I used to be an amateur road racing cyclist (no sponsorship or anything). The out of pocket expenses are not trivial. For a decent bike, looking around $5k and

I used to be an amateur road racing cyclist (no sponsorship or anything). The out of pocket expenses are not trivial. For a decent bike, looking around $5k and it won't even come with pedals. Pedals will set you back a moth $200-300. Shoes are around the same price. Mind you, this a little over entry level (you could probably get a bike in $2k range if you're talented enough). For serious professional racing, the costs can be quite a bit higher. High end bikes, especially time trial, can easily be $20k. Those are up front costs. Some of which are semi reoccurring. You put in enough miles, there are going to be accidents, you're going to go through tires and brakes. I dont recall what brake pads cost, but I think they were relatively cheap, like $15 per set. Racing tires were more expensive at $45 a piece. I used to go through at least 2 sets of tires per year, assuming no punctures. I'm also on my second road bike, after having been hit by a car on a training ride (car ran a stop sign and T-boned me). Thing about carbon fiber: you really cant repair it. You have to replace it. When I got hit by the car, it cracked the frame, bent both wheels, ruined the pedals, fucked up the shifters and handlebar; basically totalled the bike. Also, screwed up my +$200 shoes. So yeah, cycling is definitely more equipment intensive than even $300 running shoes. I also used to be a distance runner in high school, and replaced my shoes far too infrequently (basically only when my feet grew).