Make Loads Of Money For Free - Ride a BIKE To Work!!!!!



endroll wrote:
> :eek: :p :D there we go
>
>


i had to get a repair on my cannondale jekyll today. i typically ride it
3-4 days a week return to work which is about a 70km round trip. i also
tend to keep a spreadsheet of all work done on the bike. i've been
riding this particular bike for 13 months now. in the last year the
total i've spent keeping it on the road has been $2k. a weekly train
ticket is $40 so in the last year the total cost would have been about
the same .... where am i saving money again?

i don't actually ride it to save money so it's hardly a disappointment.

brett
 
spook said:
tend to keep a spreadsheet of all work done on the bike. i've been
riding this particular bike for 13 months now. in the last year the
total i've spent keeping it on the road has been $2k. a weekly train
ticket is $40 so in the last year the total cost would have been about
the same .... where am i saving money again?

gym fees, if youre into such
 
spook said:
endroll wrote:
i had to get a repair on my cannondale jekyll today. i typically ride it
3-4 days a week return to work which is about a 70km round trip. i also
tend to keep a spreadsheet of all work done on the bike. i've been
riding this particular bike for 13 months now. in the last year the
total i've spent keeping it on the road has been $2k. a weekly train
ticket is $40 so in the last year the total cost would have been about
the same .... where am i saving money again?
i don't actually ride it to save money so it's hardly a disappointment.


$2000 in a year to keep it going?!?! WTF?!
Buy a kmart bike and chuck it every month!
Commuting on a Jekyll is a bit of overkill.. do you race it or something as well? Coz that would be different..

$300 for an okay SS mtb. Maintenance for the year? None.

hippy
 
spook wrote:
> endroll wrote:
>
>> :eek: :p :D there we go
>>
>>

>
> i had to get a repair on my cannondale jekyll today. i typically ride it
> 3-4 days a week return to work which is about a 70km round trip. i also
> tend to keep a spreadsheet of all work done on the bike. i've been
> riding this particular bike for 13 months now. in the last year the
> total i've spent keeping it on the road has been $2k. a weekly train
> ticket is $40 so in the last year the total cost would have been about
> the same .... where am i saving money again?
>
> i don't actually ride it to save money so it's hardly a disappointment.
>
> brett


Do u spend $2k of maintenance on it annually?
What the **** do you do to it?
 
acalcium wrote:

>
> Do u spend $2k of maintenance on it annually?
> What the **** do you do to it?


generally ride the ears off it. i trail ride it quite a few weekends as
well, though no significant downhill or dirt jumping. pretty much
straight xc on firetrails/singletrack.

but lets see. i've been through 6 tires on it in 12 months, average cost
is around $50, so there's $300 there. blew the back shock out which was
a $500 replacement. admittedly it was under warranty but servicing time
is around 21 days so i replaced and had the blown one repaired (so i now
have a spare). blew the back rim to pieces, (sun ds-1 ... piece of junk)
another $250 there, killed two standard bottom brackets (~$100 each)
before going to a 4 bearing downhill stength bb at $180 (total $380
excluding fitting) replaced the chain and cassette twice (approx $400
total). forks serviced and resealed twice, $100. a handful of slime
tubes, $100. finally i replaced the saddle at $90 as i'd bent the rails
on a nasty off. total a little over $2k

there was also a few full services in there by the lbs when i was too
lazy to pull the driveline and frame down which run about $100 a shot
and i didn't count as i could have done it myself.

brett
 
aeek wrote:

>>tend to keep a spreadsheet of all work done on the bike. i've been
>>riding this particular bike for 13 months now. in the last year the
>>total i've spent keeping it on the road has been $2k. a weekly train
>>ticket is $40 so in the last year the total cost would have been about
>>the same .... where am i saving money again?
>>

>
>
> gym fees, if youre into such


good point, but i still visit the gym, though fortunately it's paid for
by work.
 
