journal features

switching to v-brakes

the journal of Michael Werneburg

twenty-eight years and a million words

Toronto, 2019.07.11

I've done some math and it seems that riding a bike for the past eight years has saved me $9,000 in TTC fares.

I'm looking into it because I've had trouble with my bike's center-pull cantilever brakes of late; the 700-38C tires appear to be too big for caliper brakes, so a decent pair of v-brakes is in order. Which means new brake levers. I sometimes feel that owning a bike is asking for a non-stop stream of expenses, but:

1. The brakes on the bike are already 4.5 years old and have seen 18,000 kilometers.

2. The brake levers came from a previous bike and probably have seen 28,000 kilometers.

3. Since I started keeping track in early 2011, I've spent $6,237 on two consecutive bikes, and saved $9,065 in fares.

My methodology on costs is simple: record all costs. My methodology on expenses is a bit different: when I use my bike instead of the TTC, I record the trips "saved" and multiply that by the then-current cost of a fare.

rand()m quote

One day you will take a fork in the road, and you're going to have to make a decision about which direction you want to go. If you go one way, you can be somebody. You will have to make compromises and you will have to turn your back on your friends. But you will be a member of the club and you will get promoted and get good assignments. Or you can go the other way and you can do something [...] for yourself. If you decide to do something, you may not get promoted and get good assignments and you certainly will not be a favorite of your superiors. But you won't have to compromise yourself. To be somebody or to do something. In life there is often a roll call. That's when you have to make a decision. To be or to do.

—John Boyd, US Air Force