PH bikers - request for London commuting info!

[Silver]

Does anyone here commute into London on their bike doing roughly a 40 mile round trip per day?

I'm trying to get an idea of your daily costs for parking and fuel. I'm not bothered about depreciation, insurance, tax etc - this is more a general day-to-day cost analysis. Size-wise, what's the standard for commuting? I was guessing around a 500cc?

Also, is there one major reason (apart from cost) which makes using a motorbike better than public transport?

Thank you in advance for your help!

Edited by Silver on Monday 28th July 09:56

[anonymous-user]

I do a bit more than that, something like a 120 mile round trip per day.
For a three-day roster (so 420 miles) I chuck £20 in the the tank at the beginning of the cycle, and refill half way through.
Parking is free for me (on site at work).
Biggest bonus is the time saving and not being at the mercy of South West Trains.
ETA: I use a Triumph Tiger 1050 as 2/3 of my route is motorway.

[creampuff]

I'd suggest you try it out. The reality may not live up to your expectations and if you have just biked in London outside of peak hour, that will not give you a flavour for what biking in London during peak hour is like. Public transport is often a better and safer option with very similar door-to-door times.

[anonymous-user]

creampuff said:

similar door-to-door times.

Depends where you are really. In the 45 minutes or so it would take me to get to the nearest rail head (from where it's a further hour in to town) I can be well inside the M25, usually past Hammersmith.

[creampuff]

I find the standard of riding of other bikers is quite poor. This includes full licence holders; it is not limited to L-platers. Many bikers rely on the goodwill, proper observation or action/inaction of other road users to make progress. Sooner or later this relying on others will result in them having a crash and you don't want to be part of their little crash sandwich. Pushbikes are also annoying. The large gyratories such as Hammersmith or Hyde Park Corner where large volumes of traffic change lanes are dangerous. Except for these large gyratories, I actually think your biggest risk comes from other motorbikes and pushbikes. Parking outside of the multi-story carparks is a PITA and it will be jammed by 8am, which means you cannot use your bike during the day to get around, because you can't be guaranteed you can park it when you get to your lunchtime destination or when you return to your office. Many roads, such as the A4 or Marlybone road have lanes which are too narrow to filter.

Also if you are on a Tube route, it is just not possible to beat the travel time of the Tube.

[Silver]

Sorry, just to clarify - I'm not looking to do this myself, it's research for a comparison between driving and public transport and I wanted to include motorbikes.

[fergus]

creampuff said:

Many roads, such as the A4 or Marlybone road have lanes which are too narrow to filter.

I do an 80 mile round trip daily down the A40, then down the Marylebone road, and even on an GS, filtering isn't a problem, although you do need to be assertive and know the width of your bike fairly well. A lot of GSs/Large bikes, etc do hold up a lot of other bikes though....

[thepawbroon]

For the purposes of research:

I spent 3 years commuting from Carshalton (SM5) to the City (St Paul's) approx 13 miles each way. I cycled, motorbiked and took public transport, I didn't keep track of every journey but from memory:

Motorbike (Tiger 1050):

Inbound (6-7am) - best time 38 mins, average time 50 mins
Homebound (5-6pm) - best time 50 mins, average time 60 mins
Running Cost - 38 mpg average so £4.50 a day, free parking either on-street or underground at London Wall.
Mental state - usually OK on the way in, but often frustrated on the way home. Rubbish in the rain.


Cycle (my fitness is worse than average):

Inbound (6-7am) - best time 43 mins, average time 56 mins
Homebound (5-6pm) - best time 53 mins, average time 60 mins
Running Cost - zero
Mental state - usually buzzin on the way in (earlier the better), amd exhausted on the way home. Truely abysmal in the rain, but the grim realisation that I've saving £4.50 and being a total hard man* made it feel good.

• hard man = stubborn idiot

Train (luckily an easy journey with no changes):

Inbound (6-7am) - best time 65 mins, average time 70 mins (occasional delays)
Homebound (5-6pm) - best time 60 mins, average time 60 mins (delays were rare)
Running Cost - about £11 per day via Oyster card.
Mental state - completely hated the inbound jourey, always crowded, rarely got a seat, usually had some smelly f*ckers armpit in my face. Homebound was better, possibly becuase I mainly got the train when I was having a post-work pint, so a fuzzy tipsy happiness took over. Until the bladder took over.

Make of that what you will - the times don't include shower/changing at work etc.

[CaptainSlow]

I think you need to be more specific to the route. I did Hemel to Hammersmith this morning in about 45 mins, leaving about 6.20.