:D
spook said:
aeek wrote:

>>tend to keep a spreadsheet of all work done on the bike. i've been
>>riding this particular bike for 13 months now. in the last year the
>>total i've spent keeping it on the road has been $2k. a weekly train
>>ticket is $40 so in the last year the total cost would have been about
>>the same .... where am i saving money again?
>>

>
>
> gym fees, if youre into such


good point, but i still visit the gym, though fortunately it's paid for
by work.
In the end, it's still better than driving (which I normally do) and heck it's an excuse not to ride at 0600 but a couple of hours later
 
hippy wrote:

>
> $2000 in a year to keep it going?!?! WTF?!
> Buy a kmart bike and chuck it every month!
> Commuting on a Jekyll is a bit of overkill.. do you race it or
> something as well? Coz that would be different..
>
> $300 for an okay SS mtb. Maintenance for the year? None.
>


yeah $200 every month on a disposable bike doesnt get me to 2K per year
... oh wait it does ;-)

i enduro race the jekyll (it's a low end 600 that i picked up for under
2K when they were making way for the prophets so *really* it's not
overkill!!) and i trail ride it with friends frequently.

the bottom line is i'm comfortable on it, it's a smooth ride that i tend
to spend 2.0-2.5 hours a day in the saddle of 3-4 days a week. i'd much
prefer to have something comfortable than something cheap that i'd save
a few bucks on. as i initially pointed out i don't ride it to save money
so it's meeting my expectation.

a single speed? hmm ... i'm afraid i like gears and don't feel the need
to additionally punish myself without them!! i am thinking about a
hardtail to generally trash and thrash, though chances of getting that
plan past the missus is about zero.

brett
 
"spook" <[email protected]> wrote in message news:[email protected]...
> acalcium wrote:
>
>>
>> Do u spend $2k of maintenance on it annually?
>> What the **** do you do to it?

>
> generally ride the ears off it. i trail ride it quite a few weekends as well, though no
> significant downhill or dirt jumping. pretty much straight xc on firetrails/singletrack.
>
> but lets see. i've been through 6 tires on it in 12 months, average cost is around $50, so there's
> $300 there. blew the back shock out which was a $500 replacement. admittedly it was under warranty
> but servicing time is around 21 days so i replaced and had the blown one repaired (so i now have a
> spare). blew the back rim to pieces, (sun ds-1 ... piece of junk) another $250 there, killed two
> standard bottom brackets (~$100 each) before going to a 4 bearing downhill stength bb at $180
> (total $380 excluding fitting) replaced the chain and cassette twice (approx $400 total). forks
> serviced and resealed twice, $100. a handful of slime tubes, $100. finally i replaced the saddle
> at $90 as i'd bent the rails on a nasty off. total a little over $2k


If you can do that much damage to a bike, then I'd hate to think what
you can do to a car :)
6 car tyres car $500
New wheel $200
Replace rear shock absorber on car $400
Replaced gearbox and transmission twice $4000
Replace CV boots twice $300
Replace drivers seat $200

Definitely cheaper for you to ride a bike.
Ok, so I made up the numbers to suit the conclusion.
 
spook wrote:

> acalcium wrote:
>
>>
>> Do u spend $2k of maintenance on it annually?
>> What the **** do you do to it?

>
>
> generally ride the ears off it. i trail ride it quite a few weekends as
> well, though no significant downhill or dirt jumping. pretty much
> straight xc on firetrails/singletrack.
>
> but lets see. i've been through 6 tires on it in 12 months, average cost
> is around $50, so there's $300 there. blew the back shock out which was
> a $500 replacement. admittedly it was under warranty but servicing time
> is around 21 days so i replaced and had the blown one repaired (so i now
> have a spare). blew the back rim to pieces, (sun ds-1 ... piece of junk)
> another $250 there, killed two standard bottom brackets (~$100 each)
> before going to a 4 bearing downhill stength bb at $180 (total $380
> excluding fitting) replaced the chain and cassette twice (approx $400
> total). forks serviced and resealed twice, $100. a handful of slime
> tubes, $100. finally i replaced the saddle at $90 as i'd bent the rails
> on a nasty off. total a little over $2k
>
> there was also a few full services in there by the lbs when i was too
> lazy to pull the driveline and frame down which run about $100 a shot
> and i didn't count as i could have done it myself.
>
> brett



So really what your saying is that you are *NOT* just commuting. If you
drove your car the way you ride your bike you'd be out of pocket quite a
bit more than $2k...

Of course, it sounds like you get every cents worth of enjoyment out of it.

