dognamedbanjo

As I think about my way-too-dark ride home, and consider a nice new bright light that I know will put me out at least $100 bucks, I started to think about my total outlay on clothing and gear related to my bike commuting.

I think at this point, I've exhausted the "but think about how much you save per week on gas" justification. I started commuting about 5 years ago. Between summer and winter clothing, lights and panniers, over the last 5 years I've probably spent about...

tights: $100
wool jersey: $120
several summer jerseys: ~$300
2 shorts: $150
arm warmers: $20
booties: $50
3 gloves: $140
winter base layer: $65
ortlieb backrollers: $160
2 front, one back light: $100
shoes: $80
socks: ?
balaclava: grandfathered in from skiing
helmet: $50
bike rack: ~50
reflective /neon windbreaker: $80?

= $1465

Not counting the bike, what do you think you've spent on gear in the last 5 years? How much do you spend per year on upgrades or new stuff? What's your most favorite recent purchase?

barturtle

Let's see

$1465/260 weeks=$5.63

Let's say gas has averaged $2.50 over that time and your car (if you have one) gets the national average (which IIRC is about 22mpg) that's a bit under 50 miles a week in fuel (not counting wear and tear, insurance, parking, etc.). And you can't account for the added health benefits that you get from riding.

Sounds like you're doing pretty well to me. (says the guy who has over $400 in bags alone)

moralleper

Tights Free
Wool long sleeve Jersey $20.00
Wool Knickers $6.00
long sleeve base layer free from doing a half marathon this summer
smartwool arm warmers $15
Booties $19.95
3 pairs of Gloves $3.36 a pair
Headlight $80
2 taillights $20 from long time ago
smartwool socks $10 a pair
helmet $75
Headsweat $10
Shorts free, old shorts I no longer wear around
Detours Pannier $40
Klein Bike $300 Gsale this summer
Fenders $30
Shoes $80
rain coat $175
Rain pants $30
Conti Gaterskin Tires $40 each
spare tubes $?
travel tool $25
Pump $35
water bottles $3.50 each
2 Summer tech shirts $8 each
=Just shy of $1100

time with me on the pedals and road..... Priceless

Favorite item right now would be my wool knickers.

dognamedbanjo

Barturtle, good point. Though I don't ride 52 weeks a year, I'm sure I'm spending less on clothes and gear than I would have on gas.

Truthfully, that number I came up with was much less than it feels like sometimes!

Moralleper, what kind of gloves come at $3.36 a pair? Do you wear them all at once?

moralleper

I buy gloves from ACE hardware that are for working on cars. They are coated in a rubbery material that does a decent job of blocking wind and keeps good grip in the rain. As is it dipping into the 30s in the early morning I will need to get something that blocks wind better but for now they are working great. I cut the finger tops off for summer riding. I do not like gloves with padding so these are good as well as baseball batting gloves that are leather.

newbeat

that i can remember
various lights-100
bags-130
helmet-50
fenders-50
cold weather gear-40
gloves-30
shorts-30
shoes-20
bike/parts-
450 probably give 50-100$, because i know i'm missing stuff.

Hurray for dressing like a bum, temperate zones and not counting the bike. but i would especially like to thank employee discounts

because without them, i probably wouldn't be able to afford cable ends, much less my gear.

jviking

I'm in the process of building a good commuter/light tourer so....

Brooks B-17- $70
Lock- $30
Axiom rack (in the mail...but paid for) -$35
Total:$135

WIN

FreddyV

€618,60 exactly this past year.
It's my first year commuting and I'm still looking to upgrade some gear on my road bike.

2002 Giant OCR - €225
SPD-SL shoes and pedals - €92.45
Clothing (Tights /summer and winter jersey)- €68.85
Tires (and tubes) - €48.30
Lighting - €10.00
Seatpost and grease - €45.40
And a little left-over money for several other various buys

Next year I will be getting fenders, mounting clamps for a luggage rack I already have (as I have no eyelets), hopefully a new bike computer (or GPS?), a Brooks saddle, a stand and some other minor things.... And panniers of course...

