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How much YOU have spent This year on Bike related stuff?

My daily driver is an old cheapo mtb and I was under the impression that riding a bike is totally free , Now that I look at my bike and see what I have done with it, it all adds up..
How much have you spent on your bike related stuff this year?

For me.
£23 New set of tyres
£17 Bike rack and 2 pannier bags
£16 Cold weather clothing garments
£23 a Nice front light+18650 batteries+charger + a nice rear light.
£3 new brake pads
£10 for small bits ( some reflective stickers/Bell/ oil /flashlight mount/bike pump)

Total £92 for just some mundane stuff I thought costs nothing.
I think I have used my bike maybe 100x this year,per usage cost..Not so free after all  4

If you're new please join in and if you have questions pop them below and the forum regulars will answer as best we can.

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43 comments

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Martyn_K | 6 years ago
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Being that Mrs K also cycles and is really interested in quality kit there is no hiding how much i spend. Looking through a few online accounts in order to get a guesstimate;

£600 - 5 days in Majorca, all inclusive with bike hire. (March)

£900 - 7 days in Gran Canaria, all inclusive with bike hire.  (November)

£800 - New laptop to run zwift over the winter.  (September)

£200 - New S-works shoes (February)

£325 x 2 - His & Hers Stages power meters.

£1000 approx on kit - i can't help that i like quality.

I don't even log consumables like tyres, brake pads, chains, water bottles and the obvious nutrition so that could be any where up to £200. Then there is the servicing of the winter bikes which i get someone to do as it is a dirty horrible job.

And of course there is the eating. Coffee, cake and the associated large appetite costs LOADS!

 

2018 has already got to £750 for a full 8 days in Majorca. I'm close to pulling the trigger on a Gran Canaria trip again. I'm also in the market for a new wheelset for the best bike resulting in the current set being donated to the wife.

Expensive hobby but you know what. I love it!

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gonedownhill | 6 years ago
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£90 on some shoes
£40 on disc pads and a new rotor
£60 on new chains
£40 on a rear light/camera from Aldi
£15 gloves
£30 on a cassette
Hoping to find time to do a full strip on my commuter over Xmas which will probably use about £50 of stuff I have in the shed.

Total = £325.

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Stratman | 6 years ago
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I dread to think.

Brompton on the C2W scheme, plus Brompton bag, toolkit (expensive but irresistible), and dynamo lights and wheel (used most weeks on London work visits)

Tyres, a couple of chains, inner tubes, brake pads and servicing, and a rear derailleur after I bent mine on Winnats pass

Some replacement clothes in sales

Oh, and I nearly forgot, a second hand GF Ti Disc, which is lovely, and a tubus airy to go with it

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Leeroy_Silk | 6 years ago
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Do you mean actual spend, or what the Mrs thinks I've spent?

I've no idea of the actual amount I've spent but Mrs Silk was a little annoyed in learning I'd spent slightly more than £500 on a Bianchi XR4 frame set. 

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beezus fufoon replied to Leeroy_Silk | 6 years ago
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Leeroy_Silk wrote:

Do you mean actual spend, or what the Mrs thinks I've spent?

I've no idea of the actual amount I've spent but Mrs Silk was a little annoyed in learning I'd spent slightly more than £500 on a Bianchi XR4 frame set. 

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part_robot | 6 years ago
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Just in worn/replacement parts alone a good couple of hundred. Including the new bike... well... I shudder to think.

Perhaps a better way of looking at it: what's my favourite best buys:

- Michelin Pro V2 Endurance tyres: far better than my GP4000s IIs (£60)

- Wahoo Elemnt: far far better than my Edge 810 (£160 via some cunning discounts). I hate the 810

- Prescription Oakleys: (£300 ish?)

- Dura Ace 9100 front and rear mechs: (£ no idea). That front mech is awesome.

- A big ass Vornado fan for training: (£80 maybe ?)

- A roll up saddle bag for the tools: (£15) much smaller, lighter, niceer-looking than the normal saddle bags

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morningglory | 6 years ago
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I’m trying to be super-frugal (mainly as I have no money), but I also think the law of diminishing returns kicks in pretty quickly with stuff mainly marketed as boys-toys. My previous bike worth £2400 didn’t really give me 20 time more pleasure than my current £120 do-it-all bargain.

 

I commute on weekdays then go for a blast of a Sunday (more in summer….). Decathlon and eBay with a lot of second-hand stuff, and I’m still spending way more than I thought. Save loads compared to driving or getting the bus to work, though. More fun too!

