‘Cycling is as expensive as you decide to make it’ – we talked to readers about their start in cycling to find out if cycling really is too expensive these days

“I’m a classic case of all the gear and no idea,” laughs Helen Boast, a freelance photographer, explaining how she’s ended up with top-of-the-line bike and gear but hasn’t been out on it once since buying most of it.

“I was invited on a cycling holiday to Wales, in a beautiful venue, full of ‘expert’ cyclists. I was loaned a really nice bike and very good gear to go with it,” Boast tells me, adding that this luxury phase marked the beginning of a very expensive hobby she has still barely started.

“I couldn’t even ride in proper bike shoes, so I had all this stuff and just used my trainers on normal pedals. I was so worried about being laughed at, but the whole group was so encouraging that I just loved it and had the best time.

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“I knew I would never get this experience again unless I owned the bike and gear, so I just bought it all,” Boast winces, admitting that even though she was able to get an ex-demo bike, which retailed for around £8k/ $11k, at about half that price, it still sat in her garage untouched for a couple of years.

However, at the start of 2026, Boast decided to return to cycling after a running injury reminded her of how much she enjoyed riding. “I’m so excited for this year,” Boast smiles, adding that she’s now got some ‘proper’ bike shoes.

“Bizarrely, it was after an injury from getting knocked off a bike that I got into cycling,” says Hannah Burgon, PT and Hyrox coach, explaining that a legacy injury meant that she had to trade a lot of running and Hyrox training to the lower-impact sport of cycling.

As a competitive athlete, Burgon became curious about how fast she could go on her bike. “I was working with some cyclists, and they introduced me to more cycling events.

I took my old commuter bike and flat pedals to race a duathlon and came in second, which exceeded my expectations.

“I realised I needed a much better bike if I was going to do well”. Burgon spent £2350/ $3224 on a Merida Scultura 6000 Di2, noting that even that feels overkill for her needs. “I found myself mixing with cyclists before I was one, who advised me what to buy.

“I think your perception of what is or isn’t a lot to spend on a bike becomes a bit skewed when you spend time with people who are really into a sport, ” although she quickly added that she appreciated their advice.

Tony Hall with his orange 1993 Dawes Galaxy and friend

(Image credit: Tony Hall)

I bought a 2001 Raleigh Airlite from an auction house in Lincoln, Tony Hall tells me, explaining that it was always an entry-level bike, but it has a lightweight aluminium frame, which he’s added new tyres and a saddle to. He now rides it at least once a week to a cafe 10 miles from his home in Lincolnshire, East England.

“The cafe is pretty popular with other cyclists,” says Hall, laughing, describing that they “rock up covered from head to toe in expensive kit, on very expensive carbon fibre bikes. They charge around like people possessed,” adding that he passes no judgment but personally can’t justify spending thousands when he enjoys cycling on his old Airlite. Hall also shares that he bought a 1993 Dawes Galaxy touring bike for £50/ $70 from a local dealer.

Illustrating the lack of need to spend a fortune on a bike, he took the Galaxy to the Netherlands last September, accompanying his neighbour on what Hall says was a very expensive carbon gravel bike. Hall and his neighbour rode from the “Hook of Holland to Arnhem over two days. It was a great adventure, and it has inspired me to take on LEJOG (Lands End to John O’Groats) in April this year, on my Galaxy, solo and unsupported,” demonstrating that you don’t need to spend thousands on a bike to have a real cycling adventure.

Kevin Frost ready for a winter ride on his beloved Ribble Allroad SLR Pro

(Image credit: Kevin Frost)

For some newcomers, they quickly decide that they should have gone all in at the start, as their first purchase of a ‘cheap’ road bike is often quickly surpassed by a much more expensive option, sometimes just weeks later.

“I bought a Scott CR1 for £50/ $70,” explains Kevin Frost, mentioning that the 25mm tires scared him to death, but road biking immediately had him hooked. Just four months after this first foray, Frost consigned the Scott to indoor training only and made his second bike purchase.

Claire Cottell’s first experience of riding a bike as an adult was so bad that, if it weren’t for a chance loan of a much better bike, she might never have ended up leading a the life she leads now, as a bike fitter and cycle store assistant.

“No one ever asked me what my goals were when I first got on a bike,” Cottell tells me, adding that it’s often this missing question that leads many newcomers to end up with the wrong bike for them, and potentially leaving the sport immediately.

A chance encounter with a loan of a much better bike caused Cottell to fall in love with cycling and then pursue a career in it. “If you start with that rather than a budget, you’re more likely to get the right bike,” Cottell explains, emphasising that perception of cost is key to making a bike purchase.

