Viewing 40 posts - 1 through 40 (of 40 total)
  • How much does your bike cost you 'per ride'?
  • michaelmcc
    Free Member

    I was thinking about this the other day. I’d like a new bike for gravity enduro type stuff, but the main thing holding me back is how much I’ll get to use it, seeing as I already own two 29ers and a road bike and race them all already.

    I recently sold a bike for about a quarter of what I paid for it six or seven years ago, I only used it about 5-10 times a year on average (due to using my other bikes more, but it was nice to have as a play bike). It was about 2000 pounds new. Lets say I had only used it five times in a year, that would work out to be 57 quid per ride there abouts, that’s not including the maintenance costs (which weren’t a lot since I didn’t used it a huge amount). Using it 10 times a year would have brought the cost per ride down to about 28 quid (pounds).

    I’ve always said you can’t put a price on health and fitness and the amount of enjoyment you get from mtb etc, and while I don’t want to be a bore about it, I’m not sure if I can justify another bike based on these kind of figures. On the other hand, my road bike was 1000 quid about six years ago and I imagine I use it at least 150 times a year, so that is nearly one quid per ride! 😀

    Anyone else worked this kinda thing out??

    MountainMonkey
    Free Member

    Definitely worth taking into consideration.

    I quite fancy another Orange Five for when we go to Scotland, but given it’ll probably only be once a year (if we’re lucky), I figured it’d be cheaper and easier to use the money to fly to Scotland and hire a Five for the weekend.

    Maybe you could do something similar and put the money you would spend into a fund and use it to hire the same kind of bike at a trail centre you fancy riding?

    matt_outandabout
    Full Member

    You know the answer is to ride more.

    trail_rat
    Free Member

    My current commuting bike stands me at 12pence a km ridden. Nothing has been changed its now 18months old.

    My road bikes from 2005 i dont even want to think of milage its seen, used to do 500km weekends often in the summer. Its on its 4th drive train.

    My most expensive per ride bike will be my tt bike. Its 1200 quid all in and ive raced on it 10 times maybe and a couple training rides

    benji
    Free Member

    Never worked it out, it’s probably a scary number, but I don’t care, it’s my motivation to get up in the morning and go to work, simple equation pays money -> buys bikes and bike toys = happiness.

    scotroutes
    Full Member

    This. Use the bike, avoid “upgrading” when not necessary.

    jonnouk
    Free Member

    Bought the bits for my bike back in 2006(ish) and some parts were hand me downs. Since then, 2 cranks (1 free), pads, tyres, seat, wheels (hand me downs) and other minor wear& tear items. I reckon ~1000 all in.

    Used it a fair bit for a few years, then I didn’t for a few, then a lot for the last 2. I’d estimate my bike costs me close to a £5 per ride now.

    My motorbikes? Err, that’s at the other end of the scale. Especially the race bike.

    michaelmcc
    Free Member

    You know the answer is to ride more.

    Or own less bikes 😉 . Not sure if you noticed where I mentioned that I already have two 29ers and a road bike! Pretty much every weekend of my summer is booked up for racing one of them.

    grum
    Free Member

    I’ve only got one mountain bike and I’ve had it for years. It cost less than a grand and even though I’ve spent a fair bit on upgrades the price per ride must be pretty small.

    michaelmcc
    Free Member

    Also the fact that I was planning (and still am if I get another bike), to race mtb XC NPS, road, and gravity enduro races over the summer. I think it’s more of a time thing for me.

    michaelmcc
    Free Member

    My motorbikes? Err, that’s at the other end of the scale. Especially the race bike.

    I can imagine!! 😯

    jonnouk
    Free Member

    TBF, for the racebike (enduro, not nearly as expensive as track) a fair bit of the money can be put on “logistics”.

