RubeRad

I collated this thread's responses on google sheets, but I'm guessing you want a per-person spreadsheet organized to enter and track costs/miles (perphaps separately per bike?) I don't have that

DrIsotope

Well I certainly don't want a method to track my expenditures by the mile. I try to keep self-imposed traumas to a minimum. Even ballparking it was uncomfortable.

I track mileage to try to stay ahead of when things wear out. I'd rather be completely ignorant of the cost, to be honest.

medic75

Maybe I'm alone here, but I do not keep track of miles ridden. If I'm riding a route for the first time, I may activate strava on my phone, but other than that I just ride. If I actually sat down and figured it out, I would likely be unhappy with the results. In the past year, I have purchased four bikes, sold one bike, and altered the remaining three with tires, racks, etc. I commute to work almost daily - easily 98 out of every 100 days. With that in mind, I would still assume my cost per mile is currently high. I do not plan on many purchases in the next year, so the cost should start coming down, but still think I would prefer not knowing.

RidingMatthew

how do you know how many miles you rode?

RubeRad

For me, I have a CatEye Mity3 mounted on my commuter and I just read off the odometer every Jan 1 (also for our cars). I have an email thread to myself with all of these odometer readings.

That computer used to swap between the commuter and my MTB with a second mount (MTB is a 29er so I stopped even switching to the 'B' wheel diameter setting), so recreational trail riding was also included (when I remembered to swap the computer over). But on my 'new' MTB, for some reason I was unable to get the computer working. I didn't care enough to troubleshoot it, so now my trail miles are untracked.

I-Like-To-Bike

You are not alone. I also do not track bicycle costs or mileage nor use Strava.

I think that bicyclists who track their bicycle mileage, performance, and/or costs in detail (or at all) on spreadsheets, Strava or some other form of documentation are in a minority, though well represented by the bicycling enthusiasts who comment on threads like this about tracking personal bicycling metrics.

prj71

I have about ~$8000 tied up in 4 bikes. All of which get ridden during the course of the year.

I keep track of my yearly mileage (4000 for 2018) but there is a fun per mile factor that eliminates me needing to know the cost per mile.

RubeRad

I agree; cyclists that post a lot at BF are probably highly correlated with cyclists that obsess over their statistics

zowie

I recently bought a dedicated commuter bike, complete with everything I need. It requires no special clothes and has yet to require any expenditures.
If (with sample numbers) I've ridden it 1000 miles so far, did it cost me $.50/mile, or did it cost me nothing because it saved me more than $500 in auto?
(Another permutation: in NYC it costs like $7 to park a bike securely in a commercial lot for a day at work. If I otherwise would have driven and paid $25 to park, did the ride cost me $6 or nothing?)

I have a fancy bike that I got at a really low price of $800 years ago. I never took to it. I've only ridden it about 800 miles. $1/mile. However, I plan to sell it and expect to get more than I paid for it given the good deal originally and the inflation in bike prices since. So my cost per mile then goes to zero?

I like to ride centuries or randonees on the weekends when I can. This eating more and different stuff than I'd have if I stayed home or only rode 12 miles on the bike path. Counts toward cost? What if I have to drive 50 or 100 miles r/t to the start? What if I have to pay an entry fee?

RubeRad

Based on my parameters in the OP ("I'm not so interested in comparing bike cost to car cost (if you've got an axe to grind against cars, go do it in LCF)"), the number I'm interested in is $.50/mile. But you go right ahead and calculate whatever you want.

Yes, and again per OP, "If you flip the bike for more than you put into it, your $/mi is negative!"

[/QUOTE] The issue of differential food is well discussed above. You might have to spend more on food because of intense cycling, but some people cycle to lose weight, and thus combine cycling with lower food costs; is that savings 'because' of the cycling? Judge for yourself.

zowie

I must have missed where it said everyone has to agree with whatever you write.

RubeRad

You put question marks in your post, which implied to me you were asking questions, so I gave some answers