The true cost of cycling
 

Over the weekend, my wife did our taxes. She keeps fairly detailed records, so she took the opportunity to inform me that my cycling cost well over $2K last year, making it one of our single biggest expenditures.

This figure does not include new bikes or bike equipment received as gifts, nor does it factor in that I eat significantly more than I otherwise would. It does include a health club membership and locker rental fees (~$800/yr so I can shower off when I get to work and have a safe place to keep my bike) as well as money travelling to or participating in organized rides.

However, most of the stuff was really mundane. There was over $400 in tires and tubes alone, but there was a significant amount that went to buy small maintenance items such as chains, cables, and other things When I looked at what was bought, everything looked legit and nothing seemed extravagant except $108 for a set of racing tires for my nice bike.

Note that the figure does not account for money that would have been spent on gas, parking, wear and tear on the car, increased insurance (because we wouldn't be able to drive such an old beater so long), etc.

I told her that I thought it was a bargain and to plan for a similar amount this year. Fortunately, she agreed. Better yet, she not only didn't flinch, but even seemed excited when I told her that next year I'm going to want to add a tadpole trike to my stable....

Still cheaper than a triple bypass.

I've been commuting year 'round for 12 years, and I'm not at all surprised. A bicycle, particularly the kind of bicycle you can buy in the United States, is not inexpensive transportation -- particularly if you use it in all weather. I contend that the marginal (not average) per-mile cost of operating a bicycle is generally more than operating an automobile.

On the other hand, think about walking. If you walk for transportation, you'll be lucky to get 1,000 miles from a pair of $150 walking shoes -- a marginal cost of 15c/mile. Add to that the cost of clothes and accessories, and you'll find that from a marginal perspective walking is no cheaper than driving.

What makes driving expensive are the fixed costs -- depreciation, financing and insurance. From a social policy standpoint, this is problematic, as at an individual level once you've decided to spring for a car there is very little incentive to limit your driving, but at a collective level all of that driving imposes a burden on society and the environment.

Im so glad bike parts are a write off for me. I cant imagine spending $2k/yr on it though, even riding the 13,000+ miles I do.

pfft, a very very durable and suitable bike can be had for under $200

my current workbike cost me $100, Ive spent another $200 or so over the last 3 years on it keeping it going and Ive put about 45,000 miles on it in that time

brand new SS or fixed gear entry level bikes run about $5-$600 these days, same with the hybrids, cycling is what you make of it, a little common sense goes a long way

What would a gym membership cost? And the related clothing etc?

Cycling still seems way cheaper than a lot of other adult sports such as golf, skiing, or scuba diving. But cycling is the only one of these that offsets commuting costs. There are probably only a few hardy souls that cross-country ski to work on a regular basis. While most folks are grinding out their daily commute twice a day, I'm going for two nice bike rides. You can't put a price tag on that kind of stress relief and fun.

I don't think I spend $2k a year and I ride about 7000 miles a year and have 4 bikes. The only thing I purchase on a regular basis is tires and tubes. I buy them when they go on sale and get enough to last a year or 2. Plus I patch the tubes unless they are ruined. You can get top quality racing tires for $25 each if you shop around and wait for the sales.

As far as a commuter bike goes, any old bike will do. Why would you want to commute on and expensive bike? Back in the day when I had a job I could commute by bike to, I had an old touring bike I payed $150 for. Plus, old 6/7/8 speed chains last a lot longer and cost way less.

I'm cheap. In 2006, I spent about $120 on repairs and $35 on a pair of bike shorts that I'm still wearing. For that amount, I rode well over 5000 miles on 359 days of the year. Guess I'm a cheap bastard.

Just 200 bucks maintenance for 45K miles? What are your riding conditions, and what kind of tires do you use? Also, what type of transmission do you have? Cassettes, chains, shifters, bearings, rims, brakes, gloves, helmets, etc all wear out with use/abuse. Even durable components like seats and pedals have a lifespan. Plus, running decent lights costs something because neither the bulbs don't last forever even if they last a long time)

If I didn't have to pay for showers and lockers, didn't do organized rides, got rid of all my bikes except one, and eliminated the fluff, I could probably bring it down to about $300/yr for tires, tubes, and all the parts and occasional clothing items needed to keep going. But not much lower.

