Bicycling in and around Atlanta.

Tuesday, November 13, 2007

You don't have to spend a fortune

I've seen quite a few people complain about the high cost of cycling as a hobby. Sure if you want the latest carbon frames, you're going to pay for it. But a bike for commuting can be had quite cheap. Witness the old gray mare.



Bike $35 used.
Fenders free discarded by friend when he upgraded
Panniers $40 on ebay
Handlebars $9.99 Nashbar





So we're looking at a total cost of $85 for this bike. My best estimation is that I have something like 5,000 miles on this one so that's roughly 1.7 cents per mile. I would call that a bargain.

3 comments:

Jett said...

That's what I need to do. Find me a cheap used bike.

I'm still getting double-duty out of my road bike and it's taking it's toll in tires and brake pads. I need to find me a beater bike with fenders and some scratches so I don't think twice about leaving outside the grocery store.

Of course, I've still got to convince the wife that a man needs more than one bike ;-).

Evan said...

I used to commute on my old centurion, but I found that the coverted mtn bike takes the lumps of hauling loads better.

Frederick Ingram said...

Those were some very savvy purchases! I found a free bike by the Dumpster but I ended up spending hundreds converting it to an e-bike. :|