How much do you pay each year to commute by bike ?

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SkipdiverJohn

Deplorable Brexiteer
Location
London
Rather than quoting a figure per annum, a more meaningful comparison would be to work out your total cycling cost per mile, given that that different riders may cover vastly different distances yet spend a similar overall amount.
I suspect if worked out on that basis, quite a few cyclists who spend a lot on bikes and gear etc, would find their transport is not as cheap as they might like to think it is. Done on a real shoestring, cycling ought to be cheaper than walking.
 

classic33

Leg End Member
Rather than quoting a figure per annum, a more meaningful comparison would be to work out your total cycling cost per mile, given that that different riders may cover vastly different distances yet spend a similar overall amount.
I suspect if worked out on that basis, quite a few cyclists who spend a lot on bikes and gear etc, would find their transport is not as cheap as they might like to think it is. Done on a real shoestring, cycling ought to be cheaper than walking.
How?
Walking still requires footwear and clothing. And doing in excess of a 1,000 miles a month, at one stage, similar was worn. A rucksack used when walking still being used when cycling.

Cycling was quicker than walking the same distance to and from work.
 
This year I am keeping a total of miles commuted by bike, money spent on bike and miles driving and as a passenger.
So far I have done the commute every day by bike, but I have spent a lot on a new jacket, renewing bike insurance and a wahoo elemnt bolt. At the moment I am over £2 per mile on the bike. I hope that comes down!
A trip to the lakes by car last week (only journey by car so far this year) has me at 220 miles driven so I am about 1 miles driven to one mile cycled. (I am hoping to do a 105 miles tomorrow to put the bike ahead!)
 

classic33

Leg End Member
I would say you'll get more miles out of a set of bike tyres than you will out of a set of shoes
Disagree. I've still the same pair of trainers now as I had in 2003. Not as much use now though. Tyres lasted around three months, six at best, but they weren't cheap. None of them remain.
 

Heigue'r

Veteran
Last year worked out around 12p per mile for me however not a true figure when offset with money saved.This year I would hope to keep expenses down a bit,£300 allready spent on kit this year and probably £300 to spend on chains,cassettes and tyres over the rest of the year
Expenses=£600
Savings £70 per week,say for 40 weeks=£2800
£2200 profit÷8000(rough mileage)=£0.27 per mile profit=less than nothing,cycling makes me money
 

SkipdiverJohn

Deplorable Brexiteer
Location
London
Expenses=£600
Savings £70 per week,say for 40 weeks=£2800
£2200 profit÷8000(rough mileage)=£0.27 per mile profit=less than nothing,cycling makes me money

Can't really see how cycling actually makes you money unless you have the ability to claim business mileage expenses that are more per mile than what you spend on running a bike. £600 might be less than £2800, but it still isn't nothing.
I don't do anything like the annual mileage you do on a bike, but I would say my cycling probably costs me under 2p a mile overall in wear & tear parts. I don't expect to need to buy any new tyres for several years now as I've got a load of salvaged ones from scrap bikes for local hack use to use up, and my good bikes all had new Schwalbes fitted last year whenever Chain Reaction had a sale offer on them!
 

Heigue'r

Veteran
Well if I wasn't cycling I would be out of pocket £2800,TFL and the government would have my money,no choice as I have to get to work.
When I do cycle I'm in pocket £2200

I would have a fairly strong argument that cycling makes me money,or phrased differently saves me money but if I wasn't cycling I couldn't save because the money would be gone so yeah,I'm going to stick with cycling makes me money^_^^_^
 

SkipdiverJohn

Deplorable Brexiteer
Location
London
No argument from me, I have found cycling to be an extremely cheap form of transport that also happens to be good fun (so long as the weather is OK) and gives me some exercise at the same time. I avoid bus/tube travel as much as possible (full of antisocial low-life in London) and using a car for short journeys during the day is just too slow and too much hassle, so most of the time it comes down to either walking or riding.
 
Hard to calculate this. If you do it properly you amortise your costs over the years, and you only know how much each part costs a year when it eventually dies and needs to be replaced and you divide the cost by years of service.
 

KneesUp

Guru
I guess the more expensive items make the biggest difference. I built my bike up but since it has been as I want it, I've spent nothing on it other that a set of tyres when I started getting loads of punctures. However, the rear hub is making some bad sounds at the moment, and it's a cheap one not really designed to be maintained, so at some point I'm going to replace the back wheel which will significantly affect the cost per journey for a while.
 

sleuthey

Legendary Member
Annual costs:
Depreciation £60
1 tyre £15
1 baselayer £10
3 pairs pads £12
1 tube £4
Misc fettling £20
Total £121

Costs every 2 years:
1 helmet £20
1 cassette £15
1 chain £12
1 coat £25
1 pair gloves £20
3 cables £6
Total £98 (£49 PA)

Grand total £ 170 PA
Over 1500 miles is 11p pm
 
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I like Skol

A Minging Manc...
Not a lot is the answer. But that doesn't factor in bike cost. My previous bike was £500 new but needed several upgrades in the first year costing around £400 to make it a reliable commuter. A few years later it has cost not much (pair of tyres every 1.5-2 yrs and a couple of chains/cassettes/brake pads). Maybe £60-70 per year? It lasted nigh on 8 yrs so even counting purchase and upgrade cost has been less than £200/yr. Lots of the good bits are being transferred to new bike, thus further offsetting the cost.

My current bike cost £1.5k but doesn't appear to need any upgrades out of the box. On paper, with a steel frame, it should require less upkeep and last longer. Time will tell, but if I continue my current job and commute then I shouldn't exceed the £200/yr figure in the long term. This is far, far cheaper than maintaining and supporting a car (which I also do :blush:).
 
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