How much does it cost to bicycle?
 

It's the 12th anniversary of keeping precise track of how much I spend to ride my bicycle. I've spent $3,145.50, about $262/year, about 5¢/mile; $982 of that on tires, tubes, and patches.

I do all my own labor, use parts until they break (had a few long walks home), buy cheap parts from the cheapest on-line sellers. I have the same frame I bought 18 years ago. Does anybody else keep track?

The size of the expense puts false economies (I've perpetrated many) in perspective. I paid $200 for that frame; had I paid $5K it would have only doubled the expense of riding over its so-far lifetime (to be fair, I've suffered a number of thefts in the past; the current frame looks unenviable; perhaps a $5K frame would have been stolen.) Then again, I don't know that I'd be any happier with a $5K frame.

bad habit - not the cycling, that's good for you

Yikes! I haven't done the math but it's a heckofalot more than a nickel a mile. I wouldn't be surprised if it's closer do a dollar.

It's $.03/mile to .10/mile depending on how long it's been since I bought a bike. This year including the bike I bought myself for last Christmas, some new tires for two bikes, chain lube, chain, some shorts, brifter set, and a multitool it comes to about 12 cents, but those tires (not to mention the bike and brifters) will last more than a year so that will drop next year.

Are you cliff diving with your bike or something ??
I've never had a bike last less than 2 years.
Still riding my homemade steel framw from 1982, and various vintages of Cannondales

Factoring in consumables (tires, tubes, and chains), cost of the bike frameset and parts, the odd shop-repair cost, and cost of wardrobe....I'm at about $0.30 per km on my custom Seven roadie. And going down. Which is quite high. Then again that is everything other than nutrition on a 7-8 year old fully custom bike. There were also a few bad year of not-much riding in there.


OTOH....when you compute the cost of car commuting in parking alone, at about $2,350USD/year for a 40hr/week job locally here.... That bike has paid for itself many many times over in simply car parking expenses, nvm fuel and maintenance of the car.

I did that back in my running days. Back then running shoes cost around $100.00 (unless you got the high end ones) and only lasted about 500 miles. That's 20 cents per mile just for shoes. Skimping on running shoes only made my podiatrist bills go up.

I look at it this way - I have spent enough in my lifetime to buy a really nice luxury car or SUV. If I'd spent the money on the car or SUV instead, I would be in much worse health than I am.

For about the same amount of money, I could also buy myself approximately 8 months in a typical skilled nursing facilty. At my age, 51, and in my profession - probate/estate and tax law, I have seen many very sad situations of people trapped in failing bodies, often - but not always - due to poor lifestyle choices that involved typically "American" issues - obesity, substance abuse, physical inactivity, sleep deprivation, stressful work and home environments.

Cycling - fitness in general - was a commitment I made to myself years ago. I'm far from perfect, I've lost and gained the same 25 to a few times as much as 50 lbs over the years TOO many times to admit. And for the same stupid reasons I've cited above - life stress leads to slacking off - dropping my guard is a maybe a better way to put it - and that leads to poor eating choices, poor fitness choices, and poor results. But I always come back to my core belief, which is to be happy you need to be healthy, and to be healthy you need to be active.

So I see it this way ... like the old credit card commercials from 10-15 years ago ... New Specialized whatever, $X,000. New Giro road shoes, $Y00. New Showers Pass rain jacket, $Z00. Not ending up in a nursing home at 65, 75, 85, or hopefully even 95 ... "Priceless".

Some things simply transcend money.

I have every bike I ever bought as an adult, except for two I rode around my undergrad university - both were stolen at some point, the second one in my spring term of the year I graduated, so I didn't bother replacing it at the time.

LOL! Maybe asploding carbon fiber is to blame.


This year I spent over $1,200 just getting to two of my bike rides. But they were worth it.

A devout N=1 guy here, so my costs per mile fall with every ride. This year, I've already gone through 7 tires, 3 chains, 1 cassette, an FD, a set of jockey wheels, and two sets of brake pads-- but that's pretty much it. I'm around +/- $700 worth of consumables, but just passed 9,000 miles for the year, so call it 7¢ a mile? I know that folks who do a lot of organized rides/events can have fees blow away consumables and even bike cost in just a couple of years.

what i've learned with over 40 years of expensive hobbies is this, never hit the total button, you don't really want to know and if you are married than you defiantly don't want her to know and tires only cost $10.00, especially if you and i are talking and my wife is near by and it comes up.
don't lie but don't ever hit the total button
rob

Still cheaper than driving.

Married guy tip #2: Occasionally sell something for more than you paid for it so you can claim that all of your stuff is actually worth more than it cost and you're only keeping the stuff you actually use.

I've been able to keep it a little bit under $4K/month.

Although my wife is smart (Ph.D. in immunology), she seems to have a remarkable inability to distinguish between "tires" and "wheels."

I exploited this to acquire a second wheel-set.

when i was racing cars she asked why i had so many extra wheels, i couldn't explain...... bikes are way cheaper but i do get an occasional stare on my newly arrived ups boxes

If you have to ask "how much does it cost", you probably can't afford it, lol

Approx 2,500 miles since I resumed cycling last year + approx $500 worth of bikes and misc + New friends, better physical condition and improved attitude = Incalculable.

I'm at $2.06 per mile for 2 bikes, power meter, electronic gagdgets, rack, trainer and clothing. I didn't ride much the first few years but this year I'll break 4000 miles and will slowly bring the cost down.

I own 2 bikes and have been riding seriously since 2010. In that time I've done 5 tours totaling over 17,000 miles. I also ride to/from work and other various places. Roughly 2,500 miles a year of "city" riding. In that time I've spent somewhere around $600 on parts/maintenance. +/- $100 I'd say.

This doesn't include any accessories I've added to my bike such as the rear rack, panniers, water bottle cages, lights etc.

With as many tires as y'all seem to be blowing through it makes me wonder where you're getting your tires? The paper mache factory?

Don't know other than it's a hell of a lot less than I used to spend on other mood alterers.

I go through a lot of tires. Heavy rider, lots of miles on really poor pavement, and when the sidewalls get cut up they get replaced. Another thing that makes my tires get less mileage is the occasional panic stop. Nothing like a tourist lurching out into the road just feet in front of you while you are coming down a 10% slope to scrub rubber off a rear tire.

Unless I really need one at the moment, I buy online. https://www.biketiresdirect.com/ Check in often for their daily deal.

So for 3 bikes ( my 2 and hubbys), it is just around $200 this year. Maybe slightly over.

Any amount of money is worth it to me to stay alive :thumb: