Calculating Money Saved via Cycling



"naked_draughtsman" <[email protected]> wrote in message
news:[email protected]...
>
> It's a nice way to think about such things and one to remember when
> someone is moaning about how much it cost to have their car/bike
> serviced/repaired!
>


In my case it is not the cost but the time taken to get it serviced. Why is
it that I can book my car into a garage and I can get a service and MOT done
in one day, but there is a week long waiting list to service my bike, which
is a far simpler machine?
 
"Adam Lea" <[email protected]> wrote in message
news:[email protected]...
>
> "naked_draughtsman" <[email protected]> wrote in message
> news:[email protected]...
>>
>> It's a nice way to think about such things and one to remember when
>> someone is moaning about how much it cost to have their car/bike
>> serviced/repaired!
>>

>
> In my case it is not the cost but the time taken to get it serviced. Why
> is it that I can book my car into a garage and I can get a service and MOT
> done in one day, but there is a week long waiting list to service my bike,
> which is a far simpler machine?


Coz there's hundreds more car mechanics than bike mechanics?

From a servicing point of view, cars are also simpler than bikes - changing
oil and filters, checking levels, etc is actually very easy. Changing a
cable on a bike requires more skill, as does adjusting bearings and brakes.
Changing the speedo cable on my car involved rather less fine work than
changing a pair of pads on one of the bikes last night - ok, the former
involved a certain amount of contortion and getting hands mucky, but
ultimately it was pull a rubber plug, pull cable out, untwist other
connector, reverse. And I'd say that was harder than any normal servicing
operation.

cheers,
clive
 
"Adam Lea" <[email protected]> writes:

> In my case it is not the cost but the time taken to get it serviced. Why is
> it that I can book my car into a garage and I can get a service and MOT done
> in one day, but there is a week long waiting list to service my bike, which
> is a far simpler machine?


You need to find a busier garage, maybe. That would do it.


-dan
 
On 23 Jun, 22:36, "jim"
> Does anyone have a going rate for how much they think they save by cycling
> instead of driving?


There's also the savings in gym fees. If you cycle plenty then you
don't need to pay to sit on a stationary excercise bike.
 
On Wed, 25 Jun 2008 00:36:28 +0100, Adam Lea wrote:
> In my case it is not the cost but the time taken to get it serviced. Why is
> it that I can book my car into a garage and I can get a service and MOT done
> in one day, but there is a week long waiting list to service my bike, which
> is a far simpler machine?


In any town, you'll probably notice there's a vast difference between
the number of garages and car servicing places (from main deallers to a
bloke with some spanners) and the number of bike shops.

In Leeds, there's only about a half-dozen or so bike shops (all a fair
way from the centre, out to Bramley, Headingley, Sheepscar, Harehills)
but probably hundreds of garages.

--
Stephen Patterson :: [email protected] :: http://patter.mine.nu/
GPG: B416F0DE :: Jabber: [email protected]
"Don't be silly, Minnie. Who'd be walking round these cliffs with a gas oven?"
 
Adam Lea writtificated

> In my case it is not the cost but the time taken to get it serviced.
> Why is it that I can book my car into a garage and I can get a service
> and MOT done in one day, but there is a week long waiting list to
> service my bike, which is a far simpler machine?


1. Fixing bikes is seasonal - bike shops are a lot busier in summer than
winter.

2. They'll be a bike shop without too much of a waiting list somewhere.
Find a different bike shop or bribe a mechanic with beer.
 
On Wed, 25 Jun 2008 00:36:28 +0100, "Adam Lea" <[email protected]>
wrote:

>
>"naked_draughtsman" <[email protected]> wrote in message
>news:[email protected]...
>>
>> It's a nice way to think about such things and one to remember when
>> someone is moaning about how much it cost to have their car/bike
>> serviced/repaired!
>>

>
>In my case it is not the cost but the time taken to get it serviced. Why is
>it that I can book my car into a garage and I can get a service and MOT done
>in one day, but there is a week long waiting list to service my bike, which
>is a far simpler machine?


And can you find anyone that does a decent job of servicing a bike? I
can't.


