I have 2 bikes: a road bike that I used for triathlons in 2008/2009, and a mountain bike for commuting (with road slicks).
Road Bike Costs (3 years)
- Initial purchase (second hand): $600
- Initial upgrades: $600
- Servicing, tyres, cables, brakes, innertubes, puncture kits: $460
- Residual cost: -$400
- Total Costs: $1200
Kilometres travelled:
- 9 months x 100km/week = 4,000 km
Cost per kilometre:
- $1200/4000 = 30.0c/km
Mountain Bike Costs (6 years)
- Initial purchase (new): $500
- Lights, night gear: $300
- Tyres: $80 x 6 = $480
- Innertubes, puncture kits: $10 x 16 = $160
- Servicing, cables, brakes: $400
- Residual cost: -$100
- Total: $1440
Kilometres travelled:
- 3 years commuting = 50 weeks x 4 days/week x 15km/day = 3000km
- 3 years casual = 150 weeks x 5 days/week x 6km/day = 4000km
- Total: 7000km
Cost per kilometre:
- $1440/7000 = 20.6c/km
Conclusion
- The bicycle running costs overall are $2640/11,000 = 24c per kilometre
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{ 2 comments… read them below or add one }
Hey great summation of bike commuting costs!!!
I travel by bicycle too. In fact, I travel by bike so often and so habitually that the few times I must ride in an automobile, I’m annoyed by it.
See, the costs of your bikes isn’t complete though. Vehicles need tires, rotations, oil changes, insurance, gasoline, maintenance, etc…
If you keep your bikes another 3 years, the costs will be fractions of cents.
Sometimes I wish the cost of fuel would double, so that more people would have to go by bike, therefore there’d be more bicyclists on the road, meaning it’s safer for the rest of us.
Cheers! Thanks for posting.
Yes, with more cyclist, the more drivers are aware of them.