[Closed] Price per ride?

No, else I'd give up.

I do when I go on an uplift day.
You've to get maximum runs in obviously.

No, else I’d give up.

About a quid an hour over the last 7 years.

This is a question that for me is best left unanswered.

I daren't. Before I even get on the bike there's the £?00 of towbar and rack so I can drive somewhere for a proper ride <10 times a year

One of my bikes is a £3k tt bike I've used for 2 ironmans.

So, no. Tracking would be a terrible idea.

So after 3 years of putting data in that blokes conclusion was...

Buy stuff you need that you like and fix it if it breaks! Don't buy stuff you will wear once.

That was a long read with some odd graphs to come to some trite conclusions.

Cost per ride, are we including cars, fuel, tax, wear on car?

Are we including buying a house/ shed/ garage to keep the bikes in?

Does anyone track their bike spend and work out the price per ride or even price per mile?

One of my bikes is a £3k tt bike I’ve used for 2 ironmans.

Can I borrow it for a 24?
👿

Once after I sold a Trek 2011 EX8 brought it and sold it same year with the money I sold it for worked out £110 per ride so my own fault use the bikes a lot more now live and learn.

I did once a few years ago when I was watching my spending to try and get some savings together. Was part of watching everything so every month I had a spreadsheet of how much I spent in food, fuel, bikes etc. Came out as every hour on the bike was costing me roughly £3.70. Compared to going to the cinema or a meal out it was actually a bargain! Add in the health benefits and I definitely don't begrudge a penny of that spend.

Was actually thinking about this a few days ago for how much my Zwift setup had cost me and it's just ticked under the £1/mile mark with plenty of time to get that down. Works out at roughly £7 and hour so far but plenty of time to get that down plus the trainer is worth a fair bit so still a bargain.

Luckily Strava lets you select your gear and your totals in the profile let you keep track your mileage per bike. This has led me to a few observations which have taught me a few lessons:

1. I track chain wear on an XX1 system and ensure a change at 1200 miles, new chainring every other chain, new cassette every 3-4 chains - this has taught me that it's economically stupid to have such expensive drivertrain gear on a bike that does alot of miles, the cost per mile is too much.

2. Same bike has been a continual problem to keep running, and now is on its last legs as there's proprietary parts that are done and can't be replaced easily...and I'm keeping an eye on crack which may be paint or may be carbon...Luckily I got it half price but at full current RRP it's lifecycle has ended at a cost almost £1.50 per mile- this strikes me as far too much and will be more careful where the coin goes in the future.

I don't track it formally but I do try and estimate the cost per use when I'm buying new stuff, I think it's a good guide. Like I'm quite happy to spend £130 on pair of trail running shoes because I know I'll use them nearly every day until they fall apart in 9 months. Recently persuaded myself away from a new "proper" mountain bike because it's likely it would cost me £200 a ride over the next year.

Also good from a sustainability point of view. Stuff that has a high cost per use you might not need, or it might be poor quality and not lasting well. See a cheap tool that costs £5 but dies after 10 uses vs the £50 tool you hand down when you die.

A quick glance at my Strava profile suggests that this is something it's best just to not think about. Also road bikes work out much cheaper on a £s per mile basis.

1. I track chain wear on an XX1 system and ensure a change at 1200 miles, new chainring every other chain, new cassette every 3-4 chains – this has taught me that it’s economically stupid to have such expensive drivertrain gear on a bike that does alot of miles, the cost per mile is too much.

You are changing stuff faaar too often, or are riding through caustic soda. I’m running an XO1 drivetrain on my ebike. Currently at 3500 miles, all original drivetrain, still running nicely. I don’t measure wear.

I usually keep half an eye on it. I usually feel better about shelling out for any significant upgrades once the whole bikes under 45p/mile. The commuter bike makes me feel better about the overall figure 🤣.

When I'm feeling particularly penny-pinching I've ridden the 'nice' bike to work for a few weeks to justify a new drive chain against petrol money, even if I could have taken the cheaper commuter 🤣

You are changing stuff faaar too often, .......................... I don’t measure wear.

Ermmm?

Are we including buying a house/ shed/ garage to keep the bikes in?

This is one I definitely choose to ignore, I could probably save a grand off the mortgage at least without so many hobbies 🤣

Ermmm?

I change stuff when it stops performing as it should, not at set intervals/cut off points regardless. If it ain’t broke...

does anyone track their bike spend and work out the price per ride or even price per mile?

