!800 miles in a year? That's about 35 miles a week. It seems to me that you should use them for what their intended for [riding] and stop worrying about the cost per mile. Ride instead of driving and maybe the cost per mile will go down and so will your heart rate.

Hmm, Let me try this. Not including price of a new bike mind you just figuring in the cost to run the things.
Tire Budget - $200 Chain Budget - $60 New HID Headlight - $220 Bike Bag- $60 Cables - 30 Bottom Bracket - $30

6000 Miles / $600 = 10 cents a mile last year. Of course I do all my own work.

OK, I did purchase a new bike last year so lets factor that in.

6000 miles / $2400 (bike was $1800) = $2.50 a mile Of course I will still be able to use the bike this year so that isn't really an accurate way of measuring things so I think I will stay happy and use the first figure. :) Look on the bright side, if you were a skier you would still have to pay lift tickets as well as maintenance on equipment, same with golf although admittedly maintenance is less for golf.

One other thing I didn't mention. I try to support my lbs rather than buy bike stuff from internet suppliers. If my lbs went out of business, I would lapse into major depression. The next nearest bike shop is 75 miles away. So I pay a bit more, but I feel I am helping my lbs survive. I also get good information from the guy who owns it. He has been in the business 15 years, and really knows his stuff. This, in itself, is worth some $$.

I pissed away a $100 on a "totally not needed but wouldn't it be great to have another" helmet mounted lighting system. This was followed up by dropping another $50 on some lobster mitts, which are sitting in the box next to the other 6 pairs of winter riding gloves.

When I begin to think that I'm spending more on my bicycle commuting endeavours then I'm saving on gas, I reject the reality of the situation and replace it with the one where my hobby is less expensive then most.

Apples and oranges comparision. Gas is a very small factor in auto/truck[SuddenlyUpsidedownVaults] costs: biggest costs are: depreciation, insurance and financing.

The point is who cares what it costs. If you like riding bikes, ride them. If you like collecting bikes, collect them. Screw the cost. Life's too short. "Do what you like, like what you do".

You can't compare the cost per mile for a bike and a car, unless you use them for the same purpose. I assume you sometimes jump on a bike to get some exercise...can you do that with your Volvo? (Maybe you occasionally have to get out and push?)

I don't think so (but maybe I'm wrong).

Buy a vehicle for $30,000 and expect it to last 20 years. That equals to $1500 a year. Lets make it a gas guzzling 10mpg and give a yearly driving milage of 12,000 miles per year. At $2.50 a gallon, doesn't that make up a $3,000 gas bill each year? Doesn't the price of gas increase each year? You can play with how you want to stretch out the life of a vehicle, and the various gas mileage on various models but a gas bill is pretty significant over the life of a vehicle.

Insurance varies too, but where I live, to insure a car for a year costs around $1500, financing is running at around 5% (?) of the cost of the loan, so after a 10% down payment, the cost of a $27,000 loan for the year would be $1350.

It seems to me gas is a major cost to a vehicle.

A pair of tires, new cassette and chain and a good greasing of the bearings each year for my bike along with some new brake blocks once every couple of years and my cables even less often, and my yearly bill for maintaining my bike just tops $100 a year (and I've kept to this for over 20 years) for 5 to 6,000 kms a year riding. Looking at the original post, trmcgeehan spent almost 10 times what I did, to go about half my distance. I guess everybodys' different.

trmcqeehan, You forgot to deduct the medical bills you avoided from the $940. Did you take into account the cardio exercise and weight loss? How about the enjoyment you obtain for a mere $940. (I'd keep the bikes and cut down on maintenance or do it myself if it's a problem.
And then consider that you are prepared for the upcoming bike shortage I've been predicting.

That may be correct, but most vehicles get better gas mileage than that, and the people who buy 10 mpg vehicles don't keep them 20 years, and most of the depreciation occurs in the first 2-3 years.

(Edit) Plus, even with your calculations, the non-gas costs add up to $4350, and you have to add another $1000 for maintenance, and another $1000 for parking, traffic tickets, and other miscellaneous costs so the total would be $9350 per year of which about 1/3 is gas, again assuming a very gas-guzzling vehicle and unusually long ownership.

It depends how you want to manage depreciation, but the bottom line is, how much you paid for, and how long that item lasts. (as for, most of the depreciation occurs in the first 2-3 years, I have a 5 year old Toyota and I can sell it now for about 75% of what I paid for it 5 years ago) Better gas milage does lower the cost, but even if you double the mpg, the figure is still comparable to other costs.

Gas is forever and rises each year (unless you want to ride a bike)

Well, you can spend a lot on cycling or you can spend practically nothing. The choice is up to you. Either way you're going to have fun, get healthy and help the environment. And either way you're going to run into a few snobs who think you're doing it all wrong! :)

For me, if you have the money, why not spend it on a bike? If you don't, make your priorities clear and then decide. I think the bike is the most cost effective solution to transportation there is, but even more important, it's fun. If it wasn't, I don't know if I would ride.