I'm with you on both points. However, my 13 year old truck has about 57K miles on it. Haven't paid a dime on it for years, I have cheap liability insurance, and it's fully depreciated. If I take good care of it, I'll be able to get many more years out of it. I try to drive it a couple times a month.

However, I ride because I like to. I guess what surprised me is that I don't consider myself extravagant. Having said that, I've gotten to that stage where I'm willing to get better stuff. When you've ridden long enough, you know what makes a difference to you and what doesn't.

riding conditions:whatever central ohio can throw at me, I ride year round
tires: 27"x 1 1/8" whatever is on sale with kevlar, right now its panaracer pasela's
transmission: direct drive fixed gear, 52/17 gear set
helmet:none
wheels:$25 each for front, bout $50 each on rear
gloves:none cept in winter
shifters:N/A
saddles:replace as needed, bout 3-4 years
tubes:always patch first, replace as needed
lights:none

wear and tear on me is cheap, so is wise choice of bikes and components

Bottom brackets dont live very long, neither do pants or shoes, rest lasts quite awhile.

last year's costs (was traveling 1/2 the year):

$4.00 1 new tube

$3.00 patch kit

$7.00 bottle of white lightening

$1 put in tire under hole

$200 sounds right to me. I've put approx. 18,000 commuting miles on the bike I've been using for the last 3¾ years. (Transmission = Sachs/SRAM 7 speed with coaster) The bike was bought new in Germany for about $135 and I've spent about $100 on lights and a mirror. The saddle was replaced with a Brooks Leather B66 that came on a 1976 Raleigh that cost $142 complete. In the past 3¾ years my maintenance expenses are:
$65 to the LBS for a combination bottom bracket rebuild and respoking of the rear wheel.
One chain $5 at WalMart;
3 Schwalbe 47 x 622 tires at about $30 each and patched but never replaced a tube.
Approx 5 spokes for about $5
about 50 cents worth of epoxy and duct tape to fix a cracked chainguard.
The seat, pedals, LED bulbs, front brake pads have never needed any maintenance. The batteries for the lights are rechargeable AA & AAA's.

I also don't go overboard with car maintence. My 1995 Taurus has 144,000 miles and still has the original plugs in it and the car has never been tuned up. Still has the original muffler too. One oil change a year and tires every now and then. One brake job, a new radiator and removed an inoperative A/C. That's about it for maintenance in 11 years since new. Its more than paid off since the insurance company paid me off for a totaled car due to hail damage 3 years ago. All I had to do was replace the windshield and Dimples still starts everytime I need it which isn't often since I brought it back from Germany with 137,000 miles 3¾ years ago. The only problem with it is that the 85mph speedometer went on the fritz as soon as I started driving it on the Autobahn 9 years ago.

Hang on! Your wife detailed all your cycling related spendings and put them in as a deductible ? That's illegal! :D

Your question was answered in the OP, Gene.

My first year of commuting was like around $500. It wasn't until I got the bug and rode more and bought more "higher end" stuff that I hit over the $1,000 mark. I still believe my bicycle commuting is costing less than insurance, maintenance, fuel, taxes, license fees etc (environmental overhead for the vehicle) etc... Plus my health is even better. I have made tons of friends over the past few years! Gas keeps going up and down and I don't really pay attention!

Keep Cycling!

Cycling as your main transportation is significantly cheaper if you don't insist on having the lightest, fanciest gears out there.

I know that my cycling doesn't cost near $2000 a year, but that's because I don't make $2000 a year :D

Well, except for that brief period at the beginning where I bought 4 bikes in a 3 month period ($2300 total). Bye, bye, savings.

You are getting a tadpole trike? Well, you better budget for two because if your wife is excited about it she's going to want one too. They're the most fun thing there is. So, add $4000 or more to next year's budget.

For a sport, cycling is cheap if you cyclocommute. For transportation, personal experience has yet to save money over motoring. I don't see any break even point in near future either. Year 1 was about 2k. Year 2 has only been about $40 for a chain clean/lube kit and warm weather gloves. But even though I am trying to ride each day I can, my per mile rate is about $1.52. Motoring is about .80/mile. So I have fallen behind. Worst, got the itch to get a new bike. It'll take forever to break even.

It may be to late this year, but next year some of that may be eligible as a tax write off or deduction. I had 2 charity rides from last year, plus the milage to & from those rides that qualified as a deductable on my taxes. On one of them I had to fill the gas tank up but I did not keep the receipt, otherwise I could have used that as well.

