Fuelling a bicycle

[Deleted User]

Richard53 wrote: »

Richard Ballantine (in the original Richard's Bicycle book) estimated 1500 mpg. The other phrase he used which amused me was that 'bikes are great because they run on cornflakes'.

The figure I quoted above for my own consumption works out at about 1300mpg. It's worth bearing in mind that food fit for human consumption is a lot more expensive than petrol.

Mr_Singleton

Johnmcl7 wrote: »

In terms of bike, it's certainly possible to do cycling on the cheap although I agree with Brat about choice of bike.

Just skim reading this thread and depending on where you define the word 'cheap' I have to say I disagree..... during the summer I spent a week with a couple of kids cycling around 10 miles a day on a borrowed bike, helmet and jacket. The bike would have cost around £250, helmet change from £20 and jacket £25? It was horrible and I can't believe that it wouldn't put anyone off anything but a casual cycle.

Nobody should underestimate the health benefits of raising the heart rate exercise.

Johnmcl7

Mr_Singleton wrote: »

Just skim reading this thread and depending on where you define the word 'cheap' I have to say I disagree..... during the summer I spent a week with a couple of kids cycling around 10 miles a day on a borrowed bike, helmet and jacket. The bike would have cost around £250, helmet change from £20 and jacket £25? It was horrible and I can't believe that it wouldn't put anyone off anything but a casual cycle.

Nobody should underestimate the health benefits of raising the heart rate exercise.

While it may not be my preference, it's certainly possible to do cycling on the cheap. My younger brother decided to get into cycling and since he lived in a city centre didn't want to spend much so he bought an old racer for £30 - with the help of a bike friend he stripped all the gears, bought a couple of new inexpensive wheels and tyres for a total cost of around £80. Although it was cheap and didn't look anything fancy, my brother adored it as it was light, it was fast and with few moving parts it was simple and reliable. He clocked up a lot of miles on it and was amused at the relative ease on his bike compared to many of the other bikes other cyclists were using as many still use MTB's on the road.

Plus I still see people who commute daily on those horrible full suspension bikes (the super cheap ones you see abandoned at just about every bike rack) including one guy in our office. He got it for free, didn't bother spending any money maintaining it and thought it was a great bargain - he cycled it to work every day which is more than most do here.

On the other hand I know people who have unsuitable bikes, decide to commute by bike and do it twice then never again. I feel if they've had a more suitable bike they'd be more encouraged to keep it going.

John