Cycling UK Forum

That'll be me! Five bikes, several of which cost more than the rest of the families cars! Just because i don't drive myself doesn't mean i'm anti motorised transport, i just don't do it myself.

I stopped driving around 15yrs ago as, living in a city, it proved an inefficient expense. The last time I showed my license as proof of ID it was politely declined since it was so out of date . I'm lucky enough to live near good public transport but all my journeys are better, and cheaper, by bike. If I get the chance to escape the the smoke I would still be determined to remain car-free as I've never enjoyed driving in the past. Wherever I choose to live, cycle-friendliness would be a deciding factor.

Vorpal wrote:we increasingly trap anyone who cannot drive, cannot afford a car, or merely has physical difficulties. That will get worse as motorised eprsonal transport becomes more expensive. That is an unreasonable way to develop a society.

+1 tenfold. I remember hearing a radio programme on how rural councils were subsidising private taxis for schoolchildren whose parents were unable to drive themselves, since there was no public service and no plans to provide one. I don't recall the overall cost per year but, what a waste – and no benefit to those families outside school journeys .

mjr wrote: but that doesn't solve the lack of stations or trains without bike reservations.

We have bike reservations on our main line (the one I take most of the time), They're designed to stop you taking your bike on the train and FGW made full use of them this summer.

rural councils were subsidising private taxis for schoolchildren whose parents were unable to drive themselves, since there was no public service and no plans to provide one

This was because they close the small schools and make the children travel much larger distances to large schools. Above 3 miles primary school kids are entitled to free school transport, they are too dispersed for buses, so they get private taxis.
It was this private motor use that enabled them to justify closing the small schools in the first place.

horizon wrote:We have bike reservations on our main line (the one I take most of the time), They're designed to stop you taking your bike on the train and FGW made full use of them this summer.

FGW, the second biggest reason I have for having a folding bike. I realise I'm fortunate to afford it and it's a solution that won't scale. There are now so many that some non-cyclists are calling for train companies to restrict folding bike carriage on peak-time trains. http://elycycle.org.uk/2014/08/06/abell ... cle-forum/ Way to attack other passengers instead of attacking the crap railway governance that isn't delivering enough seats where/when they're needed

Last year was the first year since I was a teenager, 60 years ago, that I rode more miles on the bike than in a car, this year I'm well on the way to doing even more miles on the bike than the car.

Driving in the UK is a grim experience and it is expensive. Got rid of the car. Put the money into savings. Dont miss the car at all.

Sad to say I've just bought a car, having just got a job 35 miles from home. IT's the first car I have owned since 1982 [although I have driven my wife's car on holiday, to the tip etc] and I am rather sad and only manage to get out on weekends.
The final straw was the cost. The combined rail and Manchester tram costs £98 a week. It's the tram that put the price up £20. That's nearly £400 a month.
The second hand small Fiat costs me £85 a month and £140 a month for petrol, £12 insurance and no road tax. I make that £237.
Yes I know cars depreciate, but I live in the here and now.
It was a very hard decision to make, and I have regretted it a thousand times but it gives me an extra 2 hours with my family a day.
A large part of my life has been changed and I don't like it.

ikenbikeit wrote:Sad to say I've just bought a car, having just got a job 35 miles from home. IT's the first car I have owned since 1982 [although I have driven my wife's car on holiday, to the tip etc] and I am rather sad and only manage to get out on weekends.
The final straw was the cost. The combined rail and Manchester tram costs £98 a week. It's the tram that put the price up £20. That's nearly £400 a month.
The second hand small Fiat costs me £85 a month and £140 a month for petrol, £12 insurance and no road tax. I make that £237.
Yes I know cars depreciate, but I live in the here and now.
It was a very hard decision to make, and I have regretted it a thousand times but it gives me an extra 2 hours with my family a day.
A large part of my life has been changed and I don't like it.

There may always be the alternative of driving part way, parking up & cycling the rest. That would save even more on costs AND get you on your bike. It all depends on where you are getting to & from around Manchester & your tolerance of traffic as some places are better than others to cycle to. Remember you don't have to do a direct route, you could always drive to somewhere that's 30 miles from home that gives you, say, a 10 mile ride.

