The Lure of Affordable Cycling

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A few days ago I noticed that the car said I had 1300km before the next service. Within a few days it said 0km until next service. Now the “service” light is on permanently. I went to the garage to book a service and I was told that the service would be from 1700-2000 CHF because it is the 10 year service.

What frustrates me is that I have a 10 year old car with 63,000 kilometres on it and no matter how little I drive it, I spend a thousand francs plus on services each year. That’s without counting petrol, without counting tyres. In essence a car becomes more affordable as you use it.

On Saturday I damaged the rear wheel cycling, so I went to a bike shop and they took it in, to work on it when they had time. This morning I picked it up. They replaced two spokes for a total of 30 Euros. That’s nothing, compared to the price of a new wheel, and nothing compared to the cost of a car.

The paradox is that I cycle as much as I drive, so if I look at the cost of my cycling habit, compared to the cost of my driving habit, then cycling is affordable, whereas the car is absurdly expensive.

The real paradox is that a cheap C3 costs as much to maintain, in Switzerland as a Mercedes A Class. The car might be cheaper, but expensive things break sooner and in contrast to the car, the service costs are absurd.

I got rid of the petrol scooter when the service was 500 CHF rather than the 200-300 CHF, and now, with the car services being so expensive, but especially with petrol being so expensive it’s more and more tempting to slide towards cycling, rather than driving a car.

The summer I spent without a car, and the following summer that I spent with a broken arm, and then the pandemic years, taught me to be content with things that don’t require a car. Cycling and hiking are both possible without a car. With cycling you can range far, without much difficulty. My furthest ride was 149 kilometres but last Saturday I cycled 100km. I often go towards Bière with cycling groups. It has become ordinary. If I can get there, then the necessity for a car declines.

Cars are good for scuba diving and climbing, but for plenty of other activities bikes, trains and buses are fine.

The Desire to Jump to Electric

My current car is a petrol car but I often drive an electric car. I find that the electric car has great acceleration and although the range is a quarter of that of the petrol car, it costs a fraction to recharge.

In my eyes petrol engines have become obsolete, especially with the current petroleum crisis. In my eyes it makes sense to invest in an electric car, rather than a petrol one, because elcectricity, at the time or writing, remains at a stable price, given that power comes from solar, hydroelectric, wind, and potentially nuclear, although I am not as keen on that source of energy.

I have a resilient charging habit at this moment in time, so it makes sense to take advantage of this acquired knowledge.

If I find an affordable e-vehicle then I would be tempted to replace petrol for electric, despite the road trip limitations it would impose. 200km between charges means charging five or six times if I drive to Spain. If it’s 15 minutes per charge then it adds an extra 90 minutes, and that’s best case scenario. In that situation the two day trip makes sense.