Anyone else got a bike just to commute?

R.C.Anderson · 4 May 2016 at 12:43

Due to the traffic getting into & out of work every day, and how it ruins my car's fuel economy, I'm thinking of the possibility of learning & getting a bike to commute (initially, it may well turn into a toy as well given time!).

I was wondering if anyone else has been in a similar situation, and could give me their opinion on if it turned out to be a good idea or not. Chances are, if I did do this, I would use my bike very little during the winter, but I guess it's hard to tell at the moment!

My commute is ~10 miles each way, but due to traffic it usually takes over 30 mins. If I was to do this, what sort of costs would I be looking at to get started (I haven't even done my CBT yet)?

Captain · 4 May 2016 at 12:51

CBT are around £100- £110 depending on the area, that's enough to get you on to a 125cc bike, ideal for town riding if you are sticking to speed limits under 50mph.

Gear can be as cheap or expensive as you want it, good boots and a jacket and helmet, jeans are fine for most rides anyway unless you need waterproof textiles.

Depending on your age, this will determine what your insurance premiums are, expect to pay upwards of £300 if you are under 24.

TallPaul_S · 4 May 2016 at 13:08

Do your CBT, and for that commute - get a 125cc bike.

I did exactly this, having just started a new job, and not owning a car, the options were:

Train - 3 separate trains, £150 a month, 1 hour to get to work (+ 20 minute walk to the station) and 1hr 45m to get home (+ 20 min walk).
Car: 50-60 minutes, 40 miles a day. Sit in multiple queues every morning. £5-600+ insurance, plus £1000-2000 for a semi decent car.

The Bike won of course

45 minutes in the morning, 35-40 minutes home, sailing past all the queues. I did 6 months and 7000 miles on a 125, getting 80+ mpg, £180 insurance before doing my full tests and getting a 400cc bike. Running costs are still cheaper than the car or train. £90ish insurance, £17 of fuel at 55mpg lasts me just over a week.

The cost to get a bike is all upfront, you'll need £120 for the CBT, then £1000-1500 for a decent 125cc bike. Then between £300-700 for kit - depending if you'll be commuting through winter. I started out with cheap Aldi textiles but soon upgraded as I was commuting through winter, but if you're only riding in the summer/autumn you can get away with cheaper stuff that isn't quite as waterproof.

Don't think though that you'll only use the bike for commuting

if the bug hits it can be a very expensive!

Sagalout · 4 May 2016 at 15:44

I have a 15 mile commute and use the bike whenever possible, including through winter. I'd rather spend 30 minutes on the bike than an hour sat in traffic, even cold and wet! the cost difference is huge too - £17 per day vs £3 including petrol and parking.

If I was purely using it for transport though I'd buy a scooter. Less maintenance and more practical for weather protection and luggage capacity.

ttaskmaster · 4 May 2016 at 17:41

Bike is my sole transport right now (unless I'm able to nick the Mrs's car for a day), although it's a big-ass, heavy tourer and not easily flicked around in traffic. A 125-ish is still the best for pure in-town traffic, IMO.

Thing is, cars don't always drive in a straight line, especially if there's an obstruction ahead that they're trying to see.
Even on a bike, my 10 minute ride on clear roads can take almost an hour with bad traffic. I'd have to break laws to get past a lot of the bad stuff, particularly when cross-traffic flood the yellow hatch boxes and change lanes halfway through, all bumper to bumper.

TBH, 30 minutes to do 10 miles in heavy traffic doesn't sound all that bad... especially when a mk4 Golf gets double the fuel economy my bike does!!

Mr Blonde · 4 May 2016 at 19:19

As above, that 10 miles doesn't sound too bad as it would take me double that to get in to the centre of London.

Some advice in hindsight - I'll never buy a cheap scooter again. I had a Piaggio 125 which was great but I sold it to a friend and got a Sym (half the price of the above new) and it's absolutely pants on all counts. I can't actually think of one thing I like about it or is actually decent at all except maybe the main beam on it. It's so bad I'll leave it to rot as selling it on would probably mean that some young lad would go under a truck on it.

If you want something that'll do the job properly and don't too much mind a sit-up-and-beg style then something like a Honda SH125i would work. A girl friend of mine has one and it's well put together, stable, nippy and has decent storage space etc. Second hand with around 10k miles they'd be around the £1.5k mark.

A CBT will run you £120-£140 for the day I think? You'll likely breeze through it if you have a little road sense and/or been cycling a bit. These do you for two years.

Gear wise as it's just for summer maybe something like a Box helmet (£50 with a 4 out of 5 star rating), an armoured textile jacket of some description (Weise make decent cheap ones), jeans (bike ones have kevlar built in and can literally save your skin if you go sliding down a road on you backside), a pair of boots and a rain suit just in case.

Craig321 · 4 May 2016 at 20:26

R.C.Anderson said:
Due to the traffic getting into & out of work every day, and how it ruins my car's fuel economy, I'm thinking of the possibility of learning & getting a bike to commute (initially, it may well turn into a toy as well given time!).

I was wondering if anyone else has been in a similar situation, and could give me their opinion on if it turned out to be a good idea or not. Chances are, if I did do this, I would use my bike very little during the winter, but I guess it's hard to tell at the moment!

My commute is ~10 miles each way, but due to traffic it usually takes over 30 mins. If I was to do this, what sort of costs would I be looking at to get started (I haven't even done my CBT yet)?

Do your CBT, get a cheap-ish CBF125 and see how you get on with it. It'll easily do 100mpg++, costs nothing to repair (doesn't go wrong anyway) and is small for filtering.

Insurance will be cheap as well on a 125. Depending on your age it could be under £100 quite easily.

As above, just get some cheap kit for now with either a 1-piece rainsuit or 2-piece or just get waterproof textile jacket.

Biking can be ridiculously cheap if you want it to be. It became a very expensive addiction for me

D)

julianhj · 6 May 2016 at 21:19

I swapped from a car to a bike six months ago, as private parking was withdrawn from my workplace. It's been great so far, and I've got a DAS course booked for the end of the month. Commuting is now much less stressful, and even enjoyable occasionally.

Brackish · 7 May 2016 at 08:12

I do 60 miles day 5 days a week on an SV650S but its also a toy. Had to get rid of my car due to no parking or else I would have had to park a 20 min walk and then it would take just over an hour to get to work but on the bike it takes 35 mins as its all 70mph roads. Filtering is so satisfying!!

I have RST tour master jacket and tundra 2 trousers and its warm enough Sir frosty temperatures. Invest in warm gloves!! Fuel is OK, about 23 quid a week and insurance would normally be fine but a few accidents made it go up lol. Get a scottoiler too, will save the life of your chain and means no manual lubing.
If you have the money to get a 125 then go do it as its a great experience in its self!!