this post was submitted on 13 Oct 2025
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Okay... fine argument.
But... inexpensive?
Really?
They can be. Don't need to be expensive, and anyone with hands can work on them, even on the go. Parts readily available.
They can be really expensive, but the world is full of used bicycles that cost almost nothing. Sometimes literally nothing.
replacing my stolen bike with a free bike I just found sitting around outside.
Hermit crab approach.
I spent 100 euros on my current bike
50 for a second-hand bike at the bike shop 50 for a cargo rack
My wife and I find bikes for free all the time, especially kid's bikes. People just leave them by their trash cans for pickup. Can't even sell them they're so common. Guy at the flea market gave her a nice purple adult bike last Saturday.
Same bikes from Walmart? Oh hell no.
It's important to consider cost/value holistically instead of just the upfront dollar amount. $1500~ for a cargo ebike is an intimidating number that I wouldn't have imagined paying for a bike five years ago. It's replacing a car which costs me $1500~ per year in registration and insurance premiums. My yearly fuel costs on the bike are less than refueling my car once, and I was doing that biweekly. Any repair on my bike is a few hundred dollars at most, doable at home without expensive tools, while repairing the fender on my car cost $2000 and spiked the insurance rate. I never need to take a taxi or use our inefficient public transit, and the time I spend on it is really fun because the motor cuts out all the shitty parts of biking. It's inexpensive in the larger sense that it makes travel time rewarding instead of passive or punishing, on top of the boots theory of poverty where my cheap car becomes expensive when I have to actually use it and then replace all the shit on it. My ebike is inexpensive because it makes the rest of my life inexpensive and gives me my time back.
That's great and all - but only for those who can afford the upfront amount, isn't it?
I can't afford the upfront amount either so I just paid in installments, the monthly payments being cheaper than my car insurance. My upfront cost was like $100, the cost of taking an uber three times.
You can get a new 125cc motorbike for that.
Which has all the ongoing expenses and limitations of a road vehicle. The point of ditching a car is to get rid of the debt trap, infrastructure, and experience of using it. My coworker's moped might be more powerful than my bike, but I can ride anywhere more or less silently while she's stuck in traffic breathing exhaust fumes as the smallest thing on the road.
Anyone and their dog can keep a Honda running. You spend 3USD replacing the oil every 1500 km or so, 2 on brake shoes, <50USD tires if you want the good one. It gets 170 mpg. 10 years operating expenses still doesn't touch $1500.
Electrics exist, center-engine, chain drive ones can be quite nice, if a bit boring.
Filter to the front at lights, split if traffic permits.
If you're low on money just borrow one of the bikes that are meant for sharing. The ones without a lock at a station. Then leave it unlocked for the next person.
I got my bike used under 100euro - less than a 5th of it's original price ant it is a very good bike. Used usually is not so expensive. Unless you are going e-bike, cargo bike, family bike, trailer for a bike, or any specific type. These shits can go pretty much expensive even used. Not as expensive as a car, but still bit cost-y.