 miles (I bought it used but it was barely ridden). So for this year, I'll be at $0.14 cents a gallon (or with new tubes: $0.15).
Next year I'll need to replace the chain (not tires as the cost of my bike includes new tires), so I'm looking at $163 - $173 (if I need new tubes). So it'll be a two year cost per gallon of
$0.08 to
$0.086.
And repairs are very unlikely to be needed over the next few years (other than a new chain and brake pads every two years and a new cassette 5 years from now). I just need to buy lube for the chain and that's it.
Bikes are MUCH cheaper if you're really just getting a commuter bike. Compare buying a used car to a used bike and the bike will come out ahead every time.
Now I do have a road bike that I ride for fun and THAT costs me a bundle. Partially because I love to buy great accessories for it, partially because the road bike industry is ridiculous and partially because I ride it 7,000-9,000 miles a year, which means it requires more new parts each year and more maintenance. But a bike you're riding 2,000 miles or less a year can be cheap.