--
BrettS
 
BrettS said:
spook wrote:
> but lets see. i've been through 6 tires on it in 12 months, average cost
> is around $50, so there's $300 there. blew the back shock out which was
> a $500 replacement. admittedly it was under warranty but servicing time
> is around 21 days so i replaced and had the blown one repaired (so i now
> have a spare). blew the back rim to pieces, (sun ds-1 ... piece of junk)
> another $250 there, killed two standard bottom brackets (~$100 each)
> before going to a 4 bearing downhill stength bb at $180 (total $380
> excluding fitting) replaced the chain and cassette twice (approx $400
> total). forks serviced and resealed twice, $100. a handful of slime
> tubes, $100. finally i replaced the saddle at $90 as i'd bent the rails
> on a nasty off. total a little over $2k
>
> there was also a few full services in there by the lbs when i was too
> lazy to pull the driveline and frame down which run about $100 a shot
> and i didn't count as i could have done it myself.

So really what your saying is that you are *NOT* just commuting. If you
drove your car the way you ride your bike you'd be out of pocket quite a
bit more than $2k...

What he said. If it was JUST a commuter, you'd have cheap slicks ($120/yr), blowing a shock just wouldn't happen on a commuter and if it did I'd be worried about the quality of the bike, besides RIGID ROCKS!
Destroying a rear wheel wouldn't happen commuting unless you were unco or your commute happened to be off-road and a replacement would definately be less than $250 on a COMMUTER
Killing BB's??? WTF? again, not on a commuter with normal use and if you did it would almost certainly take more than a year and would cost $50 to replace - DH BB?? Not on a commuter!
I seriously doubt most commuters would have to do a chain and cassette swap each year, let alone two and if you were using commuter-spec parts it would've cost ~$100 for each swap.
Two fork services in a year? Not commuting and remember, rigid rules ;)
Slime tubes - $100? Patches $5/yr.
Bent saddle rails due to a crash (probably mtb'ing right?) is hardly commuter use.

Basically what you're are saying is that the bike is not at all a commuter. Almost all the costs you listed are related to recreational use. Like I said, $300 for an older mtb, leave the gears on it if you want and the yearly maintenance would be almost $0. You should see what people use in NL!
Bike not running smoothly? Replace it with something nice, new and red.. because we all want to get to work as fast as possible, right? :p

hippy
 
On 2005-07-27, hippy (aka Bruce)
was almost, but not quite, entirely unlike tea:
> You should see what
> people use in NL!
> Bike not running smoothly? Replace it with something nice, new and
> red.. because we all want to get to work as fast as possible, right?
>:p


And you can buy it from that bridge for $5.

--
TimC
Whip me. Beat me. Make me maintain AIX.
 
There’s a dude who commutes down Footscray rd (Melb) on a hub-braked single speed MTB junker. Both his rims are way out & wobble so much it transmitts through the whole frame. But hey, he’s still trucking along no worries at all.
 
hippy wrote:

> I seriously doubt most commuters would have to do a chain and cassette
> swap each year, let alone two and if you were using commuter-spec parts
> it would've cost ~$100 for each swap.


My commute bike has a Sora 8sp cassette (<$50) and I rotate 4 cheap
Sram chains ($15ea) so that was $110 still going after nearly 2 years,
about 20000km.

Bruce.
 
spook said:
hippy wrote:

>
> $2000 in a year to keep it going?!?! WTF?!
> Buy a kmart bike and chuck it every month!
> Commuting on a Jekyll is a bit of overkill.. do you race it or
> something as well? Coz that would be different..
>
> $300 for an okay SS mtb. Maintenance for the year? None.
>


yeah $200 every month on a disposable bike doesnt get me to 2K per year
... oh wait it does ;-)

[snip]

brett

$200/month? Sounds like you already have a 2K/year disposable bike.

When I think about it, most equipment gets depreciated over 3-5 years, so a $5K bike could be amortised at $1K/year, or in other words, you would need to spend $1K a year in maintenence so that the machine is still worth $5K. If you want a $200 bike to maintain its value, you only need to spend $40/year to maintain its value, but I doubt it would have 5 year life...

