A car is always going to cost more than a bike, doesn't need any sums to work that out.
The price of a bike is cheap and once purchases has very little running cost.
However, I never use a bike other than for pleasure. My commute is 10 miles and is mostly country lanes and takes 15 minutes on a good day. And because I live relatively in the middle of nowhere I have to go 5 miles to get to nearest shop and am not dressing up to go on bike, getting cold and wet in winter etc, to do so.
Happy to pay whatever the cost of my car is. Never worked it out but it is about as cheap as a car could be. (I like little, efficient cars and I am old so insurance is very cheap)
It's 10 miles each way to work and I cycle as I didn't have a car. I've just acquired a car (RS Twingo Cup as it happens), the reason being bike related 😳 . To take bike to races and not leave OH stranded (we had one car already). Otherwise it sits on the drive all week.
As for cost, well I commuted on my race bike yesterday, a bike that cost more than the Twingo. But my normal commuting bike or trike are about £1000 apiece. Petrol is incidental to running costs for 16 miles/day by road, but for me it is a matter of principle.
We won't go into annual bike spending in a public forum.
As for car: Insurance was £340, It has not been serviced, petrol is about £0.1/mile and I'd travel about 3000 miles per if I commuted every day, so another £300. Of course seeing the green light on rev limiter means Conti tyres will be required too so probably another £400. That should keep me in bike spares for a while.
Bikes are nearly always going to be less for everyone on here
But not necessarily for all folks - if I use the general demographic on the people I work around
1 - they don't have a bike
2 - they don't have the bits they need to bike with - e.g. helmet and lock
Clothes and other bits you don't need special biking stuff, but many buy this too. But by the time you factor in purchase price, plus potentially not many commuting miles, it's not immediately cheaper
Especially when many folks will already have a car already. So it's only wear and tear plus petrol price to factor in
It's still mostly cheaper to cycle in though - definitely so in my case
Bikes - lower initial outlay, minimal running cost (just consumables and wear/tear)
Car - higher initial outlay, constant annual cost (tax, insurance, MOT), constant running cost (petrol, consumables, wear/tear)
From my own experience with commuting (1 hour each way), one thing that i always noticed was that i had to eat around twice as much. Noon cravings were pretty bad. And then ideally something before setting off as well.
pretty sure the vast majority of stw own cars and there do seem to be a lot of proper petrol heads on here so you are getting a car drivers perception of it alreadyI feel like I should ask on a forum for motorists (is there such a thing?) to get the view from the other hand
absolutely nothing to do with the subject matter. But you could well be right, ask a bunch of (none cycling) car drivers about cycle vs car costs and you'll just get a load of anti-cycling invective.(and/or abuse about road tax, red light jumping, pavement riding, etc etc)
you most probably don't [i]have[/i] to eat twice as much, you just [i]want[/i] to.one thing that i always noticed was that i had to eat around twice as much
As has been said a few times. It's not just a cost saving I find ridibg to work means I arrives far happier and more relaxed.
It was 14 mile each way that was about 45 min bay car and Average of 50 min by bike
For riding to work ive always used cheap bikes and my current 1980s Mercian (£100) is doing just fine
But yes I do have all the clothes lights etc from my social cycling
Having moved it will now be about 21-23 each way but less traffic so still easy to bike
Out of interest what sort of jobs do most of the forum do ,manual labour ,shift hours,social or not(mine are 12 hour shifts 9-9 day or nights on rotation ,social care work )
As this can also factor in mode of getting to work.
Shop hours for me so currently 8-6 ish Somtimes later this time of year
Standard office hours for me but it's slightly flexible can arrive late or leave early and make up the time.
Standard office hours for me, anytime between 8 and 9 to anytime between 5.30 and about 6.30) on average
I definitely eat more when I'm cycling, but I see that as a huge benefit. I love food and eating and cycling lets me do that more!
I buy 2 lunches everyday, have one at about 12 and another at about 3, plus lots of snacks in between!
As has been said a few times. It's not just a cost saving I find ridibg to work means I arrives far happier and more relaxed.
This. Driving to work is crap - traffic congestion, finding parking, worrying about being late, etc.
As has been said a few times. It's not just a cost saving I find ridibg to work means I arrives far happier and more relaxed.
+1
I reckon my yearly average spend on my commuter + kit is probably about the same as 2 or 3 of tanks of petrol, so from a financial point of view it's a no brainer. But in terms of motivation for commuting by bike cost isn't even on the list for me. Commuting by car (for my scenario anyway) is so grim I reckon I'd go by bike even if it cost more.
