Originally Posted by
MRT2
2. While cycling involves some up front costs, once you get your equipment, it is among the cheapest sport and leisure activities around.
Cycling has its gear costs, just like golf, skiing, car racing, etc... Unlike those activities, with cycling, once you pay these up front costs, you are pretty much set for a long time because you don't have country club fees, green fees, lift tickets, or other recurring expenses. Unlike, say, cars, maintenance on bikes is relatively cheap, even if you have to pay a shop for it, and almost free if you do your routine maintenance yourself. Also unlike cars, storage for bikes is relatively modest.
This really is the best part of biking.
Once you have the bike it's a cheap sport. (And yet, I still manage to spend money on it
.......odd how that works....but I don't HAVE to. I choose to. VERY different thing. With most activities you HAVE to keep spending money on you can't go them. Like you said...golf, skiing, race car driving, skydiving, hell even runners wear out shoes faster I wear out tires)
And you don't have to spend $1000 to get into it.
I paid $350 for my first bike as an adult (not counting the various bikes I had as a kid) and it lasted me 15 years. And that was a very nice bike, above Wal Mart quality back in the day. That bike is still going strong today. I just gave it to a friend last month who's getting into biking for the first time. So he's starting off for free!
Over the years I probably put $100 into that bike on things like new tires, a new seat, etc.
And a Wal Mart bike for $200 WILL STILL WORK. Most people who commute to work on bikes because they can't afford a car do so on Wal Mart level bikes because they are cheap. And they manage to get to and from work on those bikes every day.
So biking basically costs what you want it to cost.
You can do it cheap initially and never spend another dollar.
You can buy an expensive bike initially and never spend another dollar.
You can buy an expensive bike and keep buying more parts for it.
It's a hobby/sport/activity/utilitarian tool that will fit almost any budget and level of interest.