quintessence22

Choosing the bike over the car does not always lead to a simpler low maintenance/less stressful life.

Here's proof:
Attributed directly to biking, I have now ripped a shirt, broken a ring, ripped my 8 month old backpack straps (which I thought was high enough quality; apparently not), lost a toque while riding, lost liner gloves, nearly lost my cellphone, ripped a million pant legs (even when using a pant clip), edit: ripped open the ankle tops of my shoe, and broken a helmet. I have to replace that backpack soon...

This doesn't include the damage I've done to myself, which is pretty extensive as of late.... I think I've lost a little blood every day or two for the last two weeks.

These costs also excludes bicycle maintenance and breaking parts on my bike, which I haven't really inventoried yet.

Admittedly, I do a lot of urban assault/freeride.

So tell me, what kind of maintenance costs do you guys experience over the course of year? Specifically equipment related to cycling...

jamesdenver

New brakes, cassette, cables, oil, all of these general maintenence things would cost a total of under $100 on the high side, and many folks here do it themselves.

Since you mentioned car, if I had new brake job on car, new transmission, oil change, I'm sure it'd be at least $2,000 or more.

Sorry for your misfortune. In three years of bike commuting I've fallen once, on some ice approaching a spot sign. Luckily it was a quiet 4-say stop and the ice actually helped, as it didn't scuff up me of my bike (just slid to a stop).

I wear shorts when commuting, and jeans if commuting around town, haven't ripped any though, nor have I ripped any shirts.

I'd say ease up on hopping curbs, relax and go with the flow. My biggest problem is the velcro on my rack trunk wearing out.

Don Johnson

In may instances, dry-cleaning shops have seamstresses they refer work to that can fix/replace things like this for just a few dollars...if that much.

swwhite

In my first full year, 2002, I rode exactly 100 days, at the price of gas then saved almost exactly 100 dollars, and spent exactly 100 dollars in bike repair. Since then I the price of gas has gone up, I have ridden more, but I have had to upgrade my clothing, lighting, and carrying capacity a bit, plus a new chain every year and a new cassette every two years. So I estimate that I still break even in savings in gasoline against expenditures for equipment.

BUT, I think that the biggest savings is in the postponement of car repairs. Whenever the car breaks down, it's 200-500 dollars to fix it. For a while my spouse was laid off, and we lived in terror of the unexpected car repair. To me, having a car is "simpler" only of one can really afford to operate and maintain it and not sacrifice elsewhere.

quintessence22

Yeah, I'm noticing the savings I make from not insuring my car are being nibbled away by equipment for cycling. I take it your car is still insured, swwhite. You could cancel it for a couple months to make a larger savings. A few months should do it. Just as long as you consider your state's rules for "years of continuous insurance", so that it doesn't affect your premiums when you reinitiate insurance.

How many jackets do you have? and how many do you replace per year due to wear? Do you have a set of outer layer pants for wet weather?

Roody

I have clothes dedicated to cycling, much of which I buy at thrift stores and discount stores. For example, in the winter I have a pair or two of black pants that I only wear when I'm riding, that cost 3 bucks each. If they rip, who cares? I throw them out and buy a new pair. Black hides stains better, but if they get too stained, guess what? I throw them out and buy new ones. Same thing with black shorts in the summer. I wear spandex cycling shorts every time I ride, about $40 for a pair that lasts a whole year.

I have athletic shirts, fleeces, jackets, rain jackets, heavy jacket, etc. These are more expensive than the pants, but less likely to get ripped or stained, so they last a few seasons if I'm careful. I mostly like bright colors for these, so I show up better in traffic. My sister just got me a cool lightweight rain jacket for my birthday, bright red. She knows how to shop! (The carrot cake she made me was good too!)

Injuries can be expensive. I had a fall in August 2004 that ended up costing about $15,000. That's not a typo--15K. Luckily I have good insurance that paid every penny, and my disability insurance covered time off work.

Bike parts. My bike's getting older, things are starting to go, after 3 years of no expenses except routine stuff like chains, tubes, tires, brake pads, cables and lube. Maybe $60-80 a year? But last summer I needed new front hub, bottom bracket, pedals and rear brake. That was probably a couple hundred? A lot more than the $100 I paid for the bike!

So no, bikes are not always simple or cheap. But I bet everybody is going to tell you they're a hell of a lot simpler than cars! Like the $200 I spent on my bike last summer, I could have bought two nice pre-owned bikes or even three. But I love my bike, so I didn't want to do that.

Az B

Have you considered taking up tennis?

I bought some new (used) wheels for my 25 year old commuter. $100. And a new chain and some tires. The tires were on sale for $13. Oh yeah, I finally got around to buying one of those dorky looking safety vests. That was $12.

Az

thelung

If you are really loosing blood "every day or two" just from riding your bike you are doing something seriously wrong.

attercoppe

Just think what you would have done to a car (and yourself) if you drove like you ride, and how much that would cost to fix!

I doubt most utility cyclists and commuters have the problems you do.

gwd

Sometimes a car driver will put something on the hood or roof of a car and drive off to lose it, or get a long piece of clothing caught in the door. I've never heard of a car person claiming that that kind of brain fart should be counted as a cost of car ownership while this poster represents a lost cell phone as a cost of bike transportation. Why do you car free people go along with that kind of skewed accounting?

