new pedal bike (through the cycle to work scheme)
 

looking for some advice here folks. just been advised that my work are starting a new cycle to work scheme sounds a great way to get a decent spec bike at a fairly good discount. but there in lies the problems

1) i'm generally based on building sites, these can be pretty far from home. last year spent 6/7months round trip of 150 miles. not really an option to cycle everyday! how often are you deemed to have to use the bike for commuting, or business miles etc... to qualify for the scheme? if i never really use it for work would people know?

2) i was reading a past thread about it, does it need to be a road biased bike? could i not get a full sus bike?? the guys seemed to be getting road bikes, do you need to go with that?

3) our scheme is through halfords only i think, can they source other makes of bikes than they stock in store? or can you get basically any bike you want?

any help greatly appreciated, but need to move fast on this as think they are only making it open for 2/3weeks for the first lot of applications!

Re: new pedal bike (through the cycle to work scheme)
 

I think...

1. You have to use the bike 50% of the time you use it for commuting to work on. However I'm not 100% sure that anybody does check.

2. If you're going to ride it on the road, get a road bike. You dont need a full suspension bike unless you're a committed off roader, remember you loose energy by compressing the suspension with each turn of the pedals so its harder work to ride ( important if you're not fit ) You dont have to get dropped bars look for a hybrid which has road bike wheels and running gear but flat bars like a mountain bike.

Personally unless you take the bike off road, I wouldnt even contemplate a MTB. If you must have a MTB get a hardtail and something with front forks that you can "lock off" so they dont move about when on road.

3. Halfords should be able to source you any bike you want, but if its not something the usually stock then it might take weeks or maybe a couple of months for the bike to arrive.

Dont forget to factor in a helmet and kit, some more expensive bikes dont come with pedals so you'll need to think about that to.

I might suggest a more specific cycling forum might be useful for research such as www.bikeradar.com

Re: new pedal bike (through the cycle to work scheme)
 

cheers for the info, i need to speak to personel at my work i think for their view on some of my questions! at the moment i'm under 10 miles from my house, and i'd be happy to cycle that to work. but i'm always site based, so if they put me 30miles from home then surely i'm allowed to use my car (i get a car allowance too!)

really i'm looking for a good hardtail or full sus bike, as i'm wanting to get more into cycling (off road/trails etc...) been down the borders a few times and it was awesome!

so if you havent guessed i'm trying to see how much i can bend the rules to get me a discount on my bike!

but on reading some of my work stuff one thing it did say was it could be used at lunch to got to shops etc.. so technically if i had it with me at all times i could use it for local journeys!

Re: new pedal bike (through the cycle to work scheme)
 

Hopefully Mattsv will spot this thread as he got a new bike recently and he'll know the details alot better as he got his with cycle to work.

My company wont sign up to it as they say its to much of an admin overhead :(

Re: new pedal bike (through the cycle to work scheme)
 

You also dont have to use it for the complete journey just part of it. You could just cycle to the train station 50% of the time.

Ch00

Re: new pedal bike (through the cycle to work scheme)
 

so i could park down the road from the office and cycle say 1 mile into work?!?! it seems very vague on the website! i've found the following:

'
How often does the bike have to be used for work?



There is no requirement for you to cycle to work for a specified number of days throughout the year and there is no special requirement for you to record your trips. You can also use the bike for leisure at weekends and on holiday, although a bike purchased under Cyclescheme should be ridden for at least 50% of time during trips to work. (Please refer to this page for guidelines on bike use.)

so is this saying then i dont actually have to do any trips to work on and certainly dont have to record them. but at least half the bikes use has to be for work, so to use it on a fun cycle i have to have commuted on it too! confusing! i think a quick call to personell tomorrow will let me know if they would even consider letting me apply!

Re: new pedal bike (through the cycle to work scheme)
 

Halfords do some great urban bikes, basically mountain frames with strong wheels and slick tyres for road bashing.

I had a bike custom made just for this purpose,but do use it on the mud too.Full suspension bikes in the cheaper ranges are often rather inefficient so would not make a great blast about town bike, however if you spend the money and get a slick downhill racer you will find it does not climb too well and bobs on the flat. I use a hard tail for racing and playing and that does me fine.

Cycling to work gets you fit, is cheap to do and contributes to cleaner safer roads (less vans and diesel spills). However cycling 150 miles to work is damn hard work, I think Pro road racers do that and they get a drip at the end to help them recover!

I used to cycle about five miles to work and then go on a training ride inthe evening after work because riding pedal bikes is great fun too. Give it a shot and before you know it, your daily distance is increased as you get fitter and faster.

Road bikes with drop bars and STI gears are things of beauty, but there is a down side. The wheels can be more fragile than an urban or mountain bike wheel and the drop bar can really take some getting used to. Riding on the hoods kills my hands even now, but then I need to get a lot more training to toughen me up again... To think I used to ride cyclocross back in the nineties...:smt011

Re: new pedal bike (through the cycle to work scheme)
 

Indeed, heres mine ( again !!! )

http://i42.photobucket.com/albums/e3...l/DSC_0055.jpg

Can be, depends on the wheel, a set of handbuilt 36 spoke wheels with good hubs can be very tough, I've got a set of handbuilts on Mavic Open4CD rims, they are twenty years old now and still as straight as the day I got them.

Also my current set of bling mavics as fitted above have done alot of miles so far on roughish country lanes and are still as true as they day I got em.

