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I don’t think TCO is an issue with bikes. I would estimate the TCO of a bike to be somewhere between €15 and €50 a month†. That compares favourably to cars whi

by arrrg 6y ago

I don’t think TCO is an issue with bikes. I would estimate the TCO of a bike to be somewhere between €15 and €50 a month†. That compares favourably to cars which would be somewhere up at €350 to €700 per month, so that’s an order of magnitude off. If that payment can be an effective incentive to use the bike more that’s nice, I guess, but I’m not sure it can. Infrastructure would be the most important (and also most expensive) driver of bike usage if I had to guess. That’s not easily or quickly changed. I mean, for us the cost factor definitely is relevant. We can save so much money by not having a car and there are so few situations where we would need one (if we really need one we can rent one once a year). So sure: Sometimes a car would be practical or nice to have but for that little tiny benefit it is too expensive. So, yeah, TCO does play a role – but I don’t think €50 per year change that calculus significantly if you have already decided that a car is worth it for you. — † Between €500 and €1,500 for the bike (used for five years), between €100 and €300 per year for repairs.

Fricken 6y ago
I know enough people who don't ride their bikes because of some simple repair job they never get around to doing, often because they're mildly intimidated by it, and it's one of those jobs you can always put off until tomorrow. Money usually isn't the issue. Often it's the most trivial of obstacles that stand between people and their proclivity to adopt a particular habit.
morsch 6y ago
That's for a fancy bike, not that there's anything wrong with it. You can get by with a tenth of that if you get a "beater", which may or may not be sufficient for your urban transportation needs.
- swimfar 6y ago
  Also, the annual repair costs are probably assuming you have someone else do them. I think that's a reasonable expectation for most people, but it can be quite a bit less if you can do some of them yourself. I'm pretty sure I average less than $50/year for all maintenance costs for about 2000 miles of commuting.
- Baeocystin 6y ago
  I paid ~$1,200 for my Rad Rover about 5 years ago, and maybe $100 in tubes/tire slime/etc since, and it's an e-bike. If someone handed me $50ish today for it, I'd still take it in for a full tune. I can do all of that myself, but the time savings would be great.

by arrrg 6y ago

Fricken 6y ago

I know enough people who don't ride their bikes because of some simple repair job they never get around to doing, often because they're mildly intimidated by it, and it's one of those jobs you can always put off until tomorrow. Money usually isn't the issue. Often it's the most trivial of obstacles that stand between people and their proclivity to adopt a particular habit.

morsch 6y ago

That's for a fancy bike, not that there's anything wrong with it. You can get by with a tenth of that if you get a "beater", which may or may not be sufficient for your urban transportation needs.

swimfar 6y ago
Also, the annual repair costs are probably assuming you have someone else do them. I think that's a reasonable expectation for most people, but it can be quite a bit less if you can do some of them yourself. I'm pretty sure I average less than $50/year for all maintenance costs for about 2000 miles of commuting.
Baeocystin 6y ago
I paid ~$1,200 for my Rad Rover about 5 years ago, and maybe $100 in tubes/tire slime/etc since, and it's an e-bike. If someone handed me $50ish today for it, I'd still take it in for a full tune. I can do all of that myself, but the time savings would be great.