trekker pete, the IRS allows something like 50c a mile for business and charitable purposes. If they think fixed costs really do count, who are we to say they don't?

Look, either way, if you look at operating cost, ownership cost or even just purchase cost, cycling is cheaper than driving. Some say, "I'm going to insure my car no matter what" then we can also say, "I'm going to buy the bike no matter what".

The IRS may allow that much, but, unless you drive an absolute gas hog, it cost quite a bit less than 50 cents a mile.

Maybe if you drive a fairly expensive car and you replace it at a low mileage, the cost per mile might come pretty close to this amount. I don't do that. I bought my first new car ever last year and plan on driving it till the wheels fall off, so this might be why I think the cost per mile is so far off.

According to my calculations I will save $3,000 a year when I go car free. That amount includes not having to pay for:

-insurance
-gas
-oil changes
-registration
-etc

And that's with my car being paid for. For those of you that are paying $300 or more a month for leasing or car note that' even more money.

Since I have been commuting (since December), I have been able to put money in my savings account. I drive old vehicles, 60's and 70's era, they dont cost much to insure or register. They are not very efficient on gas, though. I have found that if I want to rent a video, I now have to ride 45 minutes round trip. Do I really want to rent that video? Sometimes I do, but my video rental has gone down to once a month now. Used to be 2-3 times a week. Same as groceries, I shop 3 times a month, using a cargo trailer. Now I make do with what I have in the cupboard. I dont find commuting a chore but it takes away the convenience that the car gave me. It has been the first time in 3 years that I have been able to save.

Netflix FTW.

You also get to add whatever money you got selling your car.

Exactly. Right now I'm debating if I should really go car-free or not. My vehicle is a toyota 4runner, they last forever and I barely drive as it is, maybe 3,000 or so miles a year. So I'm debating if I should sell it or keep it in storage. If I keep it in storage it will break because the less you drive the worse it actually is for your car. But if I sell it and I will actually need a car later on I would either have to buy a beater which might break a lot of buy another toyota which would make me come up $0 in the money saved. Decisions decisions lol. :roflmao2:

If you see yourself buying a vehicle in the next year or two, you might want to hold onto it. Sounds like you have a good vehicle and coming accross another one is a bit of a crap shot.

If you see yourself needing a vehicle only once in awhile, rent one or bum one off a friend/relative when needed.

There are times I envy car free folks. They have the added motivation of not having an alternative to get them out of bed and into the saddle. This is worth something as well or atleast it is for folks who occasionally misplace their self motivation as I do.

Seven Months for My Break-Even Point ....
 

My new LHT didn't cost $5,000, but I've spent a total of around $4,000 so far on the bike and extra stuff. My break-even point will be less than seven months, another four months to go ....

10-Year Cost for Riding Your Bicycle ... ???
 

How did you come up with 12 cents a mile for the cost of riding your bicycle? I think a more realistic calculation would be to figure the cost on a 10-year average. How much would it cost you to drive for 10 years? Include everything! How much would it cost you to ride your bicycle for 10 years, including everything?

I drive my dad's pickup, but pay for my own gas. I don't have to make payments on the car, pay for oil changes, or insurance. The only time driving is cheaper is when i drive to work, because I get on the clock sooner earlier and consequently start earning money earlier. Oh, wait, stupid speeding tickets... yep, biking is cheaper... Ha i swear, the highway patrol is out to get me!

Gas costs me 200 a month minimum when I drive (I work in construction management and sometimes I have to drive to visit different job sites)
When I don't drive, sometimes for months at a time, I certainly see a difference at the end of the month, but then again, the bike is a given, I ride anyway and race and stuff so I would have the bike anyway, and would put in the same amount of mileage on the bike a day for training rides anyway

I think if you are going to include the price of the bicycle in these calculations, then you should also include the price of the car.

Once you do ... oh, man.

I think we need some DNA from all of you who are able to ride their bike without consuming any more calories. We'll clone you and use the clones to power bicycle generators and solve the world's energy problems.

There'll be some logistical issues to work out but this is going to be big.

Free money!

I have car insurance even tho I have been car free for 20 years. If I want to rent a car or happen to be driving a friend's car (cause I don't drink alcohol) I am good to go.

I have "non-owned vehicular" insurance through State Farm. I am 51 with a stellar driving record and the cost is $370 a year for minimum liability.

