cycling?

vodkabarbie

Anyone give me some advice on cycling?
Currently I commute to work in London by train which costs me a whopping £122 a month. We only have 1 car which the OH uses to get to work and tbh I don't contribute to the running costs as I so rarely use it.

I worked out the other day that I could potentially cycle 7 miles to a different rail line which allows me to take the bike on board, reducing my travel costs to £44 a month. Even if I only do it for 4 months a year thats a hefty saving towards my debt - and when my gym membership expires I could leave that too as I'd be getting fitter!

The only problem is - I've not ridden for about 10 years! I have no idea if this is a feasible distance. And new bikes are pricy - but OH reckons a really cheap bike will be so nasty to ride I will be put off.

I am planning to try to get hold of a free/cheapy second hand bike, ride it around locally to the shops and see how I get on, then if I realistically can do the commute get a nicer bike, but I just thought I'd ask what people on here think?

gbmacqueen

I cycle to and from my place of work that is 12.5 mile away from my home. I dont push myself and it takes 45mins. I have been doing this for 2yrs now and feel great for it. It saves me just £3.40 a day but thats still good. It is important to have a nice bike but dont spend more that £350 (my opinion) Good luck

PeachPickle

I think it's a great idea! A couple years back I had a job about 3 miles away, all uphill on the way there, but in a rare fit of enthusiasm I bought a bike. It was hard at first, cos I'm monumentally unfit, but I really started to enjoy it. My bike only cost £100 from Tesco and I bought a new saddle for about £15 and it was fine. I think it's a good idea to have a practise first though. Go for it :j :T

BlondeHeadOn

Is there anyone you could borrow a bike from, to try it out and see if you like the idea in practice? If you try the journey and absolutely hate it then spending money on your own bike is probably not a good move - if you dislike the journey you will be unlikely to use the bike much. If you like the 'test run' though then buying a bike is probably going to be worth it.

DontDoDebtKids

There's only one way to find out....

TRY IT!!!

Hope it works out. I've never been in a position to cycle to work - I'd love to be able to walk to work though.

Lara44

I cycle 11 miles a day to and from work, it's really brilliant in London to avoid rush hour. Also the freedom of just coming and going as you please, not having to wait until the bus or tube comes.

I ride my bike everywhere now, which saves me a good £70 per month, and is really good to exercise without realising it (I hate gyms). To be honest it's well worth getting a good bike - mine is from Ridgeback, and it's a hybrid which is designed for city commuting. I bought mine new for £240, but there are some good deals on secondhand. Don't forget though that you'll be needing 2 x locks at approx £50 each, 1 x insurance £55ish, lights, helmet, reflectors, and I have my bike serviced twice a year for about £70 altogether (it's sooo worth it).

I guess you'd be wanting a foldable one though? Bromptons are the only ones I know but I think they are really expensive (£700).... Keep us posted witgh how you get on!

caffeinehit

I love cycling! It's super-cheap, great fun and gets you fit in double quick time.

The London Cycle Campaign's website (https://www.lcc.org.uk) has all sorts of useful information on buying a bike, getting around, cycle training schemes, cycle maintenance classes, and so on.

If you're planning to buy a new bike, there's a scheme called Cyclescheme that lets you buy it out of your gross salary and save on VAT too: http://www.cyclescheme.co.uk/

It might also be worth checking out http://www.atob.org.uk/Bike_Rail.html which has information on the cycling policies of each train company. If you're travelling at rush hour it might well be worth getting a folding bike. They're very pleasant to ride if you get a decent one.

debtfreelondon

I've just started cycling to work in Angel- it's only 5 miles from home and it takes about 20 mins.

Got my bike through cyclescheme (well worth getting your employer to sign up) as it's saved me 50% off the cost of the bike and all the accessories and I can pay off over a year.

If you look on tfl.gov.uk you can plan a route using only a cycle which avoids busy roads. I took my bike out early on a Sunday morning to test the route before doing it for real.

On another plus side I'll be saving about £600 a year on a season ticket.

coletteflaherty

I know this is not cycling, but I bought myself a moped a few months ago and I love it. It doesn't save me as much money as a bicycle would, but my journey into work is 40km there and back! And I'm not very exercise minded.

I bought the bike from new and although there was quite a outlay at first, I dont have to pay £150 a month to get work (I live outside zone 6 and work in London). Petrol is only £5 to fill up.

climbgirl

I do think the "borrow a bike and try it first" idea is a good one. Remember winter is coming and biking on those cold, rainy days might not seem so appealing as it does now!

My friend swears by biking around London, so it does work for some!

Tondella

I too bike round london - wonderful! And if you join the LCC your membership automatically gives you third party insurance, useful in case you accidentally knock off a BMW's wing mirror or some other expensive mishap.