Ritch
 
On Wed, 27 Jul 2005 22:06:02 +1000, spook <[email protected]> wrote:

>hippy wrote:
>
>>
>> $2000 in a year to keep it going?!?! WTF?!
>> Buy a kmart bike and chuck it every month!
>> Commuting on a Jekyll is a bit of overkill.. do you race it or
>> something as well? Coz that would be different..
>>
>> $300 for an okay SS mtb. Maintenance for the year? None.
>>

>
>yeah $200 every month on a disposable bike doesnt get me to 2K per year
>.. oh wait it does ;-)
>
>i enduro race the jekyll (it's a low end 600 that i picked up for under
>2K when they were making way for the prophets so *really* it's not
>overkill!!) and i trail ride it with friends frequently.


If you're racing, then the comparo isn't fair. Compare it with
racing a car, and you'll be ever so slighly ahead.

(I used to rally, trust me, motorsport makes bike racing look
like a free sport)
 
On Wed, 27 Jul 2005 21:16:56 +1000, acalcium <[email protected]> wrote:

>spook wrote:
>> endroll wrote:
>>
>>> :eek: :p :D there we go
>>>
>>>

>>
>> i had to get a repair on my cannondale jekyll today. i typically ride it
>> 3-4 days a week return to work which is about a 70km round trip. i also
>> tend to keep a spreadsheet of all work done on the bike. i've been
>> riding this particular bike for 13 months now. in the last year the
>> total i've spent keeping it on the road has been $2k. a weekly train
>> ticket is $40 so in the last year the total cost would have been about
>> the same .... where am i saving money again?
>>
>> i don't actually ride it to save money so it's hardly a disappointment.
>>
>> brett

>
>Do u spend $2k of maintenance on it annually?


I spent around $9,000 on bikes & bike stuff last financial
year (including aboc jerseys, licences, racing etc). A lot
of that was costs involved with aboc, but even then, a
significant chunk was on my bike and bits for it. And it's
not a flash roady ...

$2k on a high end bike that gets ridden a lot is quite understandable,
if you include replacing clothes, tyres, chains & gears etc. It
does add up.
 
hippy said:
What he said. If it was JUST a commuter, you'd have cheap slicks ($120/yr), blowing a shock just wouldn't happen on a commuter and if it did I'd be worried about the quality of the bike, besides RIGID ROCKS!
Destroying a rear wheel wouldn't happen commuting unless you were unco or your commute happened to be off-road and a replacement would definately be less than $250 on a COMMUTER
Killing BB's??? WTF? again, not on a commuter with normal use and if you did it would almost certainly take more than a year and would cost $50 to replace - DH BB?? Not on a commuter!
I seriously doubt most commuters would have to do a chain and cassette swap each year, let alone two and if you were using commuter-spec parts it would've cost ~$100 for each swap.
Two fork services in a year? Not commuting and remember, rigid rules ;)
Slime tubes - $100? Patches $5/yr.
Bent saddle rails due to a crash (probably mtb'ing right?) is hardly commuter use.

Basically what you're are saying is that the bike is not at all a commuter. Almost all the costs you listed are related to recreational use. Like I said, $300 for an older mtb, leave the gears on it if you want and the yearly maintenance would be almost $0. You should see what people use in NL!
Bike not running smoothly? Replace it with something nice, new and red.. because we all want to get to work as fast as possible, right? :p

hippy
maybe he commutes from the top of the rialto, via the stairs, through albert park lake (the lake), along the light rail, through the City Loop, and finally down Swan St Richmond, jumping errant taxis as he goes. Possibly a loop through the Boulevard and over the side of the pipe bridge.

I say go fixed, then you can save on brake pads as well. Plus its a hell of a lot more fun.

..and this from me after having just spent money to replace the non-matching stem on my commuter fixie - cash transaction, don't tell wife.

I deliberately don't add up my spend because then I'd be rationalising my fun.
 
I have a 3k roadie which I commute and have started racing
- 1 set of tyres - $120
- 1 ultegra chain - $50 ish
- 1 rear flasher - $20
My jump, DH general play hardtail $4k
- it is pretty much unbreakable - $0
- new rear tyre soon though
My XC bike. SS and made up from bits around the place < $1k
- $150 for a frame upgrade.

All of the bikes run really well and I dont think that I have wrecked a part in forever. My last money pit (DH race bike) was offloaded about a year ago and I havent looked back.

Moral of the story
Get bikes designed for their purpose and they will last and last and last.
Also learn to be smooth and look ahead.
Cheap stuff is cheap for a reason, that said there is such a thing as overkill

My bike never goes to a bike shop cause I worked as a mech in one throughout uni
 

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