luckily it's flat (29m gain over 9.5km), so not much else matters except weight and wind resistance.

i'd surmise that the number is within 15% of the real value.

what do others think?

Number of starts and acceleration, metabolic efficiency, temperature. And wind resistance implies a lot of variables which are very dependent on the individual.

The calculation is around 25% higher than I expected, reasonable but enough error term there that you may not have a clear result comparing to fuel costs.

I think the number has as much "value" for the test as any WAG.

i agree.

i was expecting around 400kcal/RT.

i'm willing to listen to other ideas of how to calculate.

You knew what I meant, but that's okay I've spent enough time in A&S not to be put off by you.

HR and power can be related for an individual, within a narrow enough range. IMO, if you know your power levels for various heart rate zones, you could use a heart rate meter and work up an equation, integrate over time and arrive at total power. Then look at some of the online formulas and monkey with the guessed-at parameters until they agree with your hr-based estimate, and then use that parameterized formula for the duration. But a direct power measurement at least once is the only way to be really confident.

Or just pick a number between 400 and 650.

Why should you be put off by my concurrence with your observation about the lack of value of the suggested detailed statistical naval gazing? Exceptional value though for the OCD set ( see recent posts on this thread for details.)

You missed the next obvious choice though! What is he costing in Co2 emissions by pedaling vs walking or sitting on a bus perhaps? Since after all the bus is going to run and produce the Co2 regardless of whether he rides the bus or not. I was just more referring to your posting style btw, which can be off putting especially when you're trying to get through a thick skull in A&S.

stats:

2688km/1670mi
£544/$865 total
£0.20/km
€0.25/km
$0.51/mi
net money saved (bus fare saved minus running costs): £69 (1 month bus pass) + 8 days (£37.6) + 6 days (£28.2) = £134.80/$217.26

photos:

I think numbskulls might be a more accurate description for some of our BF comrades who believe that only a troll or worse would post an opinion contrary to their beliefs and sacred cows, but why argue the point, eh?

i'm struggling to imagine someone who would spend more than 5 minutes on A&S and does not enjoy contrary opinions.

It's sad. I am actually a cycling advocate, but I don't enjoy that section of BF. I wish I could participate and learn there.

If one's job is not a phisically demanding one, bicycle commuting doesn't increase nutrition costs. One needs a minimum of exercise to stay healthy, so the commute fits about there.

stats:

2747km/1706mi
£544/$865 total
£0.19/km
€0.24/km
$0.50/mi
net money saved (bus fare saved minus running costs): £69 (1 month bus pass) + 8 days (£37.6) + 7 days (£32.9.2) = £139.50/$221.88

photos:

stats:

2761km/1715mi
£544/$865 total
£0.19/km
€0.24/km
$0.50/mi
net money saved (bus fare saved minus running costs): £69 (1 month bus pass) + 8 days (£37.6) + 8 days (£37.6) = £144.20/$229.74

photos:

stats:

2780km/1727mi
£544/$865 total
£0.19/km
€0.24/km
$0.50/mi
net money saved (bus fare saved minus running costs): £69 (1 month bus pass) + 8 days (£37.6) + 9 days (£42.3) = £148.90/$239.34

photos:

tats:

2799km/1739mi
£544/$865 total
£0.19/km
€0.24/km
$0.49/mi
net money saved (bus fare saved minus running costs): £69 (1 month bus pass) + 8 days (£37.6) + 9 days (£47.0) = £153.60/$248.37

photos:

Do you use it solely for trips to work and back? I'm wondering if your stats imply I'm saving similar money. I ride most of my trips in the city instead of taking the subway at $2.50 per trip. I do shopping and errands by bike.

Oddly enough, I'm also a member of Citibike, which is about $98 per year. Sometimes I like to ride someone else's bike. $98 is insanely cheap.

Hi!

Yes, with the slight exception that I've logged about 40km doing extra trips between home and to an errand when I absolutely had to. There are no fun rides on there.

It's £2.40 into work and £2.30 home (£4.70 RT). However, a bus pass is available for £69/month, so if I have enough trips, I just assume that I'd have the monthly pass. However, that seems less and less likely recently because the maximal number of RT commutes I can do in a month is 16. I head to London by train on Friday from work at 5pm and arrive at 10am on Monday morning by train.

I think I'll only arrive at 11 or 12 RT commutes this month

See, this makes it a good experiment for many of us, since the rest of us are not going to measure costs as painstakingly. My sense is that I pour ridiculous amounts of money into my bikes, and maybe I do, but the payoff might be higher than I think. Lately, I've been tempted to take the subway but decided instead to cycle just to save the $2.50. Now I'm glad I did.

Remind us what city in England you're in?

Durham

edit: Most would be surprised at the cost of public transport. I found Germany (€21/mo) and China (3元) inexpensive but the US and UK very expensive.

Even $2.50 per ride in NYC is highly subsidized and an excellent value. It is especially true here because there are no zones. A ride of any length costs the same. But yes, if you pay $2.50 here and there throughout your week, you might not notice how much it adds up to. Or even if you do, it might be hard to imagine how much it is when you SAVE that much by not spending it.

There are so many good reasons to ride a bike, even if you leave out some of the good ones, such as the environment or physical fitness. People compliment me for riding so much because of its effects on my health. I do like that effect, but my response is that I do it because it's more fun than traveling any other way. The fun brings me in, and the other benefits keep me at it.

I agree about the environment and health benefits. I consider those a bare minimum to living a reasonable life.

I like public transport as far as long-distance high-speed rail is concerned. Unfortunately, because I travel 500 miles per weekend on it, the UK is still behind Germany and Japan which produce their energy for rail service solely with renewable sources (I assume that the Japanese consider nuclear renewable for sake of argument).

Interesting Tom, at 2.50 per ride that's lower than I would expect for NY, here it's 1.35 for a student for the initial zone, adding zones adds something like 20-30 cents, if I rode the bus instead of my commute I believe it would be 1.85 but when I factor in that the bus ride takes close to two hours, and my bike ride takes about one riding makes much more sense, technically speaking other than maintenance costs etc, it would cost me less to drive my car than to take the bus. I'd discuss a comparison of of transport values with AF but we've already beat that horse into the ground a few times.

But I will throw this in about high speed rail, we have a project going on here and when it's "done"(aka never) the cost of a one way one time pass is supposed to be 20+ (that's for from my area, to a more affluent area about 60 miles south or so) which is somewhere in the neighborhood of 5 times what the current bus cost is for even further (Into San Francisco itself),this area of California is trying to play catch up.. and failing.

You left a key word or two out of your last paragraph, so I don't quite follow.

Even bad public transit systems have reasons to recommend them, so it doesn't matter to me that the system I have isn't as good as some others. I'm glad to have it. I moved here from suburban hell last year. One isn't considered a full adult unless one drives every damned where.