By Robert Ariail
Looking unconvinced at average bike and bike part price development of recent years.
this post was submitted on 20 Apr 2026
955 points (98.5% liked)
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Bikes are meant to be bought used. They are so dead simple to repair and maintain. All you need is a handful of basic tools and youtube.
Bikes are meant to be bought used.
That's solid advice for your occasional short range bike.
But when talking about substituting a car for a bike with the thereby associated mileage (which the comic implies), in most cases this will be less true.
Main reason for this is that, apart from the frame, bikes mostly consist of wear-and-tear parts.
That is especially true for many used bikes that still have rim brakes and on top may have obsolete parts that are not easy to come by (had that once for my bar-end gear-levers that Shimano decided not to produce any more, because old-fashioned...)
Also a used bike comes as it is, so not really optimized for easy maintenance as you could choose a new bike to be.
I have learned by now (after switching to new bikes every few years and ~20000km before), that the most stressless (and also cheap in the long run) path is to buy a custom bike with robustness and easy maintenance in mind.
So steel frame, no suspension fork but fat 29'' tires instead, mechanical disk brake, standard lower mid range components (less optimized for weight, but often more robust), lowest number of gears possible (less finicky and typically less chain wear).
The initial cost when doing so will be higher, but in the long run will pay itself of when doing 5000km+ per year.
I dunno what typical yearly mileage on a bike used for commuting is... mine certainly did not do 5000km when I was commuting by bike. So your experience might be a bit more frequent maintenance than what most people need to do.
But either way, a used bike is still likely to be pretty easy to maintain. Maybe you're thinking of some specific harder-to-maintain parts? Brakes are a good example; rim brakes wear out quite quickly and are harder to replace the pads on than disc brakes. However, they're still dirt cheap and they're still not hard to replace. I, a cack-handed moron, learnt how to do it fairly easily.
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if you are taking the cost of petrol and using it to buy the bike instead. then the cost for the bike is free as you would have used that money on single use petrol.
I did that math when I bought my bike. "How many times do I have to bike to work to even this out?"
Once I hit it I never touched that bike again.
Consumerist mind set. Bikes donβt tend to break all at once and you can ride a beater right across the country with a hundred bucks of spare parts. A lot of shit you just donβt need and a proper bike is the epitome of that. Also cars require maintenance too, and a hell of a lot more of it and itβs a lot more difficult and expensive. There is probably a whole order of magnitude number of things that could go wrong with a car at any moment.
Also cars require maintenance too, and a hell of a lot more of it and itβs a lot more difficult and expensive.
Going by kilometer driven/ridden my first car for sure cost me way less to maintain than the bicycle I had at the same time. Of course it was an old bike (10 years old at that point). But then the car was also nearly 30 years old.
Fuel costs put it back in the bike's favour of course. But in terms of maintenance and repair, over one summer I rode maybe 500-1000 km at most and must've put like 200 EUR into the bicycle, and drove maybe 5000-6000 km and put like 100 EUR into car maintenance and repairs.
Bikes tend to be cheaper to maintain because the mileages are significantly less.
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I just cleaned my brakes for the first time. From a two min video on YT. Bikes are the best
I have to disagree with that.
I've been working on my own bikes for decades. I bought a used bike recently and it's been a nightmare. I know how to adjust a rear derailleur, but this one just won't work. I suspect whoever last owned it did something like replace the indexed shifter with an incompatible model. In the past I've also had to deal with wheels that were wonky. I have trued wheels before, and I'm pretty good at taking a wheel that's slightly out of true and getting it back to straight. But, fixing a wheel that's significantly taco-shaped is a whole different matter. Plus, most people don't have a truing stand.
I also didn't realize just how worn some of the parts were on this bike before I got it. The chain just snapped while I was pedalling up a steep hill. I took a closer look and some of the chainrings are pretty worn, so I might have to replace them too. Plus the brakes need a re-work, and the cables should all be replaced.
By the time I'm done with this bike, I probably will have replaced the chain, chain rings, brake pads, cables, tires, tubes, and maybe an indexed shifter pedal. Even after buying all those parts it will probably have been cheaper than buying a new bike, but if you count the hours and hours of labour, I'm not sure I'm coming out ahead. And, what's really frustrating is that with a new bike you get to feel it while it's at its best right after you bought it. With this one, every time I take it out, I realize there's something else wrong with it, and sometimes I end up walking home, like I did when the chain snapped.
You're looking at those higher end one, where the price has always been expensive. If you just want an average bike and doesn't care about weight and all those snobby stuff and don't mind adjusting it to fit you, get a generic chinese-made bike. It's cheap, it's repairable, it use non-proprietary part, and it's upgradable.
If you are in Europe just get a Dutch bicycle. Cheap (you can find them in any canal in Amsterdam, just hop in and grab one!), repairable, and will last for years post-canal treatment.