 

Consumables:

£4 wet lube

£5 new chain

£10 new cassette

£1 new gear cable

£9 brake pads

£11 gas canisters

£9 inner tubes

£8 gloves (appear to go through a pair each winter)

Decathlon gave me some chainring bolts for free when I bought the gloves!

 

Longer lasting stuff:

£14 rack bag

£3 chain cleaner gadget

£8 bike stand

£20 shoes

£10 long sleeve jersey

£2 short sleeve jersey (charity shop)

£3 wing mirror (sad I know but very handy)

 

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andyp | 6 years ago
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few quid on pedal batteries, a new chain, and lots of cake. Probably a couple of hundred quid all told.

 

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LastBoyScout | 6 years ago
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On componentry, maybe around £300, plus some bits I asked for as birthday presents. That includes most of another bike, as I already had some parts.

Plus the £1k-ish I spent on the cycle touring holiday.

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TonbridgeJon | 6 years ago
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Cube Litening with SRAM Force 22 an eBay steal (brand new) from a Cube dealership for £999.00

Campagnolo Potenza groupset (eBay) for my winter trainer plus fitting £500.00

Harry Rowland wheels Kinlin/Miche £270.00-odd

Topeak iPhone mount £30.00-odd

Kalf Winter Gloves £45.00

Fizik M5 shoes £79.00

Several jerseys £200.00

Front light £30.00-odd

Probably a few more bits and bobs, plus a long weekend riding the Way of the Roses including a lot of beer.

All good fun though.

In case my wife or children are reading this, I am selling my 2016 Brompton S3L right now!

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alansmurphy | 6 years ago
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Commuting would cost me around a grand a year so I took that on C2W to pick up a 'wet' bike, so that's zero right?

In the process I sold a Specialized that was living in the loft and bought a smart turbo so that cost zero too?

Clothing, well I didn't buy shoes, picked up cheap bibs from planet X and a couple of jerseys that I didn't need so around a hundred. New gloves at £25 but I'll put these down as a commuting essential.

Does my cycling holiday count if it was my only holiday or can I count it as a holiday and just add bike hire?

Am I justifying nearly 2k here?

Daughter has a road bike for Xmas, about £400 worth picked up for £100, also managed to get Specialized Jacket for £13, Spec shorts for £10 and some Spec Cadette shoes for £13 and some cheat breaks for a tenner. I feel this will add to the costs going forwards though  1

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HenHarrier | 6 years ago
1 like

Far more than I spend on clothes, more than I spend on evenings out, about the same as one family holiday a year, far less than I spend on food, far, far less than I spend on rent - peanuts really for the buzz I get so whatever the total it's money well spent imo.

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risoto | 6 years ago
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I don't like to think about it! Last year was about the bike: a Rose cross for the winter and a hybrid for city/shopping rides to add to the Bianchi Impulso summer bike. Thought this year would be cheap, but I've spent a fortune, 2,000 I'd say.

I started cycling about 2½ years ago and ride 4,000 miles/year. I buy good stuff, typically mid-range or upper-mid to top range if there's a healthy discount. I don't do the pro stuff, Castelli bibs, Rapha jerseys and the like. I am in love with DHB clothing, have not bought one item that was disappointing yet.

So, it does take time and lots of money to build up your collection of equipment, spares and, not least, a decent collection of clothes, the latter being the most difficult one as a beginner and ignorant.

Which clothes to buy is a dark art, mystery etc. So you end up buying some stuff you don't really like, a flapping jersey, another with an annoying zipper, another that's just a bit too small. The same goes for cycling shorts, pad not comfortable, too tight or too loose, not warm enough in the winter. Jackets - you basically need one for each 5 degree jump in temperature plus a rain and a wind jacket.

Shoes - just bought some cheap Specialized, never liked them so had to be replaced with my now favorite shoe brand - Northwave. Gloves, especially winter gloves, don't even get me started: Santini states: down to -5 degrees, my fingers were numb at +5c after only a few miles (they're not even wind proof, but works well in the autumn!).

Baselayers - need lots of them. Socks, same problem as with gloves, few are warm enough in the cold, others too warm in the spring/autumn, where others are too cold. So then you need some toe warmers, overshoes, winter shoes etc etc etc.

Therefore, a lot of what you buy ends up in the bin. Either because you didn't know what to buy or because you don't like what you got or it didn't perform well enough.

Cycling has become my hobby so I don't mind. But I do find it a bit ridiculous compared to 10 years ago when I rode for ½ year on a 7 gear city bike in normal clothes, no helmet, normal shoes etc. I just spent a few pounds on a saddle bag, mini pump and a very cheap bike computer. Two different worlds.

Now that I'm done (almost!) with the bikes, clothing and equipment, the next round of expenses will be on repairs and tools. I expect this to be a lot less, but then again...