    I finished uni years ago yet the moment my paycheck arrives “food or bits for the motorbikes?” always pops through my mind. I was disgusted to find the Sainsbury basics instant noodles have gone up to 20p recently.

    fasthaggis
    Full Member

    Over the years I have always done a decent commute distance.
    The money that I have saved by not running a second car or buying train and bus tickets has paid for all my bikes.

    boltonjon
    Full Member

    I think it’d be better to calculate £ per mile

    I would like to work it out but even with big mileage, the final answer would still upset me 🙁

    gazc
    Free Member

    newish commuter – 2 months old stands me £1 per mile, so over the next 10months should go down a fair bit even bearing in mind maintenance costs

    2 year old el guapo, well from strava logged rides that sits me at £1 per mile off road action plus all the non logged rides and racing it’ll be more like 50p

    rigid 29er, again exactly £1 per mile from that as i’ve mainly use it for short local rides, but as i sold the alfine 11 its actually more like 60p a mile in its new ss mode! 🙂

    downhill bike – reckon i’ll be at around £50 per mile on that bad boy. saying that stuck a 32t front ring and 34t cassette and mashed a lot of climbs in spain on it last february so it saved a packet on guides/uplifts for a few extra days after a week with switchbacks 😀

    Malvern Rider
    Free Member

    Something I think about as much as ‘how much do I spend on pizza and beer’?

    Maths identified in buzzkill incident

    Northwind
    Full Member

    I will never calculate that, what a terrible idea!

    Though just for lulz, I think my downhill bike’s currently sitting at something like £250 per ride. My ancient Carrera probably somewhere around a penny.

    bartimaeus
    Free Member

    Anthem – 30p per km, Avalanche – 10p per km. This makes them the ‘cheapest’ bikes in the household.

    mikewsmith
    Free Member

    I ride most of mine into the ground so very little. Current bike is a under a year old but probably had 50-100 rides on it. I’m building a cheap DH bike which will cost me very little per ride.

    Superficial
    Free Member

    Well under 10p / mile for my commuter bike

    As for my mountain bike(s) – I worked this out a while ago but I reckon something in the region of £20 / ride is about right. Not cheap – but still cheaper than a lot of hobbies. I dread to think what it costs some people though – I wouldn’t be surprised if a lot of people were on > £100 / ride.

    crispedwheel
    Free Member

    What’s ‘gravity enduro’? And can’t you use one of the two 29ers for that?

    Superficial
    Free Member

    What’s ‘gravity enduro’? And can’t you use one of the two 29ers for that?

    Don’t be absurd. 29er? For gravity enduro? GTFO

    Northwind
    Full Member

    Yeah, one of ’em only won the world series. And one of those ridiculous 26 inch bikes but you can’t buy them any more, they’re illegal.

    Current bike – built up for £2500 5 years ago (would have cost £4k a year earlier for an off the peg very similar spec). Probably spent a grand on it since and would probably sell now for around a grand.

    So, if sold now, would stand me at £2.5k, or £500 a year, roughly a tenner a week. No idea how many rides it’s been on though.

    michaelmcc
    Free Member

    Something I think about as much as ‘how much do I spend on pizza and beer’? Maths identified in buzzkill incident

    What kind of pizza and beer are you buying???? Are you buying 2000 quid pizzas? How is that a comparison at all.

    michaelmcc
    Free Member

    I think I will use one of the 29ers for the first enduro, but its a short travel one so could be a bit sketchy.

    Lionheart
    Free Member

    This thread needs to be closed quickly!

    People will start working out cost per mile per ‘fun’ bike (DH bikes in the house prob £5 a mile plus), cost per mile per motorbike on the road and on the track (we hillclimb and I reckon thats between £50-200+ per mile depending on size of bike/car!?), cost per mile of your car, your weekend car (I can safely say a friend’s Cobra costs him in excess of £50 per mile), All makes planes look cheap £1 per mile.

    If any partners get their hands on this info the splashback could close down all we know and love, so lets get back to ‘pizza and beer’ currency and leave well alone – please…..

    Duggan
    Full Member

    I think I could do pretty well here as I bought a £600 hard-tail and just use that for everything.

    Having said that I seem to go through an alarming rate of cassettes, chain-rings, chains and brake pads so even still I’m not sure it would be as cheap as you might think per mile. If you factored in the price of tools and kit as well then even more so.

    It’s strange in that if you asked my girlfriend or mates they would say that I spend a fortune on mtbing but whenever I come on here or read a MTB magazine I feel positively thrifty.

    sandwicheater
    Full Member

    Not sure what it costs me per ride/mile but I prefer to think of it as how much I’m saving per ride (for the commute). £5 a day saved in petrol not to mention running costs.

    tightywighty
    Free Member

    I reckon I’m over a £ a mile in suspension forks alone. 🙂

    amedias
    Free Member

    hmmm, my commuter has worked out at about 4p per mile over the last 3 years, I’ve just spent a bit on replacing wheels and drivetrain but if it carries on on them for another 3 years it’ll be getting close to 2p per mile!