Rick.

ikenbikeit wrote:The final straw was the cost. The combined rail and Manchester tram costs £98 a week. It's the tram that put the price up £20. That's nearly £400 a month.
The second hand small Fiat costs me £85 a month and £140 a month for petrol, £12 insurance and no road tax. I make that £237.
Yes I know cars depreciate, but I live in the here and now.

And there's the problem. That cost includes the depreciation and repair of trains and trams but ignores the depreciation and repair of the car. ikenbikeit is far from the only person to do calculations like that, but while it continues, we'll get bonkers results like this. I think motor dealers should have to publish statistics about the numbers of cars serviced and the costs, so that people can get better numbers for estimating the costs of car ownership.

Even if the Fiat is a three grand heap that lasts five years with say £150/year servicing and MOT before expiring and being hauled away for scrap at no cost, that's another £62.50/month... but if anything goes wrong and needs parts before the five years is up, it could quickly get much worse. If I remember correctly, one flaming brake set on some Fiats is over £400 just for the parts now.

It was a very hard decision to make, and I have regretted it a thousand times but it gives me an extra 2 hours with my family a day.

I can sympathise with that, but it's only one short-term way of looking at it.

mjr wrote:

ikenbikeit wrote:The final straw was the cost. The combined rail and Manchester tram costs £98 a week. It's the tram that put the price up £20. That's nearly £400 a month.
The second hand small Fiat costs me £85 a month and £140 a month for petrol, £12 insurance and no road tax. I make that £237.
Yes I know cars depreciate, but I live in the here and now.

And there's the problem. That cost includes the depreciation and repair of trains and trams but ignores the depreciation and repair of the car. ikenbikeit is far from the only person to do calculations like that, but while it continues, we'll get bonkers results like this. I think motor dealers should have to publish statistics about the numbers of cars serviced and the costs, so that people can get better numbers for estimating the costs of car ownership.

Even if the Fiat is a three grand heap that lasts five years with say £150/year servicing and MOT before expiring and being hauled away for scrap at no cost, that's another £62.50/month... but if anything goes wrong and needs parts before the five years is up, it could quickly get much worse. If I remember correctly, one flaming brake set on some Fiats is over £400 just for the parts now.

It was a very hard decision to make, and I have regretted it a thousand times but it gives me an extra 2 hours with my family a day.

I can sympathise with that, but it's only one short-term way of looking at it.

He had already budgeted £85 per month to cover that expense.

beardy wrote: He had already budgeted £85 per month to cover that expense.

Hrm, looking again, what a confusing way of wording it... I'm not sure what that's for, as he said he'd not included depreciation and so on. How are you?

What else could possibly be costing £85pm.

It may be loan repayments, lease fees or any other way of covering the cost of the vehicle but the only remaining reasonable thing that could be that expensive is the vehicle itself.

Mine cost about £50 per year but I buy cheap and keep a long time.

g.meredith wrote:Driving in the UK is a grim experience and it is expensive.....

Quite right!
And it's only when you drive elsewhere you realise just how grim,we've been in France for the last 2 1/2 weeks and have covered 1,200miles most of it towing a caravan.It was only after the second day I realised I wasn't stressed in any way after driving(bearing in mind on t'other side of the road)compared to driving in the UK.
That's because French drivers are far more courteous to each other,there's far less speeding in 50 and 70kph zones and other than the almost comical way they tailgate waiting to o/take their driving is very good compared to the average UK driver,but then they're aren't like rats in a cage mostly as there's more space on the roads.
I've only once had a close call on the bike in France,whereas it's a daily occurrence in the UK,so much so that I'm sure a lot of the bad driving when I'm cycling is deliberate antagonism.Why is anyone's guess,but people must lead very sad lives to want to take out their petty frustrations on others far more vulnerable than themselves.

I wouldn't want to manage without a car and look on them as a necessary evil in a stupidly blinkered society that I live in and have little control over the general way it operates.
The shear lack of provision outside of car travel is pathetic in a modern and rich society which we live in.We bought into the consumer/capitalist/man mind thyself dream like a blind man stumbling over a cliff edge IMO and the whirlwind is yet be reaped but when it does...........


I use the bike for local journey's whenever possible and was once told off by a nurse after giving blood when she found out I had to cycle the two whole miles home .

Sold my car I'm June 2013. Never missed it. Ride 12,500 miles in 2013. This year I'm upto 10,000 already. (But I'm touring at the moment.

Gary
www.longbikeride.co.uk