PlanoFuji

Assuming any of this actually happened.

wolfchild

Cycling gets expensive only when you start upgrading components which don't really need to be upgraded, because there is nothing wrong with them in the first place..

puckett129

I don't think I'm going out on a limb when I say that this bike was not, in fact, in "like new" condition.

ShoreCyclist

^^^^ What he said... Also, your avatar is rad.

bkaapcke

So, skip the Contis and Schwalbes and get Fortes from Performance Bike. They have tires in the $10.00 to 20.00 range. bk

Astrozombie

Not sure ignorant or troll
"only to give it away" <---
"Allez sport triple" <-- nobody forced you to get a fancy bike, nor a triple that you will change
"have them adjusted" <---maintenance book is $20, youtube is free.
"replaced the crank" <--nobody forced you to replace the crank
"purchased bike tools the day before" <----so you are having the LBS do the repairs or buying tools to do it yourself? Confusing
Anything above 8 speeds is going to cost more and even if the drivetrain was borked you could have still ridden that thing for a good while i'm sure, it's just people like to be on the safe side e.g. changing oil every 3000 miles when it's not always necessary.

Burton

I give up! So why is that expensive? I just spent more than that on a set of brakes! And that was a bargain considering what the last set of tires for the car cost!

terrya

You guys have me rolling right now! First of all, you act as if I knew a lot about what was going on to begin with, which I didn't. I gave someone the Miyata if they took the crank off and put it on the Allez. Of course knowing what I know now, that was about as stupid as stupid gets! The only reason I got the Allez Sport was pure price related! The guy said the bike has been sitting in his garage for the last 2 years and he wanted to get rid of it. It looked as if the bike wasn't even ridden, and the price was just too good to pass up! The warped crank arm started everything in motion. I remember how it was when the spindle broke on the Miyata and I panicked!

Just in the few days since I've purchased the tools and spoke to the mechanic at my LBS, I feel very good about the future. The bike wasn't fancy at all, it just looked new and I wanted it (it was cheap)! You'll see...I will post more because I will know more and will be more curious about stuff.

Don't knock my ignorance. I've looked through this site on many occasions, but not really knowing what the hell I was looking for or looking at; I just knew I loved being here. Now that I'm actually loving the sport, it feels great! Do I feel like I was taken advantage of...maybe not, I wanted what they were selling anyway. As a hands on person, I will definitely start doing most of the stuff myself if not all. With that being said...I'm thankful for my LBS!

Homebrew01

Yes, we can be a tough crowd sometimes, but if you stick with it, you will get good advice.

the sci guy 

it's the same answer for why is everything so expensive: because there are always people willing to pay it.

pdlamb

I think the GSA says mileage on a car is $0.565/mile now. I put over $300 worth of mileage on my bikes last month, and it cost me $75 to keep them running.

Why are bicycles so inexpensive??

kmv2

The ignorance is pretty astounding.
Most people will drop up to $100 on a tank of gas, yet a $100 bike part that's going to last years is somehow an outrage?
The bike is not a car, so stop comparing it to one..

bkaapcke

A neighbor once asked me how much I had in my Trek 750. I added it up roughly and said; pretty near $1,100.00. He had a real hearty laugh at that. Then he told me when he first came to California, he bought a brand new Chevrolet for $750.00. Slow steady inflation is the way of the life we live. It bails out politicians by letting them pay back gov't debt with cheaper dollars than they borrowed. Get used to it, no, plan on it. It's here to stay. bk

wphamilton

Now I'm going to defend him a little. He's talking about ignorance that costs him extra, and yes he did complain about spending $150 on a chain and cassette but that's not really ignorant in my opinion. I'd complain too - I've got less than that in my whole drive train including tools and labor. It can get expensive quick if you're not careful and you get caught up with believing what people say about what you have to have.

You're saying it's nothing compared to operating a car, then admonish him for comparing it to one. I wouldn't say anything but then you jumped all over OP about ignorance, which somehow just doesn't sit right.

Mobile 155

You might be doing better than you think. The cost of Cycling is what you make it. How expensive it is might be considered relative. No more that golfing. The return for what you put into it can be a lot higher than many activities.

I look at it a bit like a graduated tax. When you are young your parents get you a bike. If you decide to stay with it you can move to the next stage. By the time you have to buy your own you can always buy used or from a thrift store. A smaller tax. If you still stay with it you can move to an entry level bike and learn the rule of N+1. By the time you have been with it long enough to accept N+1 as a truism you will know just what you want on a bike and will do some if not all of your own work on them. You will join sides in the old bike verses new bike war. You will join sides in the frame material war. You will draw swords in the shifter wars and the saddle wars. By then you will have forgotten how expensive cycling can become. One day you will see a $250.00 SMP Saddle as reasonable because your bottom deserves it, or a $100.00 Brooks Saddle designed when bikes were $110.00, My bad but it seemed funny when I typed it.

kmv2

It was to show why not to compare them. I think in my mind I also thought this was the thread where the guy was complaining about tire costs.

wphamilton

OK. Speaking personally the most apt comparison is that I feel like complaining bitterly about the cost of car maintenance, but for the bike it's somehow rewarding.