I paid cash up front, so no financing charges. My bicycle commuting nets me a great insurance rate. My lack of driving plus my choice in vehicle results in very low maintenance costs. My last truck lasted 13 years before I just got tired of it. So gas prices become a larger factor in the overall cost.

But my comment was more in jest. I look at cycling not as an alternative to driving to work, but as a hobby that I get to do every weekday morning and evening.

I think we're all curious about why you have 5 bikes all of the same category (road). Still, I've known people to fill their driveways with fossil-fueled vehicles, and there's plenty of people with whole stables of bikes (doesn't Sheldon Brown have a shed-full?), so 5 doesn't seem so bad.

I'd start by doing more of your own work. Only use a shop if it requires special tools. (like putting in a headset).

Not quite - there's a lost opportunity cost there. If you paid $25,000 cash, you're losing the potential return on a $25,000 investment, which might be around $1500 per year.

I do this. For the price of a haircut I picked up clippers at Family Dollar and keep a crew cut. :D

You need to do some maintenance yourself and limit the amount of maintenance you do. If you rode only 1800 miles with 5 bikes it means 350-400 miles per bike. Unless you are badlucky, there is no need for overhaul after such mileage!

What you need are :
- fenders: I know they don't fit on some bikes and some people find they don't look good, but they limit the amount of crud going to the drivetrain.
- more mileage: so you spend more time on the road rather than at the LBS.

I rode approximately 6500 km in 2005 (including 1000 km of winter riding) and drove about the same amount. My expenses for the three bikes were less than 300 $, including 2 new tires and some drivetrain upgrades on the tandem. This amounts to 0,046 $/km or 0,074 $/mile. Although more riding might have decreased my unit costs, I am fairly close to the point where the cost per kilometre is a constant.
On the car, I spent 400 $ in repairs, plus roughly 500 $ in gas and 1200 $ in insurance, for a total of 0,32 $/km or 0,52 $/mile, not counting the deprecation as well as tire wear and other "long term" repairs that may occur in 2006. Contrary to the bike, "unit costs" on the car decrease a fair bit with the distance travelled, which is why my unit cost is much higher than what the CAA assesses for the "average" driver who drives 20 000 or 25 000 km/year (0,50 $/km, including deprecation). And if I were to drive a Lexus or BMW, or spend on special features like fancy trims, big speakers in the car, etc., my cost per kilometre would rise much beyond that level.

And when I didn't have children, I commuted mostly on foot, walking an average of 15 km per day. I used to go through 1 pair of shoes and 1-2 pair of rubbers and boots per year, so the cost per kilometre was rather high.

All this to say that bicycling is an inexpensive form of transportation. Moreover, it is a pleasurable way to stay in decent shape.

BTW, all dollar figures are based on the Canadian dollar, which was worth 0,60 $ U.S in January 2005 and 0,855 $ U.S. in December 2005.

We could also walk.

Looking at 2005 lexus GS 300

http://www.intellichoice.com/reports...model/GS%20300

5 Yr cost of ownership
Depreciation $16,357
Financing $4,886
Insurance $6,870
State Fees $615
Fuel @1.92/gal $7,592
Maintenance (details) $1,705
Repairs $346
Total 5-Year Ownership Costs $38,373
Intellichoice costs over 5 years: $38,373 is $7,675 per year

You modified increasing life span from 5 years to 20, thus:
Depreciation increased from $16,357 to $34,408-- $0 value after 20 years.
Financing increased from $4,886 to $9,967-- have to finance full amount not difference between bought and sold.
Insurance increased from $6,870 to $21,984-- highest insurance rates are for liability not repairs
State Fees increased from $615 to $1,476-- some reduction after 10 years
Fuel increased from $7,592 to $33,405-- some increase as economy drops, no change in price assumption.
Maintenance increased from $1,705 to $8,866-- huge increase in required maintenance, when go over 100,000 miles.
Repairs increased from $346 to $11,072-- probably low, repairs on older vehicles is why most only hold for 5-10 years




Extended 20 year total cost is: $99,194

Extended 20 year total ownership cost is: $121,178 or $6,059/year or $413/month or $116/week


Now how many Motor Vehicle commuters realize they are spending over $100 a week to drive to work?

I didn't have fuel as high because our cars get better gas mileage than the lexus quoted.
I also don't think your scenario is realistic for most people. Intellichoice figures on about 16,500 miles/year.
For 20 years, that would be 332,000 miles. Yeap underestimated repair costs by a bunch, but still fun exercise.

Note again: AAA figures annual costs at $.58/mile. The above illustration comes out to $.33/mile.
Go figure.

i do this when i buy a bike be 20$ or my speedster i mentally pay my self a dollar a mile with this mindset and late season purchase saving $$$,s i have got the speedster half payed for a thrift sale puegeot free and clear and a giant hybrid that has payed me back 4 times quit whining and ride i have got eight bikes i just figure im stuck with them like herpes but bikes are better give them all equal time and benefit yourself in the process i ride what ever im in the mood for and be happy/lucky good luck

I see the herpes has affected your command of the Englsh language.

Yeah, go figure. :rolleyes: