I've spend about $879 on bike stuff so far (tracking things in Excel), out of which $150 was on a big-box bike that I bought before I knew better. All costs considered, I save about $80 per month, so I should break even in another 4 months. But I have at least $100 worth of stuff that I still want to buy, so make it 6 months to break even. After that, w.r.t commuting at least, I should just save money.

But that's if I don't get tempted into n+1 :D

And your tires, brake pads and chain stop wearing. :)

Heh, I should have said: After that, w.r.t commuting at least, I should save some money :)

I actually started riding my bike after I took my car into the shop 3 times in 3 weeks. I'm now at the point where I would like to just sell my car straight out and have the one car for our family.

Budget is tight. I bought a Mercier Orion 2007 for $100 from a friend, and invested only about $50 into lights and a mirror. I bought warm clothes as a second hand clothing store, and I use my old snowboard helmet (it's warm). I just started riding 3 weeks ago, and I anticipate it will have paid for itself at least by February, if not sooner.

Plus, I've tried for years to jog consistently, but I just hate it. My bike, however, is something I look forward to riding every day.

depending on the bike and conditions, tyre and chain wear can last a really long time.
i.e. I have a Surly Big Dummy, it is capable of handling more than I care to haul most times. I've used tyres like Sefras Drifter 26 x 2.0" for over 3,000 miles without much wear at all. The same goes for the drivetrain, simply bcz the long tail cargo bike uses about 1.5x the standard bicycle chain length, which of course spreads out wear.

as to cycling gear, clothing, tools, etc... the key here is to pick items that you use frequently. its better to own fewer things that you use more often than a lot of things which you use less frequently.

i.e. wool baselayer shirt. At the moment I have 3 shirts. I just added the 3rd shirt after at least 3 years. so yes, for 3 years I've been using 2 baselayer shirts, and thats it. simply rinse one shirt out every day. I have a few wool jerseys, and a Shower's Pass Elite 2.0 jacket that I've had for about 4, maybe 5 years now. You can totally pick and choose exactly what works, and just stick to that. simply don't go out there and spend more money. If you absolutely feel compelled, I sell a few things off here and there, then hopefully pick 1 new item.

single speed bikes are crazy long wearing! years ago, I had a new Bianchi DISS, and right out of my buddy's shop, I decided I wanted to do as little maintenance as possible to this bike. I rode it from November thru March with only adjusting the chain and rotating the tyres. this is on a single speed MTB with disc brakes. I don't own a car. That was my sole source of transpo/recreation/sport. I'm sure it had at least 4,000miles on it with zero cost in maintenance.

but don't be fooled. in the USA Bicycling is about a $34B/yr industry. you can always choose to commute on carbon rims with tubulars.

The answer to the question will vary greatly from person to person and situation to situation. If you view cycling as a sport and then transition into commuting, the costs aren't as noticeable, since you probably already have the major expense covered- the bike. OTOH, if you're broke and your car breaks down and are looking at bike commuting to 'get by' until you can get the car fixed, it's going to seem pricey... especially if you go by the "Bicycling Magazine Buyer's Guide".

Owning a car doesn't have to be expensive, either. I have a 1991 Ford Escort that I purchased for $750, and have done all the maintenance and repair work myself. Cost of ownership prior to the clutch going out was $6,700 for 2.5 years & 22,500 miles of use. I was tracking every penny I spent on the car - insurance, gas, floormats, air filters, belts & hoses, - everything.

Cost of ownership was $7.80/day or $0.30/mile according to my spreadsheet.

Now, if I could only get motivated to work on the clutch, I wouldn't have to spend so much money driving my truck around.

What are you using to calculate your vehicle expenses per month?

"As soon as people become tributaries of transport, not just when they travel for severaldays, but also on their daily trips, the contradictions between social justice and motorizedpower, between effective movement and higher speed, between personal freedom and engi-neered routing, become poignantly clear. Enforced dependence on auto-mobile machinesthen denies a community of self-propelled people just those values supposedly procuredby improved transportation."

Ivan Illich of Energy and Equity

here is another great reference:
Donald Shoup, the High Cost of Free Parking http://www.uctc.net/papers/351.pdf

Just miles logged. But there are two aspects to miles logged in my case:
1. Fuel cost. I average just 20 mpg if I drive - and though my bike commute is just 3 miles each way, my car commute is 5 miles each way.
2. Lease cost. This one is cheating a bit - but I add it in for a better feel-good factor. Cycling lets me keep the car mileage under the lease limit - if I exceed it, the charges are pretty steep. Because I cycle, we can use the car without worrying about the lease mileage. I cannot factor in maintenance on the car because its free in the three year lease plan.

There is a third factor that will soon appear once my wife passes her drive test - we will be able to stay a one-car family :) I'm planning to sell my Magna and buy a nice Topeak bike seat for my son from craigslist - if I manage to do that, I'll drop him to school on the bike and push costs even lower.

Mind you, as multiple people said above - I'm mainly cycling because its fun - the money saved is a bonus :)

I have a Surly Crosscheck, a rear rack (I forget who made it), a pair of axiom panniers, a brooks saddle, a cygolite mitycross and hotshot, and a topeak frame pump. All that combined, without even considering new tubes/tires/cables/tape/etc or the cycling specific clothes I have bought, probably ran me around 1700-1750 pretax. At 3.60 a gallon and 20 mpg in the city, I have to put in around 10,000 miles of commuting to break even on gas alone. Add in the tubes/etc, the jackets, socks, shorts, and other clothes I have specifically bought for commuting (I'm leaving out the chamois and jerseys I bought to ride my trek), and I'm probably up another couple thousand miles worth of 'break even.'


Clearly, I am not in this to save money.

If you ride enough that you can actually get rid of a car, then you can save money pretty fast. We still have two cars in my family and even though one sits in the garage on most days, I still have to insure it and keep the licenses up to date. Also, if you work or live in a place where you'd have to pay for parking, using a bike instead can be a huge cost saver.

For me cycling is as much hobby as it is transportation and as such I tend to spend some money on it, though not as much in the last couple of years as I did previously. I've got all the winter clothing I need already and although there's about $200 worth of improvements I'd like to make to my road bike, I've held off this year. I'll probably spend another $300 or so yet this Fall on a new gear hub, wheel, and disc brake for my winter bike. I'll sell my old Nexus Red band wheel w/roller brake for about $200 hopefully.

Anyway, I don't think I'm saving huge sums of money by riding and maybe not anything really. Our cars do have low miles and I suppose that saves us money over time because we won't have to replace them as often but modern vehicles can last quite a long time if you take care of them.

My bike and gear cost easily more than $2,500. [BTW, I was mostly bargan hunting] I live in Japan and save about $220 a month on train fare. Yes.. it sucks when you have a flat or your $50 Schwalbe sidewall fails.. but that is nothing compared to the cost of maintaining a car in Japan. I drive my car 10x as less than I do my bike.. but it cost 10x as more to maintain. With bike commuting I get some exercise.. free time to think and it sure beats crowded trains and buses. Also, I used my bike on a three day tour of the country side and only spent $100.

If you were to buy a Trek electric assist bike, with a full light and cargo setup, and a complete set of gear (Not really needed, mind you. I don't use cleats, or the cycling uniform shy of a helmet); you will have spent less on the bike upfront than anything but a very inefficient clunker would cost.

If we're looking at cost effectiveness alone, the bike need not be expensive and most other investments, like accessories, should be transferable from bike to bike. So consider the bike as a whole a consumable component. Almost nothing on it need be required to last forever. Lights, racks, and choice nice components are all transferable. A decent rolling stock doesn't cost much. You can have a used bike off Craigslist anyday for less than $200 easy. A little TLC and you're on the move. Everything else either lasts a long time or is a one time investment. Special clothing isn't necessary. A change of clothes usually is, so be sure you can keep your cargo secure and dry. But all of that can be done with minimal expense without sacrificing quality and durability where it counts.

Common sense would dictate that cycling is far cheaper than car driving. If we figure $0.50 per mile, a 50-mile commute costs $25. Times that by 5 days per week, and again by 4 weeks per month, and we see driving to work is a quite expensive: $500 per month. In 12 months, you could by a whole new CF bike.

I should live longer, so bike commuting it is going to cost me more in the end.

Well, getting the bike and accessories is an initial cost, which is no different than drive-commute, where you need to pay for a car to start.

I suspect that your point of view came from the fact that you already own a car.

I don't - I couldn't really afford to buy a car, maintain it, fuel it, and the deal I made to myself was this:
A bus pass is just shy of $100CDN. I use it to commute to work, and to pick up the car share to go to odd places (e.g. grocery runs). I didn't buy a pass this month, but loaded up with bus tickets for the same amount. If I blow through the $100, that's a sign that it's not worth it.

I have around $40 CDN left, that's with me cheating quite a bit on the weekdays, and there's a week left to go.

Seems like it's worth it - it would be more if I get my rain gear from Vancouver here, then I have even less excuse not to ride into work.

The initial costs might be pretty high, but you will definitely save over the long term.

I've driven my car less than 500 miles in the past three months. Before I started riding, I would have easily put 2000 miles on over the same period. Those 1500 miles pay for the cost of the bike if I use the IRS's mileage rate.

I've also found that a lot of bike stuff is "nice-to-have". I don't have fancy cycling clothes, I use regular platform pedals, and I got my panniers for $40 at a big box store. Frame pump, lights, patch kit were Christmas gifts. I've also somehow avoided any flat tires in the year I've been commuting. My maintenance supplies (lube, tools, spare tubes, etc.) were all given to me by my wife's father since he wasn't riding anymore.

Oh, and I've dropped my auto insurance down to "recreational" and saved about $300 a year.

My answer is "Yes, it's cheaper than a triple bypass at age 50."

My current cost of ownership for this very cheap vehicle is $0.32/mile. This number is all-inclusive - vehicle purchase, insurance, fuel(~30mpg), maintenance, accessories, etc. My driving commute is 12.5 miles each way (bike = 10mi). This equates to $8.00/day (12.5*2*0.32). I work 218 days a year (minus sick/vacation). If I drove every day, my commute alone would cost me $1,744/year (218 days * $8.00 a day)

At that cost, I could buy a brand new commuter ($900) every year, all decked out with new lights($200), rack($50), bags($100), saddle($150), and a few extra sets of tires($300) to last me 5,450 miles of commuting. If you're not going to this extreme, then, yes - riding your bike definitely saves you money over owning/operating a vehicle...even a dirt-cheap vehicle.

I put everything I invest on paper.

Bicycle costs around 10 euros per month. To keep it in tip-top state (chain, sprockets, tyres, pads, cables...).

Car cost around 50 euros per month for the same distance, just for fuel.

A decent car costs around 2000 euros.

A decent bicycle costs around 500 euros.

A decent car needs around 150 euros per year for registration, taxes, insurance, and another 150 euros for regular maintenance.

For $2000 you can buy a pretty nice bike.....or a pretty lousy car.I'm pretty sure the maintainance on a bike is cheaper than a car,especially a newer car......Well,that is if you actually do it......Hell,if an LED taillight goes out,you could buy another bike!

I couldn't even carry as many chains and tires I can buy for the cost of insurance in California,let alone if I have to cover the car....not just PL & PD.