My Chase Visa covers damage or loss of a rental car up to the total value. So if the rental is $29.99 a day - I pay $29.99 a day, not the rip-off insurance costs which can easily cost an extra $20 a day.

Hm I was thinking you shouldn't but perhaps clone me. I've put just over 4,000 miles miles on this year and gained about 24 lbs since November soooo I'm not only biking without consuming more calories but it appears I'm generating calories from biking! ;):(:cry:

Tardy to the party
 

Commuting by bike is an art, and we all know that art is worthless... Or maybe priceless... Basically, money shouldn't factor into it, I just do what feels right. I don't know if I've SAVED money, but I know commuting has made me RICHER :)... I really don't know how to defend my commuting strategy in a way that makes economical sense because I still own a car and have to spend money on it's up keep anyway. I know that my body appreciates it, and it is fun to do, but beyond that it may have been cheaper in the here and now to never have started biking at all.

I like your outlook, DanBraden.

I hadn't planned on cycling in to work today, but my mechanic worked on my car last week, and over the weekend, I noticed the brakes were definitely not right. So I tossed my bike in the car, drove to the garage, dropped the car off, and cycled to work.

Since I do cycle to work one or two days a week, I now can do it whenever I need to, for whatever reason. And I can also cycle to other useful places as a result. So I'm also richer in that way.

average new car: $12,000 & up
average new bike: $100-$600

even with parts, labor and other misc. things, a bicycle seems cheeper to me. upfront cost to ride/drive a bicycle is most definately cheaper...seems that way for long term use too. the cost of a motor vehicles operation is quite a bit more significant than that of a bicycles.

as for money saved and when it will be apearent... not a clue. i didn't own a car long, but iv'e owned bicycles for years and it seems to me cars need far more maintinince then bicycles. sure cars can go further faster and they can fit more cargo, but none of those are the point of comuting by bicycle. you comute by bicycle because you enjoy it.

You can get a new car for $12,000? Really? Which car?

Nissan Versa is one example.

That's about what we paid for a new Pontiac Vibe in '06.
Overall I've found my per-mile costs to be about a third less for my bike than for a car. Fuel costs are lower for the car but maintenance, insurance, and purchase/depreciation costs are higher.

You should include most, if not all, of what the IRS allows which is $0.55/mile for 2009. When you drive less, your current car will last longer so you won't need a new one as often-don't to forget to inclued financing. As your car's value decreases, it makes sense to raise your insurance deductable so your rates go down as well. There is less routine maintenence, less tires, less repairs.

The initial arguement about gas price and MPG vs food costs only makes sense if you got the equivalent of 25mpg when riding your bike. I have read that at recreational speeds, bikes get around 900mpg based on the calories in a gallon of vegetable oil which is close to the caloric content of a gallon of gas

But, like many people here have said, a lot of us don't ride to save money. I ride so that I can drink more beer.

How do you figure that riding a bicycle is only 1/3 less than driving? Not figuring in the cost of the car or bicycle, assuming that you already own one ....

It was costing me around $600/mo. to drive. Myself and my two boys riding three bicycles costs us for the past three months or so only a couple dollars a month total, for three bicycles!

Even if we were getting a couple flats a month (We've had no flats in over three years!), the cost would still only be a few patches, and maybe a new inner tube or two, so about $25-30.

The cost of riding a bicycle is much less than 1/3 of the cost of driving. Even if I only used one tank of gas, it would have cost me at least $200/mo. to drive.

So, for me, driving is over 100 times as much as the cost of riding a bicycle ... !!!

More realistically though .... If I had continued driving over the next ten years, I would have spent around $70,000-80,000 driving. As opposed to spending maybe $10,000 total for owning, operating and maintaining three bicycles for ten years, probably less though.

I think I figured out why we all can't see eye to eye on this issue.

First, each mode has fixed and variable costs. Purchase is a fixed cost. Parking at home is a fixed cost, whether it's zero or higher. Insurance is mostly a fixed cost, though if you don't commute by car, you insurance company might reduce your rate. Parking at work might be a fixed cost.

Fuel is a variable cost, proportional to miles. Repairs are also roughly proportional to miles. A few things will deteriorate over time regardless of distance, such as rubber tires and belts, making them fixed costs, but this fact isn't very significant.

If you have both a bicycle and a car, it isn't clear whether to compare variable cost or the sum of fixed and variable cost. That's because if you have both, you are not choosing the fixed cost of one over the fixed cost of the other. You are incurring fixed costs of both vehicles.