My usual route is Great Missenden to Hammersmith, takes about 75 mins on the way in leaving at about 7am, coming home takes about 60mins. Using the car/train will range from 80 mins to 105 mins each way depending on whether the trains want to play ball.

[Silver]

CaptainSlow said:

I think you need to be more specific to the route. I did Hemel to Hammersmith this morning in about 45 mins, leaving about 6.20.

Hmm, OK, let's say approximately Brentwood/Slough to the City. Does that help at all? They're both just over 20 miles away from the City.

thepawbroon - thanks, that's helpful!

[anonymous-user]

thepawbroon said:

I spent 3 years commuting from Carshalton (SM5) to the City (St Paul's) approx 13 miles each way.

Motorbike (Tiger 1050):

Inbound (6-7am) - best time 38 mins, average time 50 mins
Homebound (5-6pm) - best time 50 mins, average time 60 mins

Nearly an hour to do slightly more than ten miles?
Did you forget to start it or something?

[thepawbroon]

Crossflow Kid said:

thepawbroon said:

I spent 3 years commuting from Carshalton (SM5) to the City (St Paul's) approx 13 miles each way.

Motorbike (Tiger 1050):

Inbound (6-7am) - best time 38 mins, average time 50 mins
Homebound (5-6pm) - best time 50 mins, average time 60 mins

Nearly an hour to do slightly more than ten miles?
Did you forget to start it or something?

Ha ha - the 100 sets of traffic lights have something to do with it! And I filter like an old woman

[btdk5]

Not quite as far as you wanted....11 miles each way.

Its quicker than the tube (not sure what creampuff is doing on his bike) - around 30 mins compared with 45 on the train.

Its cheaper - About 15-20 quid

Car park at work so no parking costs/worries.

Always get a seat!

And its a million times more enjoyable.

[CAPP0]

I used to commute from Kent to London (Covent Garden, then London Bridge) over 10 years ago and it wasn't too bad, journey times reliable, always somewhere to park, etc.

I recently commuted in, and whilst I'm happy to accept that I'm well out of practice, it was night & day different from how it used to be. Ridiculous amounts of traffic, and very very notably cyclists, many of whom appear to have a genuine kamikaze streak. If I had to change jobs and work in town again, I would have said that I would commute by bike, but I'm not so sure now. That said, the trains from down here are also grimmer than grim.

The only tangible improvement I did notice was legal use of bus lanes.

I was fortunate to get a parking space in Smithfield Market NCP (free) but I took one of the last, and only after straightening up a scooter parked diagonally. Parking seems to be one of the biggest problems now unless you arrive very early (which doesn't suit everyone).

[Silver]

Thanks, this is really helpful. I'm getting a very good idea of costs from the info you're all posted.

[creampuff]

btdk5 said:

Its quicker than the tube (not sure what creampuff is doing on his bike)

I take the total journey time into account, ie when you finish off your cup of tea and start to put on your gear, not when your bike starts moving. This will depend on how far you are from the tube station but I really think you cannot beat the tube for speed if you are in Zone 1-3.

And something interesting will often happen on the Tube. Once I was on the Northern line and there was (as I found out after making further enquiries with the British Transport Police as to the reason for the entire carriage suddenly gasping for breath), an unlawful discharge of CS gas. Another time on the Jubilee line a couple of lesbians (the pretty, dainty kind, not the butch kind) started making out. This has also happened on top of a Routemaster while I've been on it. You can also read the paper at your leisure. Really, it all happens on the Tube.

[vonuber]

creampuff said:

I take the total journey time into account, ie when you finish off your cup of tea and start to put on your gear, not when your bike starts moving. This will depend on how far you are from the tube station but I really think you cannot beat the tube for speed if you are in Zone 1-3.

Not if you live in Zone 2 Battersea because there isn't the tube!
6 miles each way is 17-20mins on the bike compared to ~45 on public transport (bus/tube or train/bus). Costs about £10 a week for the Hornet.

[creampuff]

vonuber said:

Not if you live in Zone 2 Battersea because there isn't the tube!

Only peasant crack heads live in Battersea

Anyway, you are getting a new Zone 1 tube station when Battersea Power Station gets turned into flats.

[vonuber]

creampuff said:

Only peasant crack heads live in Battersea

Anyway, you are getting a new Zone 1 tube station when Battersea Power Station gets turned into flats.

True; but it will be a 20min walk across the park to get to it and by then I am usually parking up at work.

Anyway, hopefully we'll be moving soon to a place with a garage so I can actually buy more bikes without worrying about them getting stolen within 5 minutes.

[SteelerSE]

Try: http://www.pistonheads.com/gassing/topic.asp?h=0&a...