acctx, if those numbers are accurate then I agree totally.

My kites, board, car, car maintenance, car insurance and mountain bike all together costs less than what you pay to mountain bike... ya i got the cheap stuff.

I'm not so sure about the danger part tho... last time mountain biking I banged my elbow on rock... this summer I wacked both shoulders hard when I crashed on hard packed sand kiting (board fetched up in shallow water)... probably about the same dangerous between the two for me... also got banged up knees and elbows snow kiting. Tough one to call though.

Totally agree with BWD: you can have 90% of the fun for less than 1000K no problem. Of course, if you want to ride those world class DH courses on a 5K bike 3 times a week, that could be less. But mountain bike is much more than that - and that can be fun too at a much lesser price.

I agree with the op for the most part. High end mountain bikes and equipment is sooo mentally priced. However once the investment is made, life is good. Sure there is some maintenance involved but it's pretty minor. I'll tell you straight up, if you're an experienced or aggressive rider, the difference between a high end and low end bike is appreciable. In my mind it's worth the chunk of cheddar.

Kiting is spendy too but I know guys that get 4-5 years out of gear because they only use it a few times a year. It's all relative I guess. If you have to have current year quivers and boards, then yeah kiting is expensive. I'm saving some coins now for a good lightwind kite this spring. Boards approaching the $1000 mark is getting kinda nutty. I guess the only good thing with the boards is that they can last 10 years if you buy one you love.

I think biking and kiting are the perfect two sports. If there's no wind, go bike. If it's windy, park the bike and drop everything else. The biking keeps my lungs good, legs strong and burns beer.

My rig is worth over $9k. I love it. It was worth the investment for me. I ride it 3-4 nights a week. My buddies think I'm nuts.

for all the mountain bikers out there.
Day 4 of my french alps trip a couple fo years back. what an awesome man holiday.

https://vimeo.com/34823510

i only half agree with your statements.
kiting is less dangerous if you know what you are doing and use caution while kiting.

but kite gear isn't cheap for sure if you would kite with the same frequency and passion as you do downhills. you would certainly had to change your kites at least once a year, may be twice a year.
i'm a weekend kiter and i still have to have four kites (three bought new, one from ebay only half year old).
then, since i live in the moderate climate belt with the whole four full seasons with frontal and thermal winds, i have six wetsuits (shorty, two 3/2, two 5/3 and 6/5/3), drysuit, two sets of snowboard clothes, two harnesses, lots of gloves and boots. because you don't want to wear damp clothes next day. you know the prices.
then boards, i have two tt and three waveboards, two snowboards and a pair of alpine skis (and we even don't have the mountains in my country!). each of those separately costs more than my aluminium frame, disc breaks and other stuff mtb!

you have your backup bike for 1K and your main bike for 4K. well at least you have that much choice with bikes. and they are not made of recycled fizzy drink bottles and they don't decompose on the sunlight like kites do. and i wonder which one wins the bush drive through test, kite or bike?
hmmm....

i love both sports because it keeps me busy when I can't kite. For me, the best location is a three hour drive (near our cottage) and with a 2 year old, kiting time is precious and not nearly as often as I'd like. I've also starting mountain bike racing this year, and man, what a thrill. I don't live in the mountains and the racing has been cross country based (no worries, no spandex for this guy). I really only climb the hills so I can go down em. Been doing pretty good this year too. But my biking is way less expensive than my kiting. I bike 3 plus days a week. My rid total cost is about 3 grand (bike, helmets, pads, and so on). I bomb the hills and have been over the bars once or twice with no issue. The bike gets tuned at the beginning of the season ($150) and maybe a repair here or there if needed (maybe $200 a summer).

Kiting... I've got a 7,9,11,13 all at about $1200 - $1600 per kite. two boards, snowboards, wetsuits and harness. Safe to say my kiting gear is way more expensive than the bike gear (great bike brand and quality too).

Happy riding... no matter what you're riding.

Maybe it depends on the terrain if it is mostly dirt then I can see how there isnt a lot of maintenance. We have a lot of sharp limestone rocks, rock drops etc. Lots of rock dust. The sharp rocks tear into sidewalls and wear down tires, eat derailleurs and snap brake levers.The rock dust slowly eats away the drivetrain. The rocks also hurt a lot more than dirt /bushes when you crash.

On a recent ride with 20 people there were 6 flats, 4 broken chains and a broken crank.

Today is was 55 degrees, water temp of 60, wind @ 20-30 and I was the only one on the water.. Heaven!

One of my favs:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0zLuqKNKOqs

You want cheap ? go for a run.
Endorphines come out good and quick too.
: )

This year I bought a North EVO 2011 for 650€, re-sold it in October for 600€
It all depends on how you buy and resell
On average I don't spend more than 250/300€ of amortization per year per kite, so not that bad
Swimming is even better than running if you want to go cheap