How much do you spend each year on cycling? Experian Experts have calculated the annual cost of the activity to be £917. If that seems a lot, it’s worth noting that £750 of the total is accounted for by a bike. Surely not many of us actually need a new one every year.
Other items included in the cost – a lock, shorts, helmet, jersey and lights – would also last more than a year in most cases. And who’s to say you need specialist clothing to cycle to work anyway?
Experian say they used the average cost of a road bike provided by Evans Cycles combined with information from CTC to make their calculations. However, many people were quick to point out that cycling effectively saves them money as it reduces, or even completely negates, mileage in the car.
27 thoughts on “Experian Experts calculate annual cost of cycling – but how much do you spend?”
Experian Experts my arse.
Experian Experts my arse.
They forgot the price of fuel
They forgot the price of fuel (food).
joebee9870 wrote:
I find that I eat every day whether cycling or not.
The cost of not cycling would
The cost of not cycling would be a far more thought provoking exercise in my opinion but that would involve doing a bit of research
arfa wrote:
To be fair, it would also be a completely different article……
That’s stupid. Most people
That’s stupid. Most people don’t buy a bike every year, but do buy more than 1 shirt/shorts/etc.
There’s worse things to spend
There’s worse things to spend your money on. E.g a 20 a day cigarette habit will set you back the best part of £3,000 p.a
I always allow for the price
I always allow for the price of a new car every year when I work out the cost of driving.
austinpowers wrote:
That’s crazy, I love riding bikes much more than driving cars. Also I have more bikes than cars.
Also I wish my cycling expenditure was only £917 p.a.
This may be OK for first year
This may be OK for first year costs, but not really an annual cost! What about:
My guess would be £200 – 300, less if you have a hack and do your own servicing (like me!)
If you live in central London
If you live in central London might be even more. Not to mention all the repairs, but bikes do get stolen in here no matter what the lock is or how close to the police station… I just by a second hand bike for a lot cheaper and don’t worry if it gets stolen. 4 years ago my bike would cost 800 pounds but I bought it for a 100. Some people spend that much for a lock.
Now while I may typicall
Now while I may typicall increase my “n” by 1 each year, there is no need to include a bike in the calculation. Same for a helmet. A year will last a lifetime, and even if it doesn’t it is probably because your bike was stolen, which means you aren’t paying to replace it.
Shorts and jerseys, fine – I typically have to replace at least one pair of bib shorts per year.
I usually replace tyres and a chain (or two…maybe a cassette as well) each year. Inner tubes, brake pads, and bar tape are probably annual purchases (or should be).
What other fees are there? Insurance, club memberships, racing licenses, race or event entry fees. It is very unclear what this “annual cost” is for and who it is aimed at.
Seems more pointless than that Telegraph article last year looking at a similar thing.
jasonbrim wrote:
Manufacturers recommend you replace a helmet every few years, even if it hasn’t been knocked or visibly damaged. If you’re going to use a helmet at all, it’s probably worth following the recommendations.
http://www.smf.org/helmetfaq#aWhyReplace
http://www.giro.com/eu_en/cycling-faqs/
https://www.bellhelmets.com/en_eu/product-faq
The tweet said “#Cycling back from work? We’ve calculated the costs to be £917 p/year!”, which suggests it’s aimed at commuters, who don’t need any of those things (though many have insurance).
If you buy a top end race bike and use it for a few years, an average of £750 a year might not be too high. But for commuting?
What about tyres, batteries,
What about tyres, batteries, inner tubes, brakes, rear cassettes, cables? Poorly thought out.
swldxer wrote:
What about them? At the end of the year you throw the bike away and buy a new one, apparently.
need? No. But thats not the
need? No. But thats not the point is it …
A fair point Paul but my
A fair point Paul but my point was more that they are focusing on the minuses which is a pity. For example, even if I buy a new bike every 2 years, I will save at least £800 every year on public transport even after maintenance is included. Add in gym membership, days not lost to sickness etc and the savings go up even more. Therefore the cost of not cycling is too high to ignore !
A big part of the yearly cost
A big part of the yearly cost would be train fares if, like me, you get addicted to travelling to different parts of the country to take part in rides there (having fully explored your local area).
I have kept a spreadsheet
I have kept a spreadsheet recording expenses for my main bike over the past 10 years.
Including the original purchase cost, servicing and new parts the total comes to just over £4000 – about £ 400 pa. Locks and lights last many years but shorts and shirts need to be replaced. I would reckon £ 600 pa is about right.
I only use my bike for
I only use my bike for commuting and no way do I spend that much. The bike cost £500 six years ago. Lights cost £40. Lock £20. No cycle shorts, no cycle shirt, no helmet – I just wear regular clothes.
Add in servicing and replacement bits (brake blocks, cables, tyres, tubes, etc) and I’m looking at a maximum of £250 p.a. Or, the cost of commuting by bus for 3 months, or by car for 30 days at 40p per mile.
I’m not really sure why they
I’m not really sure why they’ve done this to be honest. Are they trying to show that cycling is expensive or that it’s cheap in comarison to driving a car? I commute by bike and car at various times. If I never cycled to work I’d be spending at least £100 per month on diesel alone ( my commute by car is only 10 miles each way). Add insurance, VED, servicing and MOT on top of that and it’s a good bit more. Not to mention other bits and bobs like new tyres, bulbs etc (I need to replace my windscreen wipers at the minute)
Fifteen quid lock on a 750
Fifteen quid lock on a 750 quid bike? No wonder they have to buy a new one each year
CygnusX1 wrote:
£150 lock lasting 10 years is also £15 a year though. But if the bike is over the same time, who uses a £7500 bike to commute, even with a £150 lock?
I think it’s an interesting
I think it’s an interesting exercise, just very poorly executed. Better to present 2 cases, one cyclist vs one muggle.
cyclist spends some money on cycling trinkets.
Muggle spends ****ing thousands on running an extra car, gym membership, Sky telly, drinking their boredom away, etc.
” Surely not many of us
” Surely not many of us actually need a new one every year”.
er…
The £750 per year on a bike
The £750 per year on a bike isn’t necessarily what you think on face value. It could easily mean a £3000 bike spread out over 4 years.
ridein wrote:
It could … if they were just talking about people who buy bikes that cost three grand. £750 is more than most people planning on buying a bike would spend on one.