--
(\__/) M.
(='.'=) Owing to the amount of spam posted via googlegroups and
(")_(") their inaction to the problem. I am blocking most articles
posted from there. If you wish your postings to be seen by
everyone you will need use a different method of posting.
See http://improve-usenet.org
 
On Tue, 24 Jun 2008 20:56:53 +0100,
[email protected] (Ekul Namsob) wrote:

>"jim" <flopflips<removethespam> wrote:
>
>
>> Does anyone have a going rate for how much they think they save by cycling
>> instead of driving?

>
>I've been trying to work out potential savings of late. I drive a
>Mercedes C180 fairly sedately to and from work which is about 20 miles
>away.
>
>I'm highly unlikely ever to cycle both to and from work but did,
>yesterday, take my bike on the train to the nearest useful station to my
>school and then cycled home. I certainly saved money on the deal as the
>conductor never got as far as my carriage so I wasn't able to buy a
>ticket. I wouldn't, however, expect that to happen on a regular basis.
>
>My regrettable conclusion is that, with rail travel coming in at around
>5.50 GBP / day, I save money by driving. I probably don't need fuel to
>become much more expensive for the alternative to start saving me money
>but that relies on train tickets not rising in price.


But train tickets will rise in price. Partly because of the increased
costs and partly because they can get away with it.

--
(\__/) M.
(='.'=) Owing to the amount of spam posted via googlegroups and
(")_(") their inaction to the problem. I am blocking most articles
posted from there. If you wish your postings to be seen by
everyone you will need use a different method of posting.
See http://improve-usenet.org
 
On Wed, 25 Jun 2008 01:03:44 +0100
"Clive George" <[email protected]> wrote:

> From a servicing point of view, cars are also simpler than bikes -
> changing oil and filters, checking levels, etc is actually very easy.
> Changing a cable on a bike requires more skill, as does adjusting
> bearings and brakes. Changing the speedo cable on my car involved
> rather less fine work than changing a pair of pads on one of the
> bikes last night - ok, the former involved a certain amount of
> contortion and getting hands mucky, but ultimately it was pull a
> rubber plug, pull cable out, untwist other connector, reverse. And
> I'd say that was harder than any normal servicing operation.
>

I agree that bike mechanicing and car mechanicing are very different -
mostly with cars there's none of the fine tuning required with bikes[1],
you just place a component, fasten it to the specified torque and it's
done. Even car hydraulics seem to be easier than bike hydraulics
despite their greater complexity. Some of the car bits are rather harder
to get to than any bike bit - the last time my starter motor died it
took about half a day to get it out and in again, but only 20 minutes
to fix the problem with the brushes. The one problem that can be a
nightmare with cars is intermittent electrical faults, just because
there are so many wires and connectors, often bundled together in
pretty inaccessible places, but that's not something you encounter very
often and many mechanics just won't want to know you if you take it to
them anyway.


[1] With the exception perhaps of some of the more complex
carburettors, but who has carburettors these days?
 
Mark <[email protected]> wrote:

> On Tue, 24 Jun 2008 20:56:53 +0100,
> [email protected] (Ekul Namsob) wrote:


> >My regrettable conclusion is that, with rail travel coming in at around
> >5.50 GBP / day, I save money by driving. I probably don't need fuel to
> >become much more expensive for the alternative to start saving me money
> >but that relies on train tickets not rising in price.

>
> But train tickets will rise in price. Partly because of the increased
> costs and partly because they can get away with it.


And, sadly, that's one reason why for many of us public transport is not
the best option. Perhaps if the government pumped similar cash subsidies
into rail as into the roads things would be different.

Cheers,
Luke


--
Red Rose Ramblings, the diary of an Essex boy in
exile in Lancashire <http://www.shrimper.org.uk>
 
Adam Lea <[email protected]> wrote:

> "naked_draughtsman" <[email protected]> wrote in message
> news:[email protected]...
> >
> > It's a nice way to think about such things and one to remember when
> > someone is moaning about how much it cost to have their car/bike
> > serviced/repaired!
> >

>
> In my case it is not the cost but the time taken to get it serviced. Why is
> it that I can book my car into a garage and I can get a service and MOT done
> in one day, but there is a week long waiting list to service my bike, which
> is a far simpler machine?


i of the bike shop and garage near by as in under 5 mins walk, both are
familly shops, but the bike is far easyer to get something done, sooner
than later. while the garage while good does have good week if not two
week waiting list but then i can just walk to pick it up so...

roger
--
www.rogermerriman.com
 
On 2008-06-25, Mark <[email protected]> wrote:
> On Wed, 25 Jun 2008 00:36:28 +0100, "Adam Lea" <[email protected]>
> wrote:
>
>>
>>"naked_draughtsman" <[email protected]> wrote in message
>>news:[email protected]...
>>>
>>> It's a nice way to think about such things and one to remember when
>>> someone is moaning about how much it cost to have their car/bike
>>> serviced/repaired!
>>>

>>
>>In my case it is not the cost but the time taken to get it serviced. Why is
>>it that I can book my car into a garage and I can get a service and MOT done
>>in one day, but there is a week long waiting list to service my bike, which
>>is a far simpler machine?