So here we go (what I recall without checking all the invoices), from top to bottom:

- new helmet (MET Rivale - to have two to change between)

- 2 caps, 1 beenie, 1 headband

- new lenses  - Tifosi Slim photochromatic (very nice - and rather cheap)

- new winter gloves (Sportful sotto zero highly recommended), one pair of mits

- 4 long sleeve base layers, two thermal long sleeve jerseys

- autumn/spring jacket (Endura Windchill II - perfect)

- Softshell jacket - really cheap

- 3 bib shorts, 3 pairs of bib tights (DHB plus RH+ polar for freezing temperatures). I got hooked on bib shorts this year which I had never worn before.

- two pairs of long leg base layers for the winter

- 5 pairs of winter socks (DHB merino on sale!)

- 2 new pairs of shoes (Northwave Fahrenheit for the winter, Sonic 2 for the summer)

- special wool friendly detergent to wash all the stuff!

 

For the bike (s):

- 2 sets of tyres, 4 new inner tubes, 4 patch kits (Park tool on offer, binned 3 packs of useless pre-glued patch kits)

- 2 new chains

- 2 sets of Lezyne lights - only 20£ each plus a Bauch/Müller front and back light. I started to use lights in the daylight for extra safety.

- Top tube bag +  smaller saddle bag - just to try to get something better, not really needed

- new Lezyne bike computer - sold the useless Garmin Edge 1000 (so the Lezyne was 'free')

- two new mini pumps from Lezyne - had two from Specialized but it 'took all day' to inflate the tyre on the road

- Tools: chain breaker, chain link remover, chain clean tool, oil, degreaser etc, set of 6 hex tools, torque wrench, mini tool (racket with bits - recommended)

- 2 sets of mudguards, Crud was crap, got SKS instead

- one new saddle (20£ Selle Italia C2 - its perfect!)

- one new lock

- Feedback sports Rakk - to park the  bike - its very handy for small jobs

- 2 camelback water bottles

I don't dare to do the calculations - I am riding some expensive miles though it gets cheaper year by year. But I do think I'm not unreasonable. On the other hand I save on not having to  pay to go to a fitness center, not getting a home trainer and save a bit of gas for the car. Then on the other, other, hand - when you bike you also eat more........(and drink more coffee!)

 

 

 

 

 

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bobbydazzler replied to risoto | 6 years ago
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risoto wrote:

 

Which clothes to buy is a dark art, mystery etc. So you end up buying some stuff you don't really like, a flapping jersey, another with an annoying zipper, another that's just a bit too small. The same goes for cycling shorts, pad not comfortable, too tight or too loose, not warm enough in the winter. Jackets - you basically need one for each 5 degree jump in temperature plus a rain and a wind jacket.

Shoes - just bought some cheap Specialized, never liked them so had to be replaced with my now favorite shoe brand - Northwave. Gloves, especially winter gloves, don't even get me started: Santini states: down to -5 degrees, my fingers were numb at +5c after only a few miles (they're not even wind proof, but works well in the autumn!).

Baselayers - need lots of them. Socks, same problem as with gloves, few are warm enough in the cold, others too warm in the spring/autumn, where others are too cold. So then you need some toe warmers, overshoes, winter shoes etc etc etc.

Therefore, a lot of what you buy ends up in the bin. Either because you didn't know what to buy or because you don't like what you got or it didn't perform well enough. 

 

 

Couldn't agree more - I find myself 'soldiering on' with stuff!  Even after reading rave reviews about some clothing, they were disappointing.

Costs were big for me this year, but I don't regret much:

- Wheels - £420

- Clothing estimated - £400

- Frame bag - £55

- 2x Conti GP4000 tyres, tubes - £60

- New 105 hydro groupset, cos my SRAM Rival of 6 years finally fell apart - £500

- Servicing for 2 bikes/fitting of groupset - £250

- 6-day LeJog trip - approx £1k

- Having to send back Bepro pedals twice and pay for replacement sensor - £250

- Wahoo Bolt [lost Garmin 810 on a ride] - £199

....eek!

 

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matthewn5 | 6 years ago
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£450 on a Campag Croce d'aune groupset for my vintage Tommasini

£800 on some second hand Campag Bora Ones

£250 on a pair of used Hunt winter wheels

£199 on some Zonda C17s.

Funded by selling my Bianchi Sempre for £1,350, some Vision Metron wheels for £550, a Eurus wheelset for £225,  and a range of other bits and pieces for whatever I could get for them. Was a bit skint this year owing to buying a share of the freehold of our building, so money out had to equal money in...