ItsJustMe

(OP: Man, you need to start looking for stuff on sale if you really care what you're spending. Looks like you're paying top dollar)

I'm sure I'm forgetting stuff here. Off the top, this is current active equipment:
Tights $10
running pants $15
Alertshirts (5) $40
bike shorts (3) $45
half-finger gloves (2 pair) $12
light fleece gloves $6
waterproof gloves $8
extreme cold gloves (2 pair) $12
compression tops (3) $24
Balaclava $8
Neoprene face mask $15
poly gaiter $10
Rain jacket (J&G) $100
Reflective vest $4
Helmet (metro, on sale) $35
Front light (Magicshine) $85
Rear light (Dinotte) $110
2nd rear light (superflash) $20
Brooks saddle $75
Rack: $20
Studded Marathon Winter tires - $120
SPD pedals: $20
shoes: $35
High-top insulated hunting boots: $30
Other than that, a lot of clothes (wool socks, etc) that I already had anyway.

I guess that's around $860. Big stuff is the lighting and the rain jacket. Those are also the first things I'd replace (other than the $4 reflective vest) if I lost everything and had to start over on a tight budget.


Some stuff is only used in extreme conditions - the neoprene mask only goes on when the temps drop below about -10*F for instance.


Stuff that has died or was junk to begin with:
Various LED headlights: about $100
HID light: $250
Consumables (tires, chains, brake pads, broken axle, broken spokes, rebuilt front and rear wheels, replaced cables, switched front wheel to disc brake) - good god, who knows? Probably somewhere around $800, at a wild guess.

The HID light worked for a couple of years but it can't measure up to the LED light in convenience, and now that it's 2 years old its light output has diminished to below the Magicshine's output anyway.

I have a box full of crappy LED headlights that never lived up to expectations. I spent more on them than I eventually did on the Magicshine.

On the other side of the equation, the bike has 20,000 miles on it, so it has directly offset 1000 gallons of gas, at an average price of probably $3, not even counting wear on the car, that's $3000. And it's actually more than that, because when I drive, I am far more likely to drive off to a store on a whim and buy something, or go out to eat, etc, so it's probably stopped me driving another 5000 miles and spending who knows how much on junk or more expensive food.

CCrew

I'm glad I don't have to count the $15k or so worth of bikes sitting in the garage

And yeah, as another said to the OP. You're paying top $$ for your stuff. Most of my clothing is Target/Wal-Mart sale bin stuff.

chipcom 

I won't even attempt to add up what I spend on clothing, equipment and accessories each year...I like trying out new stuff to see it it's better than what I already have.

thdave

I've spent a lot less than I have on my car, which I've put $3100 into the last 4 months. A bike is cheap! Plus, I love my bike gear. Can't say that about the replacement steering linkage on my car.

azesty

I bought a bike on the 1st of June. I have paid 2600RMB, Chinese money, for a bike, fenders, computer, one pair of bike shorts, rack, tail and front light, two locks (essential here). This is less than USD$400. After 2600 km this is less than it would have cost me for a taxi

z

ItsJustMe

I will add on that these days, I really spend very little. I bought all the clothes that I'm wearing now several years ago. I did buy the Dinotte and the Magicshine headlight within the last year, but I expect them to last a while.

Other than that, I go through a set of brake pads ($10) once a year, a set of summer tires ($40) about every 7000 miles (2 years), a set of studded tires ($80) every 2 or 3 years, and a chain ($8) every 2000 miles (about 1.5 per year).

So every year, that's $10 + ($40/2) + ($80/2.5) + ($8/1.5) = somewhere around $70/year.

There will of course be additional expenses - every couple of years something on my drivetrain besides the chain decides to crap out. $20 for a cassette, $10 or so for a chainring, assuming I have some in the garage that I picked up on clearance somewhere. The odd replacement screw or something. My pedals are looking pretty ratty, and I might have to cruise eBay soon and see if I can't find a new pair for $20.

I'd REALLY like to get a pair of Lake shoes, but at about $200, they're way out of my range, for this year anyway.

tarwheel 

I refuse to answer on the grounds that my wife might accidentally read this thread.

ews

I've probably spent over $3k in the last couple years, on everything from a new bike to studded winter tires to wool knickers to expensive winter shoes [in fact, I'm a walking/rolling BF recommendation thread ]. It would cost $4.50/day to ride that El. With that in mind, my bike becomes a profit center in November 2010. I recoup my gear investment in March 2012.

