OK I realize I'm preaching to the choir but I did a little noodling to justify getting a better bike (it always helps to rationalize)

Based on the Gov't of Canada's mileage allowance rate (which is probably conservative - sorry, no pun intended) of $0.52 per km if your weekly commute totals 100km you're saving about $52 per week (includes depreciation, repairs etc). Here in our frozen tundra I figure I can reasonably commute 26 weeks a year on average - some hardy souls ride all year 'round - which translates into saving $1,352 per year plus the cost of parking.

The bonus is that you also save on having to buy a gym membership!

So, based on this logic my new bike really cost me nothing (my wife remains somewhat skeptical of my mathematical prowess)

Bikes have some associated per KM costs, too (tires, chains, cassettes, etc...) but clearly much lower. Perhaps if you willingly discount your savings by 10-15% (my SWAG) she'll buy into your math?

I justified my ride based on parking savings alone ($4.50/ day, 5 days a week adds up fast).

I need a way to get to the train station for 1 year (3.5km one way) and thought of getting a beat up car to get me through it. Seemed like a waste of money so I thought of getting a bike. Looks like it could cost equally as much but I'll have a bike in the end and get some excercise.

The only way to save significant money is to get rid of your car completely. Most people don't do that. Keeping a car means you still are paying for insurance, oil changes, depreciation on the car, and possibly a monthly bill for a car loan.

I'd say that a more reasonable estimate of savings by bike commuting is slightly more than the cost of the gas you would have burned in the car to go the same distance.

For the first two years of commuting, I kept meticulous records of miles ridden and every dime spent on the bike. It was depressing to see bike related cost keep increasing. New tires, chains, worn out cassette, broken bottom bracket, cheap hub failure necessitating the purchase of new wheels. If you ride your bike a lot it will cost money too. Not as much as a car, but it does cost money. I finally just quit counting. I like riding the bike, and that is my reason for commuting to work on it.

I'd have to disagree, but in doing so I'll say that it definitely depends on location and your individual situation. For you it may well be true, for me not even close. Just an idea of the money saved for me... not including the cost of gas:

Tolls: $12.80
Parking: $15.00

Daily/Weekly savings: $27.80/$139.00

Now add $5.00 a day in fuel that I save, and the $40.00 a month in co-pay on the diabetes drugs I don't need to take if I exercise regularly and it adds up. Does it pay for the $$ that I spend in bikes and bike swag? I try to kid myself that it does

Please tell us how this works out for you getting a new bike.

I might try it!

I'm picking up my new bike after work tonight, my wife is actually very supportive when it comes to me acquiring new toys whether it's scuba gear, a new bass or, in this case, a new bike. It's the quid pro quo that worries me!

There is no possible way that you can't get a bike to handle your needs (7 Km Round trip/ day?) for much less money than even a beat up car. Heck -- at the current price of gas where I am ($2.50/ gal) you could pay for a decent used bike by not buying 50 gallons of gas. Not to mention insurance, oil changes and other maintenance, etc... And the cost of maintenance on a bike, while not zero, is much less than a car (I think my bike shop charges $60 for simple tune up, $85 for a tune up and wheel truing, and $110 for tune up, wheel truing and chain/drive train cleaning, For perspective, that kind of money will get you one tire, mounted and balanced.

Further, a beater car will a) burn more gas than you expect; b) need more maintenance than you expect; and c) be less reliable than you expect. So the $1000 you might spend up front on a beater car would buy you a really nice daily commuter ($400-500 is more than enough for the kind of riding you're talking about) lots of accessories (lights, fenders, racks, etc...), and still have money left over for whatever floats your boat.

Buy a bike from Craig's List. Find a friend who knows bikes to shop with you.

The CRA rate is a poor one to use, unless bike commuting has allowed you to go car free. The CRA rate is intended to compensate you not just for the marginal cost of driving for work purposes, but also cover a portion of your fixed costs, such as depreciation and regular maintenance. These costs are dominantly time-based, so if you have a car sitting in the garage, you're still paying them.

On the other side, the CRA rate also does not cover parking, road tolls or other ancillary expenses other than the direct operation of the vehicle.

Whether your bike is free or not depends a lot on what your alternative was. If your alternative was driving a small car that you own anyways to somewhere with free parking, your marginal savings are probably small, and the payoff on buying a nice bike is probably somewhere in the 2-4 year range. If bussing is the alternative, it's quite similar. If your alternative was buying another car, or driving to somewhere with $200 parking, a bike will be a net positive in a single summer of service.

For me, though, the alternative is usually walking. I save a bit because I'm less likely to cop out and take the bus, but the bike purchase as a net positive....it'll probably take a decade or more for it to save me money. It was still worth it.

(And seriously, it's never occured to me to join a gym. No doubt this is a real savings for some people, but what portion of people here have forgone a gym membership because they bike, but would buy one if they didn't. I'm guessing the portion is fairly small.)

I stay away from these arguments. I did some calcs last year, and given that I own as much gym stuff as I'm ever likely to use anyway (a pair of shoes for cardio, some dumbbells and a chinup bar), and given the amount of time I spend on the bike which otherwise would be spent working overtime at work, even subtracting out vehicle maintenance and workout time if I weren't riding, I figure it costs me at least $5000, possibly as much as $7000 a year to ride my bike.

