Cheaper Than a Car!

Buddy Amortization to Date (Feb-Dec 2009)
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Bikes are dollars and sense beasts just as automobiles are - if we're talking about commute costs. You may think that a bike is a lot cheaper than a car and so you almost can't help but save money. It ain't necessarily so, though I HAVE cracked the first threshold in my quest to get Buddy down to 10 cents per mile operating cost. Buddy now is OFFICIALLY cheaper than the average car - by 2 cents per mile. If I look around various locales about how much cars currently cost to operate, they all cluster in the 50 cent per mile ballpark.

Bikes just aren't cheap anymore. You want to get a nice "urban" bike - say the Gary Fisher Simple City or the Novara Fusion, and you'll be out a cool grand. You'll be out AT LEAST that much for any Surly you'll want to use to commute longer distances regularly.

It's something to think about. If you live less than 10 miles to work, you'll be riding NO FURTHER than my mileage even if you ride every work day, rain or shine, or cold or heat. Yes, buy that Civia or Redline, or whatever, just remember that you better darn well LOVE that bike because in raw economic terms, you are PAYING A PRICE TO BIKE COMMUTE. You want cheap miles - get something out of a dumpster and keep it running on a shoestring. For me, Buddy gets the job done and it looks like we'll hit the 10 cent per mile "target" before the bike gets worn out. Ride your bike to work to save the planet, or for whatever reason works for you, but DO keep an eye on the bottom line. You got to put in miles to get that cost down. Otherwise that elegant bike is an expensive toy, much as Felix is.

FINE PRINT
Buddy's operating cost is about half what it would be had I bought it new. The operating cost would have been lower had I not ridden the road bike to work for over 1000 miles of my total commute. PART of that road bike mileage was to keep the miles down on Buddy - it seems a little odd to AVOID riding a bike to keep mileage down, but my road bike was much cheaper than Buddy and already has over 7000 miles since I got it It is BELOW the target cost so riding it is almost free. If I can keep Buddy together for four years, I should be able to achieve the magic 10 cents per mile mark. Maybe even some of the components will still be good which will result in salvage value. A replacement frame would run about $900 new. Right now, I'd estimate the tires are about 60% worn so their per mile cost will drop before replacement is needed. Cost of cyclocross tires are NOT included since cross is FUN, not commuting.