And as IJM said, my expenses going forward amount to pads, socks, tubes, and tuneups.

zeppinger

Do you mind if I ask where you got wool knickers for $6********** I am actually interested!

Marylandnewbie

My first year on the bike I spent about $1200 which was sort of my breakeven point with my normal costs of riding the Metro. Since then it is probably more like $200/year mostly in replacements for chains, cassettes, rear wheel, etc. I am finding all sorts of things wear out when you ride 52 weeks a year and put on 4-5K miles in a good year.

I do buy most clothes from Target/Walmart or online retailers when somebody has a sale so that helps keep costs down as does taking care of stuff. It would probably cost even more if I had to rely on the LBS for maintenance.

MNBikeguy

A small incalculable fortune, but I don't tell my wife.
She's content hearing about the indirect cost savings of health and wellness and the direct savings of less vehicle costs.
It's the same with my motorcycle. I ride my morotcycle to "save money?" lol... unfortunately the checkbook would disagree.
That's my story and I'm sticking to it.

m_yates

I stopped counting and stopped updating my expense spreadsheet of my gasoline savings. It makes it easier to delude myself into thinking I save money commuting by bike.

bmt074

Cateye Headlight - $30
Mars 3.0 Taillight - $15
Helmet - $30
Pump - $20
Sigma Odometer - $35

Sooo... About $130

2su

I ignored most of the multi-use stuff with the exception of my base-layer shirts because I do buy them specifically for biking but use them for everything cause they're warm

75 Helmet
8 Glasses
40 Balaclava (2)
20 base gloves
50 Windbreaker/winter gloves
30 Windbreaker vest
50 Arm Warmers - Goretex/windbreaker
210 Base Layer shirts (7)
100 Patagonia R2 heavy layer thing
100 Base Layer tights (3)
15 Leg Warmers (these generally suck)
160 Chrome shants - heavy
6 Winter Shoe covers (REI garage Sale)
50 NB Sneakers

$900!

I live in Chicago... thats what I wear during the winter... no jacket (i get too hot)

But I might buy some amphibs this winter to see how good they are.

BiketoFeel

My Miles (estimate):

1. To Work: 17mi/day*260days= 4420mi
2. Farmer’s Market: 13mi*20 = 260

3. Misc. rides to store: 52*10= 520

4. Critical Mass: 10*13= 130

Total Mileage: 5330

My Bikes:

1. Circa 1997 Schwinn Homegrown converted to single speed with knobby street tires (work commuter)

2. 2005 Breezer Citizen 3-speed with trailer bike and child-car attachments (grocery getter)

Things I Bought for Biking (that I can remember)*:

2 pairs of shorts (baggies), Two poly shirts, 3 pairs of socks, 2 chains, 2 pairs of pedals, numerous tubes and patch kits, 1 pair cranks, 1 bottom bracket, one rigid fork (the suspension was warn out), 2 rear tires (my front tire is about 5 years old and has about 8000 miles), 1 saddle, 2 rear lights, 2 front lights, two boxes gauze pads, 2 boxes band aids, two rolls medical tape, 1 tube of triple antibiotic goo, 1 pump, 1 rear hub rebuild kit, 1 single speed conversion kit, 1 brake cable kit, 2 sets of brake pads, 1 set of brake levers, repair of internal hub (I messed it up trying to adjust it), one rear fender, reflective tape, 1 pair shoes (my others were 6 years old)

Keep in mind that this was not my first year of commuting. Most of these purchases were required just to maintain the bikes.

* Does not include cash purchases

Total Cost: $1358.49

Sixty Fiver

Since I gave up driving and became a full time commuter I have saved over $30,000 dollars in vehicle related expenses.

Paying $100.00 for a set of premium tyres, $60- $100 for a light, or investing in the best parts I can afford for building my bikes is a much lesser expense.

ItsJustMe

Just curious, what's the time frame for that $30K?

I've got a 12 year old car that I have yet to put 30K into, including gas and all consumables, and it was $20K new. But then again, I don't pay for parking, tolls, etc so that helps. And I've long since dropped it to the lowest legal insurance coverage, so that only amounts to a few hundred bucks a year anymore.