The Expense of Mountain Biking

[Cycho]

You Teach??

 

Not quite - in a school, but my job is to fix the 'broken' ones, or rescue them from the broken teachers

[Ikonic]

Saw this quote this morning: My biggest fear is that when I die my wife will sell my bikes for what I told her they cost....!!

[LanceB]

"By its nature mtb'ing is expensive due to moving parts being exposed to the elements and mud. There are some ways of having just as much at a fraction of the price."

 

Mechanical bits, in a high impact environment. If you ride your bike hard (rush rock gardens, hit the small jumps and such), the load case is amplified and durability will plummet. This is a given.

 

Have a mate who rides SS 29 rigid. But he is a hardcore bloke. Costs are high, but if the market demand is there, then, the price points will orbit upwards on the graph as they currently are.

 

Best mate got me into the sport. He rides a Chameleon.

 

We once chatted about cost, just before dropping down onto those top Canaries from under the Saaltjie in Jonkershoek. He asked what I would value the day's riding at.

 

I thought in comparative terms of what a stirring Saturday's entertainment would quantify as (brunch with friends, dinner with partner, associated domestic purchases, round of golf or going to Newlands for rugby) and I said,"R4000."

 

He replied: "exactly."

[Wes84]

Its crazy expensive..

 

I do most of my training now on my road bike, I couldn't handle the cost of replacing bearings, tyres, chain rings, cassettes etc.. the mud and dust kills the parts..

 

road riding was always more dangerous, but i go out with Velo club in the mornings and i would rather brave the traffic then brave savages with guns on the MTB...

 

This has been the way to go for many of my friends and myself as well, even staying on tarmac with my MTB cuts down on maintenance.

[rouxtjie]

So if you want to minimize costs you have to look at where mountain biking as a hobby's expenses lie and make peace with the fact that its a "you cant have your cake and eat it" scenario

 

Initial outlay...do I want X when Y will do....my advise here is get what you want and don't try and save pennies. No point in riding a bike you didn't want to begin with.

Consumables... Lube, tyres, chains, cassette, chainrings, bearings...Do you need XTR when Deore will do?

Services...do I have to pay someone to do this, or can I do it myself?

Races...do I have to do sani when I can do a weekend away with the boys at mankele at a fraction?

[DJR]

I've been riding the same mtb for the past 5 years, purely because nobody came up with something that is so much better that it justifies the huge cost of replacing it. The regular maintenance I do myself and that makes the running costs much lower that running to the shop every time the shifting needs adjustment.

 

The most expensive part of my mtbiking has been medical costs of having to fix broken bones, but my doctor tells me it is cheap compared to having a heart attack.

[igknot]

The cost per kilometer is ridiculous.

 

So I bought a framgate and turned it into a single speed. total cost R1500. I use this to commute to work.

Running cost for 2013. about half a cup of sunlight liquid and 20 buckets of water for the tri-weekly wash.

 

but them i went an bought a trendoid steel farm and evert thing i saved goes down the spruit.

 

Our toys are riddiculously expensive. Yes i know about moving parts and economies of scale. but we are just fortunate that we can spend more than the median yearly income of a bangldeshi on our toys.

 

Life is unfair and we are on this ocasion on the up side.

['Dale]

Try the mystical sport of Curdling instead.

 

Hahaha

[DR ◣◢]

So if you want to minimize costs you have to look at where mountain biking as a hobby's expenses lie and make peace with the fact that its a "you cant have your cake and eat it" scenario

 

Initial outlay...do I want X when Y will do....my advise here is get what you want and don't try and save pennies. No point in riding a bike you didn't want to begin with.

Consumables... Lube, tyres, chains, cassette, chainrings, bearings...Do you need XTR when Deore will do?

Services...do I have to pay someone to do this, or can I do it myself?

Races...do I have to do sani when I can do a weekend away with the boys at mankele at a fraction?

 

Exactly! 100% spot on.

 

Also:

 

Smart Shopping Buy on clearance/ the hub classified/ gumtree and in the bargain bin at your LBS.

Edited October 18, 2013 by Maxxis

['Dale]

One reason why I don't get my white shorts dirty.

Cost.

Other costing priorities.

 

It's rof indeed.

[b-rad]

 

 

Not quite - in a school, but my job is to fix the 'broken' ones, or rescue them from the broken teachers

 

Just encourage them to beat up the teachers...

[Escapee..]

How are you guys spending so much on maintenance?

 

This year I spent:

- R100 on a new XT chain (clever shopping)

- R60 on new cables

- R100 on a brake bleed

- R1100 on new tyres (wanted them vs needed them)

- R100 on rags, lube and grease

 

Total for the year - R1460 / 10 months - R146 per month since Jan.

 

Even if I had to do a BB and cassette replacement I would still be in for under R2500 for the year. I ride with XT/XTR on my Morewood and Saint/SLX/XTR on my Jamis. All expensive parts that last long.

 

Nothing stops you from running SLX or Deore bits on the drivetrain. You can really enjoy the sport without spending a fortune.

 

 

When you only ride the spruit and only do 100km per months, its bound to be a cheap exercise

[rouxtjie]

The cost per kilometer is ridiculous.

 

So I bought a framgate and turned it into a single speed. total cost R1500. I use this to commute to work.

Running cost for 2013. about half a cup of sunlight liquid and 20 buckets of water for the tri-weekly wash.

 

but them i went an bought a trendoid steel farm and evert thing i saved goes down the spruit.

 

Our toys are riddiculously expensive. Yes i know about moving parts and economies of scale. but we are just fortunate that we can spend more than the median yearly income of a bangldeshi on our toys.

 

Life is unfair and we are on this ocasion on the up side.

Agreed if you reading this right now, you are probably not doing to kuk

[DR ◣◢]

When you only ride the spruit and only do 100km per months, its bound to be a cheap exercise

 

http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_xzMDwk1CW2o/TSRRGZaY1hI/AAAAAAAAAKA/GJoInScydWw/s200/noddy-badge%255B2%255D.jpg

 

You win. That is exactly what I do.

[Wes84]

So if you want to minimize costs you have to look at where mountain biking as a hobby's expenses lie and make peace with the fact that its a "you cant have your cake and eat it" scenario

 

Initial outlay...do I want X when Y will do....my advise here is get what you want and don't try and save pennies. No point in riding a bike you didn't want to begin with.

Consumables... Lube, tyres, chains, cassette, chainrings, bearings...Do you need XTR when Deore will do?

Services...do I have to pay someone to do this, or can I do it myself?

Races...do I have to do sani when I can do a weekend away with the boys at mankele at a fraction?

Exactly! 100% spot on.

 

Also:

 

Smart Shopping Buy on clearance/ the hub classified/ gumtree and in the bargain bin at your LBS.

 

You are 100%

[Wes84]

http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_xzMDwk1CW2o/TSRRGZaY1hI/AAAAAAAAAKA/GJoInScydWw/s200/noddy-badge%255B2%255D.jpg

 

You win. That is exactly what I do.

 

Why don't I believe you?