“People can only afford what they can afford, but buying the cheapest or most basic bike is often a false economy,” Cottell adds, suggesting that if people spend a little more on their first bike, they can future-proof themselves by upgrading components one at a time, making it more cost-effective in the long run.

“The most important thing is not to feel intimidated by going into a bike shop and asking questions,” Cottell adds, before concluding, “You don’t know what you don’t know, and most bike shops are more than happy to share knowledge with you. Even if you don’t buy a bike from us, we’re happy you’ve chosen to start cycling.”

Richard Eniffer’s stunning J Laverack Grit titanium bike

(Image credit: Richard Eniffer)

So a friend said I should get a gravel bike,” Richard Eniffer’s opening line sounds like the start of a classic joke, but he assures me it’s the absolutely genuine start of his N+1 (N = Current number of bikes +1 = The next bike you need) habit.

According to Eniffer, his mountain bike was overkill for most of his routes, so he borrowed his mate’s Calibre Lost Lad. A pretty heavy steel bike, but he really liked it, and so the spark was lit.

Eniffer was conveniently well-connected in the bike industry. He managed to secure the last Rose Backroad gravel bike in the UK for ‘just’ £2500/$3400, then added a set of carbon gravel wheels for about £1000/$1400.

After maxing out on upgrades for the Rose, Eniffer commissioned a steel gravel bike with custom paint, which, he said, when completed, retailed at around £5000/$6850.

“Then I started enjoying road,” Eniffer reveals, explaining how things got serious, “in 2023 I got the Vitus, custom painted that. Retail, including paint, was about £6000/$8230 I think.”

He’s now on a roll, listing his bikes like a professional palmarès.

Next up was a Colnago in 2024; Eniffer confesses that this was “on a whim” and that he “got misty-eyed at the Italian beauty” as one does, for £5000/$6850.

More recently, he commissioned a J Laverack. By Eniffer’s reckonings, the total build was about £9500/$13000. “It was commissioned as a gravel bike, but I know I’ll use it with 40mm road tyres and it’s epic as an all-road machine,” he says.

Eniffer is incredibly open about his journey into road cycling, confirming that he’s more than aware he’s lost a fair bit of money, but that he’s “loved building them, stripping for paint, rebuilding .”

This path will only be navigable for the wealthy few, but Eniffer is quite reflective about his purchases. “It’s having experienced the different bikes that made me realise what I truly wanted”.

He agreed that the bikes might be pricey, but they’ve given him amazing experiences and memories. “What I found I enjoyed is exploring rather than going flat out, and a bike that is robust and comfy,” he shares, ending our conversation with a rather poignant thought about the impact on him personally from discovering road cycling.

“I suppose I’m the prime example of buying the wrong bike, thinking it’s what you should get. But do I regret it? Not one bit. Does my wallet? Absolutely, but is it a better vice than smoking or drinking? 100%.”

Despite ongoing chatter in cycling about bikes becoming too expensive, it’s a refreshing surprise to find that no one I spoke to reported feeling any particular financial or social pressure to ‘buy into the sport’. In some cases, a little more money was spent than they initially thought at the start of their cycling journey, but no one regretted parting with the cash.

This was true across a variety of backgrounds and income levels. Even those who spent a lot early on didn’t see it as a necessity – more of a preference, although one interviewee advised against skimping.

Tony Hall exemplifies starting cheaply.

He approached his entry with scepticism towards marketing hype, and his experience was arguably incredibly affordable, even compared to buying running trainers or a gym membership. His journey proves you absolutely don’t need the latest gear to cover serious miles or undertake some very serious cycling adventures alongside riders with far newer equipment. For those considering Hall’s approach, the secondhand market is full of decent bikes that won’t break the bank.

Others spent significantly more but were more than comfortable doing so. Helen Boast admitted she had “gone all in” and that she may have been caught up in the highs of her first cycling event; her only real regret was not finding many opportunities to ride since.

Similarly, Richard Eniffer has spent more on bikes in just a few years than most lifelong road cyclists could even dream about, but the joy he has found in return is priceless to him.

Kevin Frost and Claire Cottell reinforce the idea that the right kit is more important than the exact amount you spend. They both offer wise advice: spend as much as you can afford on a ‘good bike’, rather than cutting corners and spending too little initially, only to discover that your setup doesn’t work for you, necessitating further spending to ‘fix’ it.

Ultimately, the cost of a new bike is really about the perception of what is or isn’t expensive. Although I must admit, there’s something truly intoxicating about hitting the road on something humble and the immense sense of satisfaction that comes from beating the person on the fancy bike.