Cycling is cheap - and expensive

[Pale Rider]

I recently did a 101 mile train assisted ride from Berwick to Newcastle.

I've been riding my Cannondale more recently, but to get that distance in company, I used my Rose ebike.

That cost £2.5K, plus another £500 for a back-up battery,

Yet on the day I spent three quid on drinks and a snack, plus £4,50 for the train ticket and eight quid to park the car.

So my conclusion is that cycling is both cheap and expensive.

What are your thoughts on the overall cost of riding a bike?

 

[Brandane]

If you start and finish your ride at home thereby cutting out trains/petrol/parking charges then it can be cheap.
It also helps if you're a canny Scotsman and take your own drinks and snacks (says the guy who spent about £14 on drink and snacks on a ride today - and £8 on a train fare!).
It helps further that none of my bikes were very expensive; 2 out of 3 of them cost less than your spare battery .

 

[mustang1]

More expensive than it should be.
I mean...how much research and development can you really do with a bunch of tubes and two wheels? Different types of steel, carbon layup, or aluminium. The bike is still made with a bunch of tubes and two 700mm disks attached with some spokes. Those damn marketing people want us to dig deep into our wallets.
If I cycle 5000 miles a year, I have to service the bike twice annualy.
They're also not as versatile as they're made out to be. Today had to pick up my dry c!eaning from a local shop and there was no parking space; a perfect candidate for bike trip. But I can't bring dry cleaning home on a bike.
The other day, in a world first, I took the bike to the cinema and it was rather nice, except, even though I cycled slowly, one doesn't feel as fresh as, say, using a bus or car.

But ya know what? I wouldn't give up on the bike, despite those niggles, I love bikes and cycling. Rock on forever!

Edit: fixed typos.

 

[Moodyman]

Cycling for the sake of it - leisure, racing and fitness - is expensive.

Cycling as a means of travel - commuting, touring and going to the shops - works out quite cheap over time.

 

[xxDarkRiderxx]

I agree that cycling is both cheap and expensive. Cheap if your using your bike at least 3/4 times a week like I used to. I calculated that my Hybrid a few years ago paid for itself when commuting to London after 3.. 4 months, but then it got stolen. The replacement which I still have has already paid for itself many times over.

My wife and son have had there bikes in the garage for 5+ years, and I can count the times they have used them on one hand, so that is a definite a waste. I love cycling and it is my main hobby apart from playing the playstation 4 in the winter lol. I think the popularity since the 2012 games and a new generation of young working people in London trying to keep costs down has actually made the prices of bike apparell more expensive.

Expensive if you think I have 4 bikes and cannot ride them all at the same time.

 

[G-Zero]

Totally agree.... Cheap and expensive at the same time, with expensive being ahead in the stakes in our family.

Two teenage girls heavy metal MTBs never get used, wife's MTB rarely gets used, mine & wife's crossers, regular commuters and save us a fortune in fuel costs, my fair weather road bike, simple pleasure.

Clothing for all seasons, including full wet/winter commute, work stand, service tools, track pumps, spare parts, spare consumables, security cables, locks, insurance, Interchangeable roof rack system, (sea kayak J bars normally live on my car roof), Fiamma 4 bike carrier for the back of the camper.

We love the outdoors, be it cycling, kayaking or mountains, so the cost of our lifestyle is worth every penny.... And for me personally, this level of fitness wouldn't come cheap from a gym.

 

[numbnuts]

So far this year I have saved £27.60 by using my trike/bike and not the car for shopping trips

 

[simongt]

Saves an average of about £20 a week in petrol costs, wear & tear / depreciation on the car. But the cost of avoiding being stuck in queues on the way home - priceless - !

 

[Saluki]

Cheap when commuting, as there is no cake & coffee stop. A little more expensive on an afternoon's jaunt around the Norfolk countryside as Hubster enjoys the cake stop, as do I but I don't need it as much. I'm seriously considering a wee flask and a couple of flapjacks.

 

[F70100]

I hope you mean a small flask .

 

[booze and cake]

Yep both, cheap in that compared the the train and bus travel around London it saves me a fortune. This is offset somewhat by extra expense on food, I'valways had a cavernous appetite but cycling sees me consume competetive eating quantities of food.

It begins to get more expensive the more N+1's you indulge in. I don't have a well piad job but love bikes so keeping my current stable of 6 on the road is nigh on impossible, replacing tyres, chains, and cassettes on multiple bikes certainly adds up. I never seem to have all my bikes roadworthy at the same time due to the cost pressures. I currently have an unbuilt up road frame I need to throw some money at to get going. My MTB has been neglected for ages and needs front forks service, new cranKs and BB, chain and cassette which as I use it so rarely I'm in no hurry to invest in.

My beater/commuter/rat bike is in a deliberate state of disrepair to remain unappealing the thieving scumbags so I don't care about the condition of that.

My other 3 bikes are fine, but as 2 of them run Campag which is comedically/tragically expensive they are often money sinks. A replacement plastic gear shift lever I snapped on my 10speed record shifters cost £40 (defo plastic not carbon) and I still laugh out loud/stare blankly in shock when Campag can charge £30 quid for 5 chainring bolts.http://www.totalcycling.com/en/gb/Campagnolo-Chainring-Screws-and-Bolts---FC-SR200/m-20962.aspx

Cheaper options are available of course but I am a sucker for pretty kit and in my opinion Shimano have'nt made anything remotely pretty in years, so I made my choice and pay the price (begrudgingly).

 

[Milkfloat]

Although I spend far more on my bikes than I get back in reduced travel savings, compared to what I could be spending my money on, cycling is incredibly cheap.

 

[contadino]

[QUOTE="Pale Rider, post: 3804660, member: 24609]
Yet on the day I spent three quid on drinks and a snack, plus £4,50 for the train ticket and eight quid to park the car.[/QUOTE]

One of my bikes cost less than your day out, the other £150 (which I thought was expensive).

 

[MrFixed]

I think it's relatively cheap considering how much public transport, driving and other means of transport cost.

Also, depends on what bike you ride. Single Speed bikes require less maintenance than their geared counterparts IMO and if you're willing to learn to service your bike yourself it's even cheaper still.

Just my opinion.

 

[Saluki]

I have a customer who laughs openly about how much my bike was and how I think that cycling is cheap in comparison with other hobbies/fitness regimes.
I asked her how much she pays for her gym membership (to sit on a stationary bike and watch digits on a screen). She said £49 a month (£588 a year). I told her that 2 years membership was more money than I paid for my all singing and dancing CF road bike. I didn't mention that I'd had it a year and a bit.
I figured out that once she's paid for a coffee and a bun each visit £4.50 (3 x a week) which is another £702 plus the bus fair each time at £4.90 return (764.40) that a year's gymming comes to £2054.40. That's the cost of a very nice bike, some nice clothing and a heck of a lot of cake. Yup, I think that cycling is quite cheap in comparison with paying THAT amount of dosh out to sit on a stationary bike and pretend to work out. She says that she spends a good 30 minutes at the gym working out, each time. Sometimes 35 minutes. Woo hoo.