I did, only once.

in 2008 I spent a lot of money build a pretty flash DH bike, I think it was £4k, which was a lot for a bike back then. This was pre BPW and the like so I would ride it maybe 2/3 times a year at Cwmcarn on the uplift, and maybe 5 days in the Alps, because it turned out I was a wimp who hated racing and most of the local DH spots were out of my comfort zone.

So in 2 years it probably covered 600km over say, 16 days of use.

Then it sat in my garage and didn't move for a year, but needed new brakes and a load of other bits of work for £500, after which I kicked and swore it around The Wall in Afan just to try to get my eye in on the descents (it was rubbish) 1 day, and then 5 days in Whistler Bike Park, maybe 300km.

Total cost, not including consumables and breakages due to crashing, £4500, when I finally gave up and sold it, it took ages to sell and I think I managed to get a £1000 for it.

Total cost £3500 or:

£159 for every day I actually rode it or:
£3.80 per KM (not including riding around the town in the Alps/Whistler).

I've never been tempted to buy another.

No.

My rule for hobbies is spend isn't tracked. It's about fun not cost.

Also back in the olden days any invoices got shredded (once happy with the goods of course), nowadays it's a case of deleting the email which makes it much easier to bend the truth when the inevitable 'how much did that cost?' question is asked 😀

Very quick calc. Average 3 year lifespan for a bike will equate to around 200 rides for me. A £3000 bike will probably need another £1000 in consumable and servicing in that period. Guess £1000 back at resale, so £3000 net. Add another £500 (bare minimum) spent helmet, shoes, clothes, backpacks, tools etc. Say £3500 total over 200 rides = £17.50 per ride. without even thinking about travel costs.
Given that I know I spend a lot more than that on bikes, clothes etc, I'll mentally file this away and never think of it again!

Don't know, don't care, although I do know it'll look nuts to some people.

However the bloke linked by the OP spends 256 euros per year on pants and only wears them 92% of the time. He wears each pair avg 15 times then chucks them out (presumably, I doubt they're going to the charity shop). WTF!

£9.04 or 44p per km

Wears a pair of pants only 15 times. He must have some sort of rotten undercarriage then.
Some of mine have been going 10 years.

I worked out a bike i recently sold had cost me about 1500 over 5 years.
Not breaking it down into cost per ride but it was enough.
Ultimately if I'm having fun then it's worth more than the cash outlay anyway

I ask two questions, ok maybe three.

1)can i afford it
2)does it add anything to my life (ie will i enjoy it)
3)do i need it.

does anything else really matter?

I don't, I really don't want to know.

In the same way I don't calculate how much my kids cost me, some things are better not calculated 😉

1)can i afford it
2)does it add anything to my life (ie will i enjoy it)
3)do i need want it.

Fixed that for you 🙂

Did this calculation for our cat yesterday. Rough estimate of £1k/year, average lifespan 15 years. Won't be getting another.

You are changing stuff faaar too often

No, am not. I change the chain before it wears the chainring/ cassette/ everything else...yes another strategy is to just let it go and wear together but have you seen the price of replacement parts when you need XX1 chain+Cassette+Chainring+jockey wheels altogether, that lot full retail on my bike would be near £450...Its cheaper long term to replace the chain on time...if you get to about 5000 miles on the same set it'd work out about the same, but you'd be spending a lot of time running a sub-optimal system where chain breakage is a big risk towards the end...

If you total up the cost of the bikes I bought last year (eBullitt and Ribble Ti CGR) and divide it by the time I spent using them.... Well, if rather not do the maths.

To be fair the same goes for cycling in general, especially if you include the cost of getting to riding spots and holidays.

Thinking about it, fishing is probably the best bang for buck pastime I've indulged in.

But if I’m replacing my cassette and everything at the same time as you, 3600-4800miles we’re spending the same amount at that point (assuming you do the whole drivetrain, or most of it, to keep to schedule), only you’ve bought 2 or 3 chains and a chainring, around £200 at RRP, leading up to that point. Unless you’re putting a new cassette with worn drivetrain, which seems unlikely.

XX1 and XO1 are expensive, but they last aaaages.

4.6 months tracked riding, say £10,000 on bikes.

~£2.99/hour.

Cheaper than almost anything else I do.