Cubey

The nice thing about cycling is you can have any budget. You can often pick up a cheap used bike of any kind for under $75 any day of the week or a cheap new one for $100-150 new.

Lets say for example you only have $50 and you buy a decent used mountain bike and it has good tubes and everything works fine. Now it may not be ideal for around-town use due to it's weight, and it might not "fit" you as bikes are "supposed to" but it'll still get you from here to there and back.

That's all that's REALLY important with any form of transportation. It may not be top of the line, it might have some rust or paint missing, the decals may be damaged.. but does it get you across town and back in less time than walking? If so, there's nothing wrong with the bike you have. I have learned to accept this fact.

I got on here with the attitude that my old Le Tour is "wrong" for me. Never mind the fact that I can ride the hell out of it when I'm out of condition and cover a lot of miles (15-20). I paid $50 for it used, put $50 of tires and tubes in it, swapped my old, ugly beat up comfortable saddle to it from the old original that was painful for me to use (however, I sit a lot). I like the bike fine. If any cycling snobs don't like it, they can look the other way or hand me $500-$1000 to buy something they would prefer to see me riding. But I'm still going to put a more comfortable saddle in favor of those tortilla-thin seats they come with.

Just get the bike you can afford and ride the wheels off of it and stop trying to please others who can afford more expensive bikes. This applies to cars too. Can't afford a new Mercedes? Get a 1995 Ford that runs and drives fine and don't worry about what others think.

MattFoley

My friend had to replace the transmission in her relatively new (but high mileage van)...cost? $4000.

Leebo

OK ,you like the sport. Come to us with questions before spending big bucks. Zinn has some good repair books. The park tools web site, great info as well. Try a community bike co-op for some repair help and info. Sometimes the posters here may come off as a little jaded . My last winter bike only cost $ 30.00. Keep pedaling. And keep asking questions.

rumrunn6

SCUBA diving is expensive to start but then it's just the cost of getting your tanks filled.

gpsblake

Cycling doesn't have to be expensive, and shouldn't be expensive. My only expense this year was replacing two tires at a cost of 40 bucks on my Walmart bike. And the very worst thing is I crash or destroy my bike and buy a new one for under $200. A lot cheaper then a car and it's expenses.

However, the one cost of cycling that many don't account for is the TIME it takes. Example would be commuting 15 miles each way. Takes 2 hours plus of your time vs 40 minutes in a car. So you have to calculate what that 1 hour and 20 minutes means to you. For some people (like me), time is a non-factor & spending the extra time on the bike is a bonus... To others, losing let's say an 1 hour 20 minutes away from your kids or family makes the true expense a lot more. Thus to each person, this is different.

blackvans1234

I disagree, send him over to Roadbikereview and then he can whine about how mean we are.


Anyways, I think that getting into any sport is $$$.
Ive spent probably 1200 dollars on a new bike, helmet, bike pump #1 , then 2, then 3, bike computers etc.

I have spent more on car maintenance / repairs without question.
I was selling a '98 pontiac grand prix after having 600 dollars worth of work done, got an offer for 1800 but I wanted 2K. The guy left without buying the car. 3 days later the rack and pinion go, I ended up selling the car for 800 dollars.

Bikes don't have super expensive out of nowhere problems like cars do (IMO)

I hit a bear in my '98 honda civic, the front bumper is toast, I didn't have comprehensive so I'm SOL. The hood and grille could be replaced if I cared that much. If I wanted the paint to match that would cost more.
I took it to TWO different auto-body shops and they both NEVER called me back (they figured it's not worth it- no comprehensive = low income owner + they can't inflate the price of the ''work'' they do)

Garfield Cat

Trying to draw comparisons between cars and bicycles or even trying to equate them is not the way to go. Although they may be modes of transportation, there's more differences than there are similarities.

They're just vastly different.

RaleighSport

Someone with basic mechanical knowledge can buy a bike off CL, some grease, and some BB's and be up and running for under 100, you can also go to walmart and buy a BSO that will function for under 100 dollars, often bikes are inherited from friends or family for free and you can get them a tuneup at a bikeshop for under 100 bucks.. conversely you could also walk into say a performance shop and spend 10k on the bike alone and another 10k on "gear" cycling is dirt cheap compared to cars and the gap merely widens at the higher end how many multi million dollar bikes have you heard of?