Only small caveat is the saddle post clamp on those. Can be real hard to find a new one that fits because the diameter of the frame is some wonky ass shit
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Last I checked you can buy them for as cheap as β¬50.
Or if you want something that doesn't break quickly, still only β¬300-700 total. In ten years I've only spent like β¬100 on repairs.
If you know where to look, you can get a very respectable bike for not a lot of money.
Especially considering that car prices have more than kept pace with bike prices
Clever. Thought this was c/fuckcars for a sec.
Fucking creative.
Good job! Have fun with your 40 mile commute.
You take the bike down to the train station and bring it with you on the train. Caveat: Your country needs to have train lines that are actually usable.
My country doesn't, and I am seriously getting sick of hearing that the forms of transportation we are systematically forced into being called inferior when we have no other realistic choice. Everything and anything is at a bare minimum 15 miles away from me in the Appalachian foothils. Even the very best cyclist would tire easily on these hills in just a few miles. I mean nothing to you personally, but I am beyond sick of the extremely privileged "fuck cars" mentality. I am going full rant here, but I don't have another fuck to give. If you are able to walk or bike to a location to do whatever you want you are much more privileged than the average American. And the entire ethos around "lol fuck you just walk or bike" is precisely why we got into a fascist state.
I've been under the impression that "fuckcars" has always been more about "fuck this system that we have developed that makes cars a necessity" and not about " fuck you for driving a car." It has always seemed more like anger at the system than at individuals to me.
That's the spirit of the community but, as in all things on the Internet, it naturally has attracted extremists which have impacted the vibe.
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Theres probably a bunch more reasons than just transportion culture wars that the us is turning fascist, i would imagine, but yeah that was what i was getting at. Very aware that many places in America only are build for cars.
Which is a damn shame. You shouldnt have yo be forced like that. But u know, money and power, big Industry lobbyism and decades of fearmongering about market regulations and public services, thatl get you a situation like that.
Wasnt trying to be snarky or anything fyi, clarifying because im quite over thinking too much about tone, downside being people sormtime misunderstand my vibes. βοΈ
Yeah. I kinda snapped and didn't intend to be mean. My mental state is not great.
No worries comrade, we all crash sometimes (i do at least). Take care β€οΈ
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in the Appalachian foothils.
Think part of the 'fuck cars' problem is the messaging lacks nuance. For example, the problems nearly do not exist in your scenario. Their problems are mainly around big city centers, and perhaps transit between those big cities. Appalachian foothills hardly have enough traffic or land usage to trigger the usual complaints.
Conversely, mass transit is a particularly terrible idea for Appalachia. Rural contexts in general make mass transit a challenge, but those slopes mean you pretty much have to have roads way too curvy for any bus, let alone getting rail going.
In short, a hellscape of traffic lights and crosswalks with no where to build because you have to split it with cars, I get the 'fuck cars' sentiment, but rural and esspecially mountainous areas, well cars are about the only reasonable answer.
Short rant: Your first sentence touches on a microcosm of a much larger problem. Nuance and context are disappearing everywhere. As far as threats to society go, it's in my number one spot, and we really need more people actively dismantling it like this, so thanks.
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I once had a 22 Mile round trip bicycle commute and there were absolutely no buses or trains or any type of public transport available from point A to point b. I finally had to quit that job in the thick of winter when snow made bicycling impossible, but before I quit, I got there walking/ running for a couple months.
Sounds awful, sorry you had to go through that
Thank you, well at least it got me into excellent physical shape & I got a boyfriend out of it, though he turned out to be kinda toxic but he was a bit of companionship & security for 6 years until I finally escaped & ascended to my own best life.
If that just ain't life condensed into 3 sentences huh, i feel ya. Glad you made a lemonade (or whatever you say) outta that β
E-bike.
OK, you your $5,000 e- bike stops 3/4 of the way home and it took you an additional 2 hours.
ETA, actually doing the math for my old commute - It would take and additional 12 hours by e-bike. One way.
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If Americans had access to Chinese EVs and had more affordable EV options it would be better. Their range is great now days. They can get up to 350 range depending on the car now. Comparible to gas cars. I think local governments should install charging stations as well to recieve some of the profits and to keep it affordable / voted on instead of it all being privatized again as we KNOW ALL COMPANIES EVENTUALLY JACK UP COST no matter what the product. America never learns.
Yeah, we really need this in the US. Very few people here can use a bike as a primary mode of transportation.
Yeah downtown Lemmy users think everyone should be on a bike. Itβs not realistic.
The EV argument against Chinese vehicles is hilarious. Everything is already made in china. And the cars might spy on me? And the Americans wonβt? I trust the Americans less than the Chinese at this point, I rather be spied by china
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this is brilliant, what a great visual effect
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