Let's be honest, 50 Euros per person is a drop in the bucket compared to the subsidies governments give to other modes of transportation.
Maintenance costs were very low. Every now and then I had a flat tire, buy a new inner tube for 3 Euro and you are done. Later when I did my PhD I had the same second-hand bike for years. Though, I would usually bring the bike to the store to get a flat tire fixed, which would usually cost 10-20 Euro.
Now that we have enough income, I usually buy a new bike for ~700-800 Euro every two years or so. But even then it is very cheap compared to car ownership or even public transport. Plus much healthier.
The biking infrastructure in The Netherlands is exceptionally good. However, if I was in an another country (I lived in Germany for ~5 years), I'd rather have them invest the N * 50 Euros in bike lanes. Because I think in many countries the problem is not the cost of owning/maintaining a bike, it's just that the infrastructure is bad compared to that for cars. I lived in what is considered to be a 'green' city in Germany with a Green mayor and all, and the cycling infrastructure pretty deplorable.
And that’s largely sufficient. Having a bike doesn’t cost a lot per year: according to the FNAUT (Fédération des associations des usagers de transport), on average, bikers spend ~€0.21/km. An air chamber costs €5; an air pump (one-time purchase) is €10.
If you really use it, a 25€ pump will cost you way less over as little as 3 years.
For a simple urban commuter bike? No difference, you aren’t going to put in more than 3,5 bars in those fat tires anyways.
Bike pump is one of those items where you will be happy you invested a few extra bucks, a good one lasts a lifetime and you will enjoy it every time you use it, instead of being frustrated to have something that is just barely good enough. I used to have a bad one and it was so frustrating i only pulled it out once the tires were desperately flat, got a good one and now i regularly pump up my tires because it's so effortless.
You can get your tires pumped for free at most bike shops, gas stations, public bike repair stations.
Use your saved up 50€ for beers or better yet give it to someone else so she can buy a bike!
And so on and so forth.
Real tube patchkits are also very inexpensive, there's no reason to bodge something together with old tubes.
Cycles 13k+ km and had no problem with second inner tube, it's pretty common. Your mileage might, literally, vary.
It's not about the money but about recycling, feel free to buy more if you like the market, cheers
Nah; I buy them shipped internationally for that price. (This doesn't help on the environmentalism angle, but IMO the impact here is pretty low, especially if it offsets car miles.)
They've gone up in price somewhat but still are pretty cheap: https://www.wiggle.com/lifeline-road-inner-tube/
I also believe you are wrong if you think that sourcing internationally is anywhere within the "low impact" range.
Happy cycling, to each one her own.
Even with $8 in shipping, if you buy 8 tubes that only adds $1/tube. Usually still well below shop prices, which can be as high as $7-8/tube (although less obviously so at $2.80 than their former price of $1.50).
> I also believe you are wrong if you think that sourcing internationally is anywhere within the "low impact" range.
I guess we have different ideas of what that vague term means, and that's fine! For what it's worth, the entire bike part ecosystem is international. The vast majority of bike frames are made in China and Taiwan; Shimano's parts are made in China, Malaysia, and Singapore; and very few brands (Look; I don't know of any others) make frames in North Africa, which is relatively local to the EU but not the US market.
Inner tubes are also made in Taiwan/China. Unless you live in Taiwan, there is international sourcing going on somewhere in the supply chain.
Happy cycling :-)
It is per REPAIR JOB. Big difference.