THREAD: Cycling on a budget

If you've been following the commentary from talk radio hosts, opinion columnists and anonymous twitter accounts, you could be forgiven for thinking cycling is a hobby for the well off. I hope you'll excuse the language, but this is a bag of shite.

TLDR here are the notes I made for this thread. This thread isn't supposed to be combative, it's supposed to be a myth buster, but as somebody who cycles specifically to save money, this is one that bugs me.

First, I'll look at the initial cost. You can do things on the cheap, or you can push the boat out. It all depends on what what your financial situation is like. You won't need to take a loan out though... you know... like you do for a car.

If you're going less than 5 miles, you spend 50 squids on gumtree and forget about it. If something breaks you wait to pay day and take it to a bike shop. This is what I did when I had to cycle from Tyldesley to Leigh every day, and this is before the busway cycle path.

If you're going >5m however, maybe you need something a bit more reliable. You can probably get a decent bike for 200, maybe even 100, with entry level components (acera/altus/claris/tourney) that will be plenty up to standard. Keep an eye out for future thread on 2nd hand bikes.

Maybe you've got a bit more to spend and want to go brand new. The Carrera Subway for £300 is a perfectly capable bike, I used to ride one and have no problem vouching for it. Voodoo Marasa for £400, amazing value, or the bike i'm currently riding Triban RC 500 for £600

Apologies those are all "mens" bikes, but I wanted to use examples that I've used for long periods of time.

That gets you everything you need - A bicycle!

So now for the extras, all of which are optional, but here's what i use...

Starting off with lights, there are countless setups but for my conditions (well lit city centre to pitch black path) are a set of front and rear blinkies (£10) to be seen and a cateye headlamp to see (£20). (i put the blinkies on steady on darker paths to avoid dazzling others)

Many commuters want mudguards (it's also nice for the rider behind tbh...) the goto fenders seem to be SKS bluemels which cost around £30, but cheaper, and dearer options are out there. Panniers and bags are popular too but I use a backpack (£20) so lets say £30-70 for those

Finally, you're going to want to carry some basic kit to quickly fix anything that goes wrong, and maybe somewhere to put it all. I carry a spare inner tube (<£5), wilko repair kit (£1), tyre pegs (£1) and a multitool (£5-15) and I put all these in a topeak wedge 2 (£20)

I also carry a chain breaker and a couple of extra links, which in accordance with sod's law, I haven't had to use since buying. They cost around £15, + a couple of quid for the quick links. Chain breakages are very rare, especially if you look after your drive train.

So where are we? Well even if you buy everything on this list, that's around, lets say £150 worth of kit, on top of whatever your bike costs. If you go for the road bike, that's a total of 750 squids oh actually that is quite a lot... but you're only paying that once.

How much is a mid range car, with all the bells and whistles?

Since this is aimed at people on low incomes (like myself), let's compare that to public transport (which is what people on low incomes tend to use, actually).

A season ticket from Atherton to Manchester Victoria is 30 for a week, TWELVE HUNDRED POUNDS for a year. System One week any bus is £20 or £40, i'm not sure what the difference is.. annual is, again £1200ish. it'll take less than a year for the bike to pay for itself.

Or think of it this way, you cycle when it's nice, and bus it from October to March. Chances are you've saved the cost of winter, maybe with change left over.

Every year after that you cut your travel cost in half.

Or you can cycle every day and save £1200

And that's if you buy all the kit.. It isn't essential (besides lights). If i was cycling less than 5 miles (which an alarming % of commutes are), I probably wouldn't bother with half that.

But remember cycling isn't a method of transport. It's a hobby, for middle class people... Sorry... We try not to get political on #gmcyclehivemind, we stay out of arguments, but this comes up time and time again on the clever search feed

When temporary cycle lanes popped up around Greater Manchester, they enabled lots of people to try cycling in a fairly safe environment, and many people liked it. this was to take the pressure off public transport and to stop the spread of covid-19. the solution was active travel

But there was push back. One that really bugs me is that these lanes hurt the poorest and most vulnerable. I'm sorry but us working class folk have far too much sense to spend a fortune on an SUV, just to sit in traffic, and this was before the lanes.

What people on low incomes need is more options. Even before Covid forced us to socially distance, buses and trains were too expensive. I don't cycle "despite" being on a low income, I cycle BECAUSE I'm on a low income. The environmental and health benefits are just bonus.

What about the people who can't afford to drive, but also can't cycle? Well there needs to be room for them on public transport. Give people options and free demand.

The temporary cycle lanes were provided FOR the benefit of the poorest and most vulnerable.

I've been cycling all my life but it wasn't until about 2015 I started doing longer commutes. before that I'd get the 32 to town. Standard rush hour turned what should be a 50 minute journey into 90+ minutes. It's not the cycle lanes mate.

Now as the lanes have gone, the traffic might get marginally better. Until a road needs digging up. The problem is there's too many cars on the roads. Drivers would also benefit from other options. More options reduce demand. This is for everybody.

Right, sorry for getting personal. Many thanks to Greater Manchester's active travel campaigners, planners, Councillors, MPs, commissioners, and literally anybody involved in active travel for making GM better for everybody!