Ok, so I've been thinking about the pros and cons to buying a road bike to commute to work. I decided it would be fun to set up an equation to weigh the cost of a bike against the cost of gasoline needed to drive. I have been struggling to find a simple type of interactive spreadsheet to embed in a website so that a reader can manipulate the numbers like mileage and price of a bike to determine a payoff for herself...well, this is the best I found (www.instacalc.com). Enjoy switching up the numbers--it is pretty user friendly. Note: the double-slash (//) denotes text; I recommend only changing the miles to work, mpg, gas price, and bike price...
My formula can be written simply as this: (B(((X/25)*10)*G))/4, where X is the number of miles commuting one way during the work week, G is the price of gasoline, and B is price of your dream bike!!!
Some other considerations: you can increase commuting mileage by including trips to a restaurant or grocery store to which you might alternatively bike; also, within a year's time from now, gas prices will probably rise above $3. Both of these changes will result in a decreased payoff time...
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