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kil0ran | 6 years ago
1 like

Net, around £1500 I reckon. All highly justifiable - sold my CX so I could use a tagalong and so bought a tourer. Then found that the tourer was a bit unwieldy at times so built up my old rim brake frame with a mix of spares and new parts.

Now toying with finding a Ti frame to replace on of those (probably rim-braked - some good deals to be had from people "upgrading" to disc frames.

Once my son is too old for a tagalong I'll build up the frame I've got for him in the attic and probably go down to a single do-it-all Ti frame - might even end up being a 29er or something like the Genesis Vagabond.

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SingleSpeed | 6 years ago
1 like

For the first time in ever I would say the prizes I have won have outstripped my expenditure...

The only reason this is the case is that  it's 12Months since I left the bike trade - before I left I must have spent over 12k (RRP) I shouldn't really need to spend much money save new childrens bikes for the next couple of years!

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HowardR | 6 years ago
3 likes

On the bike(s)......X

On the resultant divorce X squared & more.........

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Grahamd replied to HowardR | 6 years ago
3 likes

HowardR wrote:

On the bike(s)......X

On the resultant divorce X squared & more.........

But did you get custody of the bikes?

 

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peted76 | 6 years ago
2 likes

Don't forget coffee! I reckon I've spent £200-£300 this year on coffee and cake alone!

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sergius replied to peted76 | 6 years ago
2 likes

peted76 wrote:

Don't forget coffee! I reckon I've spent £200-£300 this year on coffee and cake alone!

 

Now you're being unreasonable.  This is about cycling expenditure, not necessities!

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hawkinspeter replied to peted76 | 6 years ago
1 like

peted76 wrote:

Don't forget coffee! I reckon I've spent £200-£300 this year on coffee and cake alone!

Dagnammit - I've probably spent about £400 on coffee beans alone (Hasbean.co.uk for the win).

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CygnusX1 | 6 years ago
1 like

Holy moly! Just totted up the purchases that have left an electronic trail and I'm up to £931 and I've only gone as far back as August on Wiggle...

Breaks down as

£283 @ Ken Fosters (my LBS)

£220 @ CRC

£76 @ Amazon

£129 @ Wiggle (Aug - Dec)

£223 @ misc. other

Does not include...

 £??? @ Wiggle (Jan - Jul)

A few quid here/there spent on odds/ends in Halfords

 

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ClubSmed | 6 years ago
2 likes

Every year I enroll on the Cycle to Work scheme so I spend £1k through that (last bike purchase on it was 3 years ago) before I even begin to look at what other stuff I have bought here and there.

I don't believe that cycling is necessarily cheaper (for me at least) than any other mode of commuting unless you write off the amount you spend as the cost of your hobby and the commuting part being a free value-add perk.

I have just made the mistake of checking the annual season ticket calculator online. If I commuted by train instead the cost would be £500. I am going to have to stop buying all the Asian import cycling gear and take the eviromentally friendly stance in future.

To be honest though, the main benefit for me is my mental health. Cycling on my commute enables me to wake up in the morning ready for work and wind down in the evening ready for home. I do not get stressed on my commute or ever dread the ride like I do when going by train, bus or car and that is worth a lot to me.

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Yorkshire wallet | 6 years ago
1 like

Next to nothing this year as the clothing should last a bit longer.

Couple of innertubes, will need new tyres when weather clears up (can't be arsed at moment, too cold, going on Zwift instead) and a chain. That's literally it. Spent loads in 2016 though.

Actually I need a new garage heater, so I guess that's cycling related.

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asdfqwerty | 6 years ago
0 likes

I could easily buy a new bike with the money I've spent on kit, parts, etc., over the past year. Which is a dangerous way to justify the relatively low cost of buying another bike...

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Canyon48 | 6 years ago
1 like

I feel much better now  10

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peted76 | 6 years ago
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Try not to think about it too much.. 

Mason Definition, £3000

Pedals, £70

Mudguards, £35

New helmet, £150 

Gloves & sunglasses, £80 

Bibs and jersey, £180

Tyres, wheel tape, valves, £100

Strava, £50 (!)

LVRC Membership, £14

Entry to ToC and Rawlingson Bracket, £90

Gels, bars, £30

Plus all the petrol, food and the odd hotel all based around cycling.. I'm sure there's loads more I've spent... Bike rental on the family holiday, £60... 

 

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ibr17xvii | 6 years ago
1 like

I'm still on Platinum discount at Wiggle so that tells me too much.

Total bumped up by the purchase of a turbo but apart from that just bits & pieces really.

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CXR94Di2 | 6 years ago
1 like

At least £10k on newly built bike and trips abroad for riding tours.

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