3000 Miles on my Folding Bike + Amtrak

[JugglerDave]

This morning I reached exactly 3000 miles on my Downtube IXNS purchased in February 2007! I have been doing an (almost) daily commute of 8.5 miles r/t in conjunction with an Amtrak ride to Paoli.

The bike + upgrades cost $400 (I bought it directly from Downtube via ebay at a nice discount, and added a sealed cartridge BB, Planet Bike fenders, and upgraded the derailleur/shifters to SRAM X7).

Total maintenance / repairs cost $300, or 10 cents a mile. That includes 3 Marathon tires (front tire wore at 1900 miles, rear at 2500 miles, and the third... well, let's just say that a stupid nail went in the bottom and out the sidewall). Other repair items included a new front brake (not just pads), many sets of brake pads -- they seem to last 800-1000 miles, new folding pedals just this past week, a few flat-repair tubes, and a couple of quick-release clamp replacements.

I used to put 12000+ miles on my car each year. This past 12 months I only drove 4500 miles. Based solely on my bike-commuting I've "not driven" almost 19000 miles to work.

[CapnMarko]

Bravo bike/trainer, did you get the Amtrak cc so you can double your points from money spent on Amtrak? Cause you can add your $50 gift cards to that total too ...

[JugglerDave]

Bravo bike/trainer, did you get the Amtrak cc so you can double your points from money spent on Amtrak? Cause you can add your $50 gift cards to that total too ...

My $$$ above was purely the bike cost. For my FULL commute, counting the costs / savings of "everything" (train tickets, car insurance savings, bonus points, etc.) I am at $2072 saved vs. driving, or about $6 saved per round trip.