Affording cycling

gingernash

Hi, just bought first bike and getting all the kit together. It had led me to wonder how on earth people afford to kit themselves out with loads of gear. Where are people making sacrifices? I have now given up going to football and cutting down the booze.

Bronzie

I gave up sex

rick_chasey

Earn more money.

freehub

Become a student.

schlepcycling

I use a stolen credit card

chunkytfg

Bronzie wrote:

I gave up sex

But was it your choice?

what brakes

I lied to the mrs!!!! :twisted:

deptfordmarmoset

I definitely seem to spend more time in Aldis and LiDL these days because it's all I can afford. On the plus side though, they both do occasional cycling specials, so I can sometimes afford to buy bits and pieces for the bike and still eat. Ok, a lot of it's rubbish, but it's affordable rubbish

Check out your local LiDL for the next cycling special on 27 September...

northernneil

bit by bit piece by piece,

seems to be the way forward - once you have a good set of clothes and equipment the running costs then flatten out, but shiny kit can be too tempting

ride_whenever

get a saturday job in a bike shop.

Everything at trade prices make it all much more affordable...

Cressers

LIDL are doing more cycling specials this Thursday.

dmch2

gingernash wrote:

Hi, just bought first bike and getting all the kit together. It had led me to wonder how on earth people afford to kit themselves out with loads of gear. Where are people making sacrifices? I have now given up going to football and cutting down the booze.

I think there are a lot of people with very expensive bikes who do very little else and sacrifice a lot, or have lots of money (good luck to them for spending it on a bike ). I was considering a poll of 'how much did you spend' or something to see if they're the majority or just a vocal minority.

Another way of looking at it is how much money you can save by commuting. By cycling to work for 5 years I reckon I saved £5000 as I could sell a car (only got £200 for it), not pay road tax, MOT, parking, petrol, tyres etc. I never serviced the car so you could save even more.

Bronzie

chunkytfg wrote:

Bronzie wrote:

I gave up sex

But was it your choice?

Yer - she said "It's either me or your precious f*cking bikes". That's a dangerous sort of ultimatum to start wielding.

MattC59

northernneil wrote:

bit by bit piece by piece,

seems to be the way forward - once you have a good set of clothes and equipment the running costs then flatten out, but shiny kit can be too tempting

+1 !!!!

the initial costs may be relatively high, although as mentioned earlier, you don't have to spend a fortune to enjoy cycling. Spend what you can afford, or want to, and get yourself kitted out bit by bit. Start with the essentials, ie gloves, shorts, helmet (no, i'm not starting that debate again !!) and add more as you can afford, or require it. Once you have the kit, the costs level out.

The dhb kit from Wiggle is supposed to be very good stuff and at reasonable prices, and use the web to go searching for best prices.

Do be warned though............ shiney things. They look good and make you grin !
Is a carbon bottle cage that costs £27 more than a resin bottel cage, and saves you 8 grammes really worth it ? Nope, but try telling your wallet that, as it's emptying it self over the bike shop counter

POHB

Commuting by bike saves me 40-50 quid a week in fares. Have to try quite hard to spend that much on bike gear

pneumatic

I gave up buying fuel for my car.

Every time I used the bike instead, I added the savings to my bike budget. First bike paid for itself that way (and the clothes etc..). 20,000 miles at 10ish pence per mile thus saved gives you a budget of about 2 grand to spend.

The second bike was bought with some money left to me by a distant relative. I could have spent it on drink or music or a holiday or other toys, but I chose a bike.

After that, it became a bit hazy. The third bike was a "reward" for a good year of self-employment.

The fourth bike I built up myself and it was a gift (at least the frame was; the components cost me a fortune :shock: ) but I justified it as a "project".

The fifth bike was an impulse buy during a recent rather stressful situation. Pure retail therapy (and it worked!)

As for all the sundry clothing, kit and stuff, it pales into insignificance alongside Mrs P's shoe collection and thus gets written down as "household expenditure".

You just need to work harder at your self-justification.

gingernash

yes at the moment still have a car (which i will not get rid of) and getting the tube into work. i do alright income wise but just wondered how so many people appear to spend an awful lot of cash on their bikes and how they afford it.

i suppose i am stinging from the initial expense this month of bike and kit. all i need is some tights and jacket for winter and i am set so nearly there

bagpusscp

Between me and the Mrs we only have one car{and it is 8 years old}.I rarely use it.Saves a lot of cash.I always ride to work.Cycling IMHO is no more expensive than many other hobbies.ie Fishing,golf,vintage cars.Clothing in some case I think is a rip off.Having said that you get what you pay for.
It is all in the brand name?

ex-pat scot

My excuse is the £100 petrol I'd spend each month commuting, never mind the wear and tear on the car itself.

Most of my bikes pre-date wife and family by a good margin. Replacing worn-out kit is rare; much of it is now "retro classic" and fetches good prices on eBay or Retrobike.

I also have rich colleagues who are easily bored and regularly get rid of decent kit when upgrading to the latest bar/ stem / chainset/ whatever.

the thing I really can't afford is any time at the weekend. Family duties prevail. That's why I commute 40-50 miles each day to get the exercise (and save on costs).

anyuser

I have just broken even against my train fares after 12 months of commuting, but the main expense was clothing and lights and both of those should last for at least another year.

Smokin Joe

Bronzie wrote:

I gave up sex

Find a cheaper hooker.

soy_sauce

IMO

you only need the bike, locks and lights to start with.

can get the rest later, also they can use the alternative instead of cycling specific.

a cycling specific jacket normal over £40 depending of the brand but you can get one for £17 from Primark.

you do pay for the quality sometimes but most of the time..... it doesn't matter.

davidmiller

Definately bit by bit. When I first starting getting back into it and was n't sure how long it would last I bought a cheap £200 road bike. A couple of years later I hade to spend a lot more on a much better one beause I was riding home one night and realised that if I got mugged they should leave the bike and take my clothes and stuff. Shoes (£80), jacket (£120) lights (£40) and merino wool stuff (£30). lol

bompington

Reminds me of this thread
It's actually quite hard to cycle really cheaply - I was quite surprised that my bargain basement bike & gear worked out as much as 10p/mile. But definitely a lot cheaper than car - I suspect that the best possible saving, as mentioned above, is if you can completely get rid of a car.

Skeltron

I get pass me downs from my dad, I don't have to look good while I'm out for a ride, I'm not trying to impress anyone.

As for the bike, I have a Giant OCR4 that I bought 3 years ago for £260 from wiggle. Since then I've changed the wheels, brakes, seat etc etc bit by bit. It does the job.

mrushton

I was lucky as I had a relatively high disposable income and no mortgage so I've been able to indulge in some of the fripperies albeit with the odd credit card hiccup but the arrival of a child has made me realise that I didn't need item x at £100+ when I don't even go mad on he bike, just enjoy pottering about. I have met some richer people who have indulged and they might look good but they weren't really any faster or better they could just afford the kit, like affording a Range Rover or Audi A6 when others are thinking about a 3 yr.old Focus

nickwill

I don't buy spend disposable income on anything else. Sad but true!

SLX01

gingernash wrote:

Hi, just bought first bike and getting all the kit together. It had led me to wonder how on earth people afford to kit themselves out with loads of gear. Where are people making sacrifices? I have now given up going to football and cutting down the booze.

People drive about in £150,000 cars and holiday in Dubai I don't think they do that by shopping in Lidl or Poundstretcher. Some people earn shed loads of money so can afford £1500 wheels and £4000 framesets.

Stewie Griffin

Do what most of us have done & sell a kidney. :P