And yet, here you are. And I'm sure I've seen you post this elsewhere.

Not criticizing, just let's be clear - you don't stay away from these arguments any more than I do.

I picked up a bike from Freecycle, because I wanted something I could lock at the station and not worry. I ended up with a 531 tourer from the early 80s, and honestly, on a 7 k round trip, I expect I could have ridden that for 2 years for no more cost than a pair of tyres, a few tubes, rim tape, lube and a pair of pedals (a pedal spindle broke). Cycling that distance can be almost free, we spend money on it because having cool stuff is fun

I have a 531 80s tourer that I picked up free from Freecycle, as a bike I didn't mind locking up at the station. If I had a 7k each way commute, then that bike would probably have done me two years without replacing anything more than tyres, brake blocks, and bar tape. Perhaps a total $50 spend over 2 years? We buy nice bikes and gear because it's nice and we want to, a commute as short as that can be done virtually free.

I've ordered a Brompton because I want one, but over using my car, it'll save me in the region of $15 a day in parking at the station, and $8 or more in public transport. For me, payback in under a year, on a bike that should last for 15 years.

I don't have tolls to pay. I do pay $40 per month for a parking space, but I have a yearly contract. I have to keep the parking space for winter use when bike commuting is impossible for me. The only money I save is gas, plus delayed replacement stuff for the car (oil changes, tires, and brakes).

Don't get me wrong, I think biking saves some money and there are health benefits. I just stopped counting dollars. The real reason I ride to work is because I enjoy it.

and that's good enough for me!

I think it really depends upon a lot of factors, if you give up owning a car altogether the savings are enormous. If you bike rather than take public transportation, the savings are pretty moderate I would imagine. If you forgo a gym membership and use this as your daily exercise, that ups the savings. In NYC, where owning a car is a morbidly stupid decision for the vast majority of people (doesn't stop people of course) the savings of a bike commute over driving a car are incredible, and thanks to the generally high price of a monthly metrocard pass (nearly $90) it is still a lot cheaper (and faster) to ride your bike than take the subway.

Personally, I do it because it's fun.

This is true. But I truly doubt I will buy something to just meet my needs. I will most likely buy something that exceeds them for no other reason than because I like toys. After my train ride I also take the subway, so I'm thinking of getting a folder to take the bike with me and avoid the subway (5.5km one way). I think it may be a bit much for me, especially riding through downtown (busy busy) but I may build up to it in the future.

Sorry, I should have said, I don't use this argument to defend cycling anymore. I can't even pretend to say that I'm "saving money". I ride because I like to ride, and for environmental reasons. It actually costs me thousands a year.

I don't have car payments, tolls, parking costs and I do all my own repairs. If any of those were not true, especially if multiple of them were not true, it might be different.

My real money savings came from an unexpected area: lunch. My company is spread out in about a dozen, one-story buildings on a large campus and has no cafeteria. During my driving years, I just got in the habit of going out for lunch every day. $5-$8 per day is $1000-$1500 per year. Once I started bike commuting, I began taking my lunch, which is much cheaper. Of course, any money saved on gas or lunch is easily offset in gear purchases. :-)

Brilliant turn of phrase, with your permission I'd love to use it in my workplace!

Are you going to change your insurance policy on the car? Using it to commute ( or just putting more miles on it ) gives you more opportunities to wreck the car. If it's parked near your home, a tree might fall on it, but you aren't going to hit a pedestrian while you fiddle with the radio, and you aren't going to be rear-ended by an uninsured motorist. Most insurance companies will give you a discount for taking your car out of the commuter role and turning it into a leisure vehicle instead.

If you do this, your wife will have to accept your math prowess. On the other hand, it sounds like she already let you buy the bike, so you'll have to let her spend the insurance savings.

Biking to work does not save me a lot of money. Some, yes, but not much. I only spend $45 a month in gas, and the car's paid for. So the only way I would really come out ahead would be to either sell the car or pull the plates and drop the insurance on it.

You do spend money commuting on a bike... tubes, tools, repairs, cables, clothing is a big one. You can be frugal and get by with very little, but it sucks having to run an extra load of laundry to make sure you have clean bike shorts for work tomorrow.

Still, I do it because I enjoy it, it's good for me, and I like being an anti-conformist.

just wait until you add tires, tubes, component upgrades, rain gear, lights, etc. also extra food consumed to fuel your ride. i also started commuting as a way to save money, but continue to do so for my sanity and fitness. the economics argument is a wash

Thousands lost in OT pay? Or thousands in bike related purchases? If so, what are you buying?

Unless you cycle really fast, or the traffic is terrible, or the commute is very short, you have to factor in that the commute by bike will take longer. My commute is about 15km and it takes 20-25 minutes by car and 40-60 minutes by bike. So I'm losing 20 minutes of time either way when I ride my bike. I enjoy the cycling but if I didn't it would make little sense for me to spend 90 minutes a day cycling to save about $15 as I enjoy my job and make >= $10/hour.

In any case I don't see how this (economically) justifies getting a better bike. If anything wouldn't you want to get the cheapest bike that can get you there, so that you could hold on to as much of the savings as possible

The more expensive the bike the more expensive the repairs and maintenance... Unless you're willing to swap the components for cheaper ones when they wear out... Otherwise that'll eat into your $0.52 a km.