[dylan604]

>But it’s still a pittance compared to the cost of car ownership.

I'm not really sure where the unrealistic expectation of zero dollar expense on maintenance of a bike comes from, but it seems the norm. No matter what though, it is still pennies on the dollar for any kind of expense from a car. The most expensive thing I can do for an upgrade to my bike is to have hydraulic brakes installed, and that's <$400 with paying for the labor of someone else to do it. Like you said, brake pads get replaced, but the set for my biker are <$20. Yes, it's not free and definitely non-zero, but it rounds to zero when compared to car ownership.

[samstave]

My bike cost more than my car. I have a $7,500 bike, a $3,000 bike and two $400 bikes... my car was $5,000 and I put more miles on my bikes than any car...

Bikes suck for a few things - weather and only one person and no storage.

I am a pro-dealer of Fox Shocks products and am looking to becoming an Orbea dealer - potentially opening my own shop.

Also, I am designing 3D printable components based on my being a daily biker for two decades.

--

Also - you can go to importYeti.com and look up bike suppliers supply chains, shipments and native chinese/taiwanese manufacturers (Taiwan produces a F-ton of bike frames....

You will see differences in pricing >$1,000 just based on the quality of components.

Some modern bikes have apps to tune their performance, blue-tooth wireless shifters, brakes etc.

I love bikes - but they arent as cheap as one may think (if their looking for performance on top of convenience...

Then just look at the prices of spandex biking clothes.

[detaro]

> but they arent as cheap as one may think (if their looking for performance on top of convenience...

The same would be said by someone explaining why they spend so much on their Porsche ;)

admittedly e-bikes have higher initial costs, but even there $7,500 gets you something far up the fancy end.

[paulcole]

I’ve never owned a car or even driven one. So I don’t have a good sense of the costs there. I guess I don’t even see the bike as having costs, it’s an investment in moving myself around and feeling good.

[hollerith]

>I guess I don’t even see the bike as having costs, it’s an investment

Well, sure, if you want to ignore the standard an unambiguous meanings of "cost" and "investment" for poetical reason.

[paulcole]

Yes, that's what I was doing. Great job picking up on that!