>
> And can you find anyone that does a decent job of servicing a bike? I
> can't.


What do they actually do if you get them to service a bike?

Bikes don't need oil changes, filters, spark plugs and things like that
that you replace periodically-- don't you just replace things when they
wear out or break and clean them when they get dirty?

I know some people prophylactically repack hubs although I'm not
convinced. Better just to keep an eye on them and check them after it
rains etc. (or just run them into the ground).
 
"Ben C" <[email protected]> wrote in message
news:[email protected]...
> On 2008-06-25, Mark <[email protected]> wrote:
>> On Wed, 25 Jun 2008 00:36:28 +0100, "Adam Lea" <[email protected]>
>> wrote:
>>
>>>
>>>"naked_draughtsman" <[email protected]> wrote in message
>>>news:[email protected]...
>>>>
>>>> It's a nice way to think about such things and one to remember when
>>>> someone is moaning about how much it cost to have their car/bike
>>>> serviced/repaired!
>>>>
>>>
>>>In my case it is not the cost but the time taken to get it serviced. Why
>>>is
>>>it that I can book my car into a garage and I can get a service and MOT
>>>done
>>>in one day, but there is a week long waiting list to service my bike,
>>>which
>>>is a far simpler machine?

>>
>> And can you find anyone that does a decent job of servicing a bike? I
>> can't.

>
> What do they actually do if you get them to service a bike?
>
> Bikes don't need oil changes, filters, spark plugs and things like that
> that you replace periodically-- don't you just replace things when they
> wear out or break and clean them when they get dirty?
>


They check things like the hubs, gear cables (adjustment/replace if
necessary) drivetrain (replace chain/cassette/chainrings if required), check
wear on brake pads/cables, check bottom bracket, headset, tyres. I'm sure
I've missed some.

Admittedly these things could be done by the cyclist themself, but not
everyone is mechanically minded, and the consequences of making a mistake
could be tragic.
 
On Wed, 25 Jun 2008 17:37:20 +0100,
[email protected] (Ekul Namsob) wrote:

>Mark <[email protected]> wrote:
>
>> On Tue, 24 Jun 2008 20:56:53 +0100,
>> [email protected] (Ekul Namsob) wrote:

>
>> >My regrettable conclusion is that, with rail travel coming in at around
>> >5.50 GBP / day, I save money by driving. I probably don't need fuel to
>> >become much more expensive for the alternative to start saving me money
>> >but that relies on train tickets not rising in price.

>>
>> But train tickets will rise in price. Partly because of the increased
>> costs and partly because they can get away with it.

>
>And, sadly, that's one reason why for many of us public transport is not
>the best option. Perhaps if the government pumped similar cash subsidies
>into rail as into the roads things would be different.


I agree that the railways are starved of investment. I'm not sure the
roads are a lot better. Our county council keeps saying it hasn't got
enough money to repair the roads.

--
(\__/) M.
(='.'=) Owing to the amount of spam posted via googlegroups and
(")_(") their inaction to the problem. I am blocking most articles
posted from there. If you wish your postings to be seen by
everyone you will need use a different method of posting.
See http://improve-usenet.org
 
On Thu, 26 Jun 2008 09:41:20 +0100, Mark wrote:
> I agree that the railways are starved of investment. I'm not sure the
> roads are a lot better. Our county council keeps saying it hasn't got
> enough money to repair the roads.


They're only starved by management, consultants, subcontractors and
shareholders stealing the money needed for future investment.

--
Stephen Patterson :: [email protected] :: http://patter.mine.nu/
GPG: B416F0DE :: Jabber: [email protected]
"Don't be silly, Minnie. Who'd be walking round these cliffs with a gas oven?"