    MTB far more expensive per mile, probably average of about £5 per mile on the latest one (6 months old), the older ones are well down into the sub £1 area though.

    scotroutes
    Full Member

    You’ve got it all wrong. If you’ve already spent the money then getting out for a ride is actually making cost per ride/mile less. That’s surely a great justification for riding even more.

    SamB
    Free Member

    My friends once asked me this at uni. It’s a horrible question, especially when it comes to the fun DH bike. I just try not to think about it 🙁

    matt_outandabout
    Full Member

    I have one HT, cost me a HT 7 years ago a sold bike + £400. That was nicked, became insurance replaced FS, that snapped, so new frame and couple of parts became my new bike.

    Mainly SH gear on it, apart from BB/headset/things with bearings that are difficult to replace. I replace when it is knackered.

    So I am 7 years in, I ride on average a couple of rides a week through summer, a couple of months in winter are once a week. I did commute twice / three time a week for three years as well. So, say 100 rides per year average, x7 years, x 15k a ride = 10000km. Maybe £1k spent on bike & bits, plus clothing. Looks like around 10-12p per km…?

    Russell96
    Full Member

    Try a wet ride in the Dark Peak mid-winter it could easily end up costing you £30-£40 in a set of new brake pads and a chain.

    teamhurtmore
    Free Member

    Did the same calculation with a TT / tri bike. Cost per ride wasn’t worth it in the end (are tris worth the money these days?)

    Same thoughts these days – probably about to buy a one bike does all MTB but still thinking about great deal on 29HT high spec race bike in the sale. But would I really use both? Does the time saving on the odd event matter that much these days?

    tazzymtb
    Full Member

    The trick is to own and ride lots with desirable niche that that holds its value. I could pretty much sell all my stuff for a break even or minimal loss and I ride loads…so in fact I must make money. ..gods im a riding multi millionaire and didn’t even know it 😀

    mikewsmith
    Free Member

    Ok for the new bike
    £441 /month (10 months) So I reckon it should get a lot less
    £3.10 /km (been a bit slack)

    Lionheart
    Free Member

    Further to my ‘oh my god, don’t calculate this contribution’ I reckon my on one SS, built for £180 has now done well over 700 miles, with just x2 sets of pads a couple of chains and say x5 bottles of chain oil and a set of tyres, assume it’s still worth £180, thats 21p per mile!!

    vinnyeh
    Full Member

    The key obviously is to avoid succumbing to upgradeitis, and to make the most of what you have.

    I bought my Mojo HD back in 2010, when I was offered the frame at a good price to replace my existing Mojo. Couldn’t really turn down the opportunity, the old frame (well 6 months old 😳 ) was a bit outdated.
    Moved most of the old stuff across, and really only replaced broken stuff ever since.
    Oh, except for wanting to try it in 160 mode, so bought an RC4 and limbo chips, and some Lyriks to beef up the front end. Old Arches had to go as well to suit the gnarr mode, so put some Flows on. And the Joplin was pretty unreliable, so rather than continually getting it fixed it was sensible to replace it with a Reverb. Wider bars and shorter stem helped with the handling as well. I think that’s what I was told, anyway. Melted a brake hose on the old frankenbrakes just as CRC had a big discount on Saint brakes, so that was handy. Stripped a pedal thread on the cranks, so thought it would be a good idea to swap to a clutch mech and 10 speed at the same time- wasn’t sure about the reliability of a helicoil in the pedal threads.

    To be honest, I have bought a couple of things that weren’t strictly necessary though- CK bottom bracket, Narrow/Wide chainring, but in the main its the same as when I bought it all those years back. Ridden it all over the world, thousands of miles, with nothing more than a few changes of tyre to suit conditions. Every now and again I get tempted to upgrade – direct mount mechs, 650b compatible swing arms and so on, but after sleeping on it the urge goes away, and I can always use the same money to just buy another bike anyway.

    Oh, and top tip: if the manufacturer expects you to replace the linkage bearings by buying a new set of rockers 🙄 , then don’t- buy some decent tools, and some bearings, and do it yourself. I wish I’d known that at the start. Save your money for a rainy day.
    PS Cane Creek Headset. Still on the original bearings. Only part left from the original build.

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