But my dad use to fly gliders. Honestly, twice the faff and about four times the expense of MTBs.<br />My mum used to keep horses. It’s always good to talk to her when I need a bit of perspective about how much I spend on cycling.
I know a few guys who have dabbled in rallying, so I like to compare it to that. Probably spent as much as two of my bikes buying a car and entering one rally and a couple of gravel sprints. That equates to maybe a couple of hours of proper fun.
My bikes get used say twice a week average making them exceedingly good value. That's my story and I;m sticking to it!
I'm pretty sure I've had a five figure year in the past, maybe around 2015 or so. The collection is pretty settled now though, relatively speaking. Given the joy given, I don't regret one penny spent on fancy bikes or holiday whether enduro or bikepacking.
I’ve spent a middling amount keeping 2 bikes going. Quite a lot on “servicing”, maybe £500. That included all new pivots as part of a warranty swing arm and a wheel rebuild . I’m sure the gravel bikes eaten a shifter and a derailleur this year so I expect another £300 on bits and tyres. £500 on bike packing stuff
Over the last 6 years I guess I’ve ridden 200 hours a year (I’m currently on 222 hours this year). I think in that time I’ve spent £6000 including buying 2 bikes and 2 sets of wheels. So that’s £5.00 an hour. I’d say amazing value. Particularly as the FS is going strong and the gravel bikes fine
I didn’t including camping stuff in that £6000
Not too much this year until recently - have a notion about rationalising the garage down to (only!) four bikes so have started to pick up a few bits to make that happen by rebuilding/refitting a couple of existing bikes.
Can't be arsed to run a spreadsheet, so no idea how much in reality but I'd guess 750 quid or so this year. Not as much as many previous years but totally understand it's relative and I'm lucky enough to be able to afford it at the minute.
As others have said, bikes are my vice and it's tough to put a price on fun. Previously been there, done that with Archery and digital music production - compared to those things bikes look like small change!
Spend this year might go up a it soon as to make my rationalisation work I might need to get a custom Marino frame made...
I've kept a history of my bike purchases/sales over the last 25years .This of course doesn't take into account of maintenance/upgrades but still interesting for me to keep a log of the bulk of the cost :
1998 Klein Mantra Comp £1275 Sold £350 2014
2004 Giant XTC4 £400 possible resale value £150
2006 Giant Reign 1 £2000 - Sold Frame,Forks and gears £550
2008 Trek Fuel Ex 8 £900 - sold 2011 £450
2011 February Giant Anthem X2 £1500 - Sold 2016 £500
2012 Glory 01 £2250 - sold £850 7/30/2016
2013 Reign X1 frame £350 - Sold £250
2014 December YT Capra Comp1 £2950 -sold £1500
2016 July 28th Stanton Slackline £1000 possible resale value £800
2020 September Mondraker Dune £1800 -Sold frame 2023 for £300 used all parts for Mega build:
2023 Carbon Nukeproof Mega Frame £499 shortly after build Sold complete bike for £2000 to then buy :
2023 New Transition Spur £2500 possible resale value £2500
so if my maths is right around £17424 spent on new bikes with around £10200 recouped/current value of still owned so around £7224 spent purchasing bikes over 25 years or £289 per year.
5k easy I’d say. I’m a sucker for stuff I don’t need ..
since retiring when i had just bought my forever bike,
salsa fargo ti. £5400. now sold.
kona wo fatbike.£1500. now sold
specialized rockhopper. £600 now sold
spa cycles dtour. £1100.
silverback fatbike. £600.
i cant see me ever buying a expensive bike again.
Probably under a grand on kit. My newest bike is a Surly Pacer bought as a frame here or UK cycling a few years ago. Add in bike holidays and it's another £3k or so. But that isn't bad for over a month in the USA.
I probably average under £1000 a year as only ride very simple bikes so can't spend that much but do tend to change things sometimes for the sake of it but hard to tell without recording it as I sell everything that I replace so overall it probably a lot lower if I recorded it.
This year was over £1000 as bought new carbon frameset. I do ride quite a bit, at least 3 times a week 52 weeks a year so seems good value to me.
I wouldn't even begin to want to know. I'd guess this year i've spent ITRO £20,000 but it could be slightly more or possibly less. But it's about ball-park.
Does anyone track cost per mile ridden? I suspect that would be upsetting…
We had this discussion once. Conclusion was it'd be cheaper to run a Chieftain tank 🙂 This was after an overnight trip to Afan, coming from Bucks so petrol, accommodation, food and beer and a broken mech. Total riding just under 10 miles!
I've definitely made some poor decisions buying and selling bikes. But I'm far more worried about what I'd spend any money on if I couldn't ride MTBs.
Normal years very little as I dont have upgraditus. Last couple of years a lot as i bought two expensive new bikes.
Net around £3k with a bit of fag paper maths. That did include a BFe Max build, kids ride shotgun, carbon road wheels and a set of hope v4s so I can see where most of it went.
I like to think I’m quite shrewd so I’d like to think one of my mates who doesn’t hunt out deals would have been closer to £4K on it all 🤷🏻♂️
Does anyone track cost per mile ridden? I suspect that would be upsetting…
Yes. I did it with all my vehicles. My bike/s cost more than my motorcycle did… so I stopped doing it.
I have a fixed budget that comes automatically out of a joint account into my bike account. It’s based on wear and tear calculations from previous years.
Then when that runs out I ‘find’ other funds which I definitely do not keep track of.
I don't really want to know 😬
- Forks for the KSL, got bored of sending the Zebs back for CSU warranties
-Bought a road bike, then bought carbon wheels for it. Both on significant discount.
- Bought a gravel bike as it was half price, road bike is a bit too nice for smashing round filthy country lanes
Have had a big garage clear out, so whilst there are more bikes in the garage, there is a lot less stuff.
Maintenance wise, the three MTB's have probably consumed a £1k in tyres, bearings and other bits. Be close to 5000miles this year.
At 74 you would have thought I might have developed some common sense about bike purchases , but no. In the last five years I have bought three new bikes and of course have had to buy new bits to improve them. My argument is that I don't have long left so I might as well enjoy my money as leave it to kids or pay for care.
I know a few guys who have dabbled in rallying, so I like to compare it to that.
I enjoy asking my plumber about his superbike racing hobby.
His rates weren't THAT expensive considering.
1 new (s/h) FS bike - £1200
2 new drivechains for the road/gravel bikes - £250
1 new turbo trainer - £120
1 New summerhouse to put the turbo trainer in - about £10k (included some other works)
New shoes £90
New trousers £60
New club kit £65
New wheels (not actually needed as the new FS came up for sale the next week!) £300
Sundry and misc stuff like pedals, brake pads, etc ~£200
The older I get the less guilty I feel about spending money on hobbies. The summerhouse might pay itself back if we sell the house, or it might be an expensive luxury for a few years until we move. I did well for work this year, could afford it, so we built it.