Roody

You know, it's pretty funny. On the roadie forum they brag about how much money they spend on their bikes. Here we boast just as loud about how little we spend.

becnal

Losing and ripping stuff has nothing to do with a bike free lifestyle. That simply means that you need to keep your mind on what you are doing. Perhaps some zen meditation classes would help.

joesmohello

Bike riding has nearly ruined all of my pants. I just can't seem to keep them away from dirt and chain grease. I've thought about changing my pants when I ride but that sounds like such a PITA if I'm making a few stops. DO I wear my crappy pants around town or risk staining another pair of nice pants?

chicbicyclist

How about a chainguard.....

chephy

Or rolling up your pant leg...

Bike_UK

My bike cost me £101 (about $180) four years ago. It has had a few sets of tyres, brake pads, a new headset and bottom bracket, new saddle, chains, cassette; so it's probably cost me the same again in parts in that time. My motorcycle (the only type of vehicle i've ever owned, but now sold) insurance in that first year cost me £925 (about $1665).
When this bike is no longer worth fixing, in another year i reckon, it will have cost me maybe $600, so yes much cheaper and simpler as i know any damage i can fix myself also. The motorcycle cost me upto its sale last month approx $11780 + gas! (Now i am going to have a sit down - that's the first time i've worked out how much i had spent on it. OW!)

becnal

To quote the warden in "The Green Mile", "How many years did you spend pissing on the seat until somebody told you to lift it up?!?!"

Roll up yer pant leg fer cryin' out loud!

DataJunkie

You are supposed to lift it up?
No wonder my wife is mad.

I put between 150 and 200 miles on my bike a week. In the last month I had a wheel trued once and replaced a cyclocomputer mounting bracket. All at a cost of $12. I still have every piece of clothing I had when I started riding a year ago.
Ride in the street. It's less stressful on your bike.

I-Like-To-Bike

You want to see her mad? Forget to put it down.

DataJunkie

Ack! Isn't that the truth.

joesmohello

I do either roll my pant legs up or use a velcro strap but my pants still get dirty. If I just left them they'ed be shredded too.

swwhite

I have a fleece jacket, a very heavy army-surplus wool sweater, a big denim shirt, a sleeveless yellow windbreaker vest, an unlined parka shell, and a moderately-insulated parka, plus leather gloves with wool liners and extreme-cold-weather mittens.

On the bottom I have unlined over-pants, heavy wool pants, long underwear, and I ride in hiking boots (insulated and uninsulated-waterproof) with cotton socks, or wool socks, or really thick wool socks.

Then I have a rain suit if needed.

I mix and match the above items depending on the temperature, and guided by my mere four years of experience. I did not have all that stuff when I started, but I accumulated it over a couple years and now I consider that my clothing is complete. Things are holding up and I see no more clothing purchases coming up. I am not car-free, but only trying to reduce car use by hitting the major area of use, commuting. So my bike riding is just a fifteen-mile round trip, on the average (over a calendar year) of three days a week. I am not too hard on equipment.

Machka 

During the 6 years I was commuting by bicycle in Winnipeg ...... my maintenance consisted of oiling the chain. Also, once in that 6 years I had the bicycle tuned up during which time they replaced the chain. That's it.

I did not rip any clothing. I did not rip my backpack. I did not lose any clothing or other objects. I did not break my helmet. I did not injure myself in any way.

During those 6 years I wore the cycling gear I bought for my other cycling adventures (racing, randonneuring, and touring) and it is the same cycling gear I am wearing now ... jackets and jerseys don't wear out very quickly. I do replace my shorts every two years, but then in two years my shorts will have seen 10,000 kms. I have also replaced one pair of gloves since I started cycling seriously 16 years ago ... I figure that's not bad. Somewhere in that time I did purchase a couple new pair of cycling shoes, but they weren't expensive and should last me several more years. The one pair has already seen over 20,000 kms and is still going.

If you take care of your things, and if you ride sensibly, like a vehicle of the road, obeying all the traffic laws and riding predictably and carefully, etc., your cycling gear (and you) can last a very long time.

urban rider

I also buy my cycling clothes at the thrift stores, as a matter of fact on New Year's day all of the Salvation Army storeas have clothes 50% off. I don't worry about the jacket that gets ripped because I paid two dollars for it. If I brought one of those "under armour" shirts I would never work out because I would be afraid of rips and sweat.
As for repair, well I have a good friend who is a master at repairing bikes. I plan to take some classes in bike repairs next year. Yes, riding my bike is a whole lot cheaper than driving. The cost of a fill-up in my car is 50 dollars, everytime it goes to the shop it is at least two hundred dollars. I rather ride my bike(s). The benefits outweighs the negatives.



Gas, the price of a can of beans.

twochins

i ride a mtn bike everywhere here in town...honestly, i don't crash that much anymore, but i hop curbs and bunnyhop stuff as much as anyone...yeah, for jerking around town, wearing some jeans is really a good idea to save your legs from scratches when you do fall...i but most clothes second hand, it doesn't matter then what happens to them

if your urban FR you need to be running a bashguard in place of the 42T chainring...most flat territory you can handle routinely with the 32T ring. the bashguard with deflect the right pant leg and you won't get it caught in your rings anymore...two years running for me, don't have to bother with velcro or anything

you can go like 2500 miles with a drivetrain, i've done it...that could be several years or just one...when you take it this far, you have to replace everything, chainrings, chain, cassette, that's like $50 if your thrifty, but if you value every stroke more like $75 to $100

brake pads...your prolly running disc, these things can really last a while and they are real cheap, like $10, you change them just bbecasue they are cheap, not becaue they were completely worn out..same kind of thing with tires...you get bored with a pair before they really get balded out...with sales you can get your favorite tire pretty cheap...i never use any tire that's more than $20..