Cost per mile of cycling

[ChrisEyles]

After the usual yearly trip to the LBS for a new cassette, brake blocks etc, I'm curious what most people have to spend to keep their bikes running.

For me I tend to spend around £150 a year on chains, cassettes, tyres, brake blocks, LBS labour and the odd wheel to keep my commuter running, and put somewhere around 3,000 miles a year on it - so around 5p per mile.

If you include the initial cost of the bike that's another £450 over two years, which brings it up to 10p per mile.

I was thinking that's pretty good... but then I also blow another £150 or so a year doing up old bikes which see far fewer miles (maybe 1,000 a year between them, in a good year). I guess that's almost a separate hobby though, I enjoy the fettling process a lot and it's very satisfying bringing a rusty hunk of junk back into sweet running order.... and I guess in principle I *could* sell them on at some stage.

Out of interest, on a travel expense claim I recently completed, they were offering 12p per mile in expenses for cycling.

 

[Funkweasel]

I'm not sure; will try to work it out... but my last gym membership cost me £120 per visit :O

 

[alvintc]

Yeah... I'm staying out of this as well.

Will chip in when you go from £/m to smiles/m

 

[Shut Up Legs]

How can you quantify cycling's effect on your health, and on the environment? The equation is a great deal more complicated than how much you spend on parts.

 

[numbnuts]

+ enjoyment and that's priceless

 

[ChrisEyles]

How can you quantify cycling's effect on your health, and on the environment? The equation is a great deal more complicated than how much you spend on parts.

Absolutely! Even at my upper estimate of 10p per mile, cycling to work is still by far the quickest, cheapest, and most enjoyable way of getting to work - and a nice long 60 miler is only going to cost me £6 - and that's about the best Saturday morning I can think of

 

[tyred]

It's hard to say as I have a large fleet.

I have a few very nice bikes that cost quite a bit of money by the time I got them as I want them - and skip rescue Slovakian 3 speed that cost practically nothing and gets used most

When you factor in all the cafe stops it's actually cheaper to drive around in a Bentley...

 

[steveindenmark]

There are far too many variables to work this out.

Whatever it costs, its worth it.

 

[mjr]

I knew I kept receipts for a reason! OK, going back a year from today:
13.49 torque wrench
3.98 brake cables
1.24 new buff
3.33 end caps
2.49 pedal wrench
6.66 base layer
9.99 base layer
7.49 chain
7.13 bar tape
2.99 bottle
2.99 cage
6.79 alarmed lock
2.19 syringes
8.75 grease
5.98 camera
1.96 battery
4.99 dynamo rollers
6.95 dynamo wire
4.27 five bottle cage mounts
0.98 new seku clips
21.99 two tyres
7.99 five? inner tubes
2.84 bar tape
1.49 bell
8.99 compression bag
10.80 rack bag
5.99 bar bag
3.49 axle-mount bungees
3.00 toolbag
3.15 straps

There's some more cash purchases like inner tubes I've omitted, but there's some of the above (like three inner tubes, the wire spool and one of the rollers) which haven't been used yet, so I'll claim the two balance each other out. There's also obvious stuff like brake blocks which I've used but I've been using up spares bulk-bought in previous years.

Grand total £174.37
Mileage 4140
Estimated consumables rate 4.2p/mile

So even if I've only counted half of it, it's under 10p/mile.

 

[ChrisEyles]

Wow that's an excellent detailed answer - bravo!

In conversations with others (mostly non-cyclists) it seems cycling is perceived as an expensive hobby... going from these answers it seems that's only true if you own a fancy bike you rarely ride!

Haha, @tyred if I factored in my flapjack budget it would make me look very greedy indeedy

 

[jefmcg]

When you factor in all the cafe stops it's actually cheaper to drive around in a Bentley...

where are you eating? Apparently a Bentley uses about 30p/mile in fuel, so ... coffee and cake comes to something less than £6 usually, even in London.

 

[subaqua]

http://www.cycletoworkcalculator.com/

might make it easier

 

[mjr]

http://www.cycletoworkcalculator.com/

might make it easier

Am I misunderstanding it or if you're given a bike, then apparently gear+servicing is free too?

 

[mjr]

Wow that's an excellent detailed answer - bravo!

Oh, I've been wondering this myself anyway, which is why I keep receipts - I just needed a reason to total them up. I started motoring when I was still a student, so I kept all those receipts and worked out how much it cost. I don't do that so closely now, but I think just the consumables and servicing still works out over 20p/mile and the depreciation is probably more than a new bike every year.

In conversations with others (mostly non-cyclists) it seems cycling is perceived as an expensive hobby... going from these answers it seems that's only true if you own a fancy bike you rarely ride!

Or if you get a posh shop to service it. I suspect I could easily pay 2-3 times as much for the parts if I didn't shop around (mostly between the same 7 or 8 shops, three of which are local) and got them to fit them on an hourly rate, plus maybe £60-100 per bike per year for basic servicing/fettling. I wouldn't have so many tools or trash them so often, though.

 

[Lonestar]

Technically it's more expensive for me to cycle commute than catch the train.