“ You are changing stuff faaar too often, or are riding through caustic soda. I’m running an XO1 drivetrain on my ebike. Currently at 3500 miles, all original drivetrain, still running nicely. I don’t measure wear.”

I can make a cassette feel bad within 600 miles and unrideable before 1000 on my ebike. Changing chains earlier doesn’t help. Thankfully it’s the only pair of bike things I seem to destroy fast.

I’ve worn the same pair of Fox Launch Pro knee pads for almost every ride for over seven years. I bought a back-up pair a while ago but the originals appear to be everlasting!

3600-4800miles we’re spending the same amount at that point

This is true. I'm amazed that you're getting that kind of mileage, especially on an ebike..maybe it spreads the torque more evenly but I'd have expected the opposite. I do a lot of climbing and wouldn't have thought a chain would even sit on the ring at the kind of stretch I'd give it at 3000+ miles. I do tend to change the chainrings before strictly necessary because the XX1 ones get really noisy.

I have a 3.5k tt bike, so far ridden 22 miles on it. So around 160 quid per mile so far.

Or 2 mountain bikes which, according to strava, have done just over 400 miles combined so far in 4 years. Which works out at 17 quid a mile. And given I'll never ride them again due to an injury, that miles per £ won't be coming down any time soon

Road bikes however are positive bargains. In fact the cheaper the bike, the more I tend to use it.

@hooli beat me to it above

If you feel the need to measure it, then surely it's no longer a hobby?

I love riding my bikes and spending my hard-earned on them (they are toys afterall) - if I started measuring the cost/mile, then it might/would spoil the fun!

If the measurement was £'s per smile, then we wouldn't care about the cost??

MTBs never quantify well using this metric, but I use it to justify my commuter over the car.

I buy a new commuter every 5-6years at a cost of around £2k. The commuter does between 30 and 40k km. usually costs around £200 a year to keep going (tyres, bar tape, pads, cassette, chain, etc) and is usually worth around £1k at the end. So it’s usually about £330-£400 a year to ride around 5000miles. So about 7-8p per mile.

I think some people enjoy this sort of costing exercise but this stuff never crosses my mind.

I think its something of a myth that cycling is a cheap hobby but it definitely can be if you want it to be.

Some people seem to really enjoy fettling or maintaining their bikes (though not me tbf), or building them etc and so if their is enjoyment found in that then miles are not the only "enjoyment metric".

Even with the $$$ that some people spend on cycling I reckon it probably is a decent cost/benefit ratio compared to other outdoor hobbies?

I see a lot of other outdoor activities that look like fun but the admin/travel/equipment burden compared to time spent actually doing it often puts me off

This topic was done a few months back and it surprised me how much it does cost per mile considering I ride quite a lot and I buy relatively cheap bikes. Still worth every penny though.

But if I’m replacing my cassette and everything at the same time as you, 3600-4800miles we’re spending the same amount at that point (assuming you do the whole drivetrain, or most of it, to keep to schedule), only you’ve bought 2 or 3 chains and a chainring, around £200 at RRP, leading up to that point. Unless you’re putting a new cassette with worn drivetrain, which seems unlikely.

But in the hypothetical compromise scenario, the cassette and chainrings that had regular chain replacements are still barely worn by your standards.

You could in principle keep all the 0.75% chains and cycle them through again to 1%, 1.25% etc.

Then you've got 4 chains (and a drivechain) and ~20,000 miles rather than one chain (and a drivechain) and 5,000 miles.

Or swap it all out after the 4th chain and have enjoyed perfect shifting and reliability the whole time rather than progressively clunkier shifting and the impending threat of chain slip and scrotum mashed into the stem.

1)can i afford it
2)does it add anything to my life (ie will i enjoy it)
3)do i need it.

This doesn’t capture the problem for me. Not only because 3) is almost certainly a “no”.

You might want it, but you probably don’t *need* it.

And for 2), it might add slightly, but there’s a cost/benefit or value judgment to be made - even if it’s just whether a slightly better fork then the ok one you have is better than a week in the alps. Which ‘adds’ more?

Both of which (for me) are relevant to answering 1), because I have a certain budget but I don’t have a bottomless money barrel. I do have a mortgage. And kids. So it’s not simply a yes/no answer unless I think a bit about 2 & 3 all together.

I keep bikes far longer than the three years that seems common up above though. And my ‘new’ road bike is coming up on 10,000km, and still feels new.