Maybe this was the true cost of cycling for YOU. But i highly doubt this is the true cost of cycling for most riders. Like just about every single thing in this country, you can spend whatever you want. But you don't have to spend $2,000. I hope nobody stumbles onto this thread in the future and actually believes that.

It's sort of like eating at the Tavern On the Green 3 times a day all year long. At the end of the year you could possibly have spent over $150,000 eating out. Then you could arrive at the conclusion that eating out is expensive. Or you could look at this other guy, who ate at McDonald's, Subway and other places and ordered inexpensive items. He might have spent $2500 eating out every meal for the whole year! That is likely cheaper than he could eat at home. (considering he is just feeding himself.)

Again, just because you spent two grand last year doesn't mean that is the true cost of cycling.

[QUOTE=banerjek]$800/yr so I can shower off when I get to work and have a safe place to keep my bike)

Unscented baby wipes ! You'll spend $20 per year. Look for another safe place to keep your bike. Ask if you can bring it into your workplace.

as well as money travelling to or participating in organized rides.

A big reason why I no longer do pay rides... why pay to ride on public roads and eat the food and drink I carry with me?

There was over $400 in tires and tubes alone,

Wow, that is really excessive. You need to be using much more hazard resistant tires, my friend. They cost a bit more, and they will slow you down, but they'll knock a great deal off of that $400 figure. Are you patching tubes, or throwing them away after each flat? Lose the CO2 cartridges, go back to pumps.

but there was a significant amount that went to buy small maintenance items such as chains, cables, and other things When I looked at what was bought, everything looked legit and nothing seemed extravagant except $108 for a set of racing tires for my nice bike.

How many chains do you go through? And how many cables? Chains a couples times per year, cables once every few years? I don't see how you spend more than $75 per year on these items.

She's didn't attempt to deduct (she just keeps track of everything). No one would be happier than I if I could deduct my bikes and my dog....

Two things (aside from having to pay for the health club) drive my costs way up. One is that I ride in anything, and going thousands of miles in slop on debris covered roads is hard on components. The other is that my commute is pretty long.

Although the rider is the most important component, the bike is also important. Given my typical cruising speeds, I arrive home on my 18 lb racer when there would still be over 5 miles to go on the hybrid. The touring bike (my regular commuter) would still have 1 or 2 miles left, though it would still be about 4 miles ahead of the hybrid.

Add that time up twice a day, 5 days a week, and it's worth having the right equipment. The touring bike is the right equipment for the job (which is why I use it over 95% of the time), but sometimes I like to feel sporty. If I had only few miles to go or rode mostly stop and go in town, I'd do things differently because the time savings would be very different.

Several people on this thread probably average more than 10 hours/week in the saddle. That's enough time to justify getting stuff you like.

I love fast, fun bikes. I'd been considering a highracer because they're great for distance riding and have excellent cruising and top end speeds. However, I don't like the handling characteristics.

I've been obsessed with tadpoles from the day I first saw a picture of one. It's an inherently cool design that should mesh well with my riding style.

No can do. I'm a professional and need to look like one. I cannot store my bike at the workplace. The janitor said it was OK if I used the utility closet because there was plenty of room. The boss did not agree.

Granted this is extra. It's sometimes fun to go someplace new -- much of the expense in this category can be hotel and meals on the road. My commuter's normally about 45lbs loaded. It's really fun to go for a nice long ride when you're light once in awhile.

I rode Armadillos for years. My route absolutely destroys them and I normally get 20-25 flats a year (sometimes more) and I go through 3 sets of tires. My pump (don't use C02 for commuting) is Topeak Roadmorph. At the beginning of this year, I switched to schwalbe marathon plus. Haven't had a flat for 3 mos which is a record for me so I'll ride nothing else in the future. They're very slow. Looking at the wear and tear, 2 sets a year should do the trick (about $160). I'll need at least one set of tires for my racing bike (around $100). I use CO2 for that bike, but I probably only get 1 or 2 flats a year because the routes I take are clean.

2, sometimes 3 chains on the commuter (SRAM). One chain on the racer (regular Ultegra). Chains are cleaned frequently. Cables are replaced once a year on the commuter as a maintenance item -- they're ususally still serviceable, but have noticeable corrosion. The commuter needs brakes replaced every year. I'm replacing the rims this year because they've been so eaten up.