Re: new pedal bike (through the cycle to work scheme)
 

we do this at the Royal Mail and i was asked about it the other day by a member of staff so i pulled the information off the internal intranet, it said the cycles were hired? so does that mean its hired or an HP agreement? they also couldn't exceed £500

Re: new pedal bike (through the cycle to work scheme)
 

It's basically a clever tax dodge, your employer buys the bike then 'hires' it back to you over a year, by dividing the cost of the bike by 12 and deducting that amount from your wages.

The clever bit, is that because you don't own the bike until you've paid it off in full at the end of the year, the reductions that come off your wage are also tax deductable, meaning you pay less tax each month.

I'm trying to get our work to set this up - the limit (set by Cyclescheme) is £1000. I looked at a £1000 bike, and after the VAT & Tax reductions it worked out at something like £570 that it would cost me, that's spread over 12 months at a favourable 0% interest rate too remember!

Re: new pedal bike (through the cycle to work scheme)
 

I have a Cannondale badboy 650 courtesy of a recent insurance claim. Its far better than by old MTB on the road. That was a non suspension bike, bike with the rigth bits it seems easier. I have actually run out of gears. I may need to get a lager chainring on the front than the stock 48t, i can only hi 34mph downhill :(

Our cycle to work scheme is that you pay what they deam to be the cost of depreciation over the 12 months, not the cost of the bike, then at the end of the 12 months, you purchase the bike for 5% of its value at the time of purchase. However, they may vary

Re: new pedal bike (through the cycle to work scheme)
 

We do this Scheme at my works ( i work in a Bike Shop)


Basically, You get a cheque from your employer for up to £1000, you can get a bike for more but have to add the rest of money to it.

Of this £1000 you pay get about 43% off that and the rest comes out of your wage over 12 months. Because its through your employer, to get the tax back they need to make a one off payment at the end which could be just as little as £1.

You don't have to ride it a set number of times or percentage, they used to police it alot but this put alot of people off.

You can get any bike you want, full sus, hardtail, etc.

And Halfords can get other bikes in too.


Hope this helps!

Re: new pedal bike (through the cycle to work scheme)
 

You rang m'lord :D

I got my bike through Halfwits C2W scheme last year. I got a bike valued at over £1k that is costing me £14 per month interest free over 3 years \\:D/

It depends on how your company choose to administer it I think - basically, my scheme worked something like this:-

Cost of bike £1000
Discount given by Halfwits / My company @25%
Leaves £750 to pay - from this, I do not pay any tax or NI on the repayments, which brings the balance down to about £500 (ish) - this is then repaid interest free over 3 years.

I therefore treated myself to this bad boy:-

http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2374/...6c6b3660_b.jpg

If you are not used to riding with dropped bars, then think about a decent hybrid - basically a mountain bike frame with flat bars, slick tyres and generally higher gearing than a mtb. If you are buying via Halfords then the Boardman bikes are not too badly specced for the price - alternatively, they can also get Kona bikes. I very nearly got one of these:-
http://www.konabikes.co.uk/2008/phd/2008-phd.jpg

However the lure of a tarty full carbon frame with ultegra running gear got the better of me.....

Re: new pedal bike (through the cycle to work scheme)
 

MMMMMMM Planet X!


Had a couple Of On-One's over the years.

Re: new pedal bike (through the cycle to work scheme)
 

you seen his glasses!!??? he couldnt spot a barn door at 10 paces

Re: new pedal bike (through the cycle to work scheme)
 

thanks for all the help. i spoke to the personnel person at work and basically she said she'd put the application through if i put it in, as 'she certainly wasnt going to be checking'. but she did say that i may want to not claim for driving my car to work everyday.

so basically i'm off to halfords in a wee bit to check out what they would be able to source for me. i'm thinking full sus with potential for upgrading parts. or a top end hardtail. my commute at the moment is short enough for this to be fine! happy days

Re: new pedal bike (through the cycle to work scheme)
 

And another one trying to get back to cycling after almost 10 years without being on the saddle. I used to be fairly fit, then put on a load of weight, now I've lost most of it again so it's really now or never. Still have my trusty old Univega, Shimano LX / XT all over, Marzocchi Comp MX ETA forks (new in 2004, when I was trying to get back to it) but something tells me I'll need to get a new transmission kit very soon... might have to drop down a level or two, or I'll cry when I see the bill... :smt022

Re: new pedal bike (through the cycle to work scheme)
 

Wow - I can't believe someone else looked at the Kona ph.d - I nearly bought one two weeks ago at the Evans sale (for ?650!) just couldn't justify it.

I have just made my final payment on last years cycle to work bike - got a ?660 bike for around ?400. So definitely worth it. My work only allows you to do one every 3 years - really disappointing as was hoping to grab another this year.

It is a brilliant way to grab a bike - and for those worried about Halfords they can order you pretty much any bike you want, and other shops do take the vouchers - I used my in Condor in london and got ?60 of free accessories with the bike. - A mate bought a ?1k condor bike with it and loves it.

It totally depends on what you want, but please, please don't just buy a piece of halfords tat - get a decent bike and it will last you 10+ years

Re: new pedal bike (through the cycle to work scheme)
 

That is gorgeous. I want a Bianchi...

Although regarding the initial question, if you're going to use it dual purpose (MTB + on the road), I'd recommend a specialized rockhopper, between £500 and £1000 for different specs. I don't know too much about road bikes but I can recommend specialized as they're fantastic. I believe the entry level is the Specialized Allez, go for the triple if you're rubbish at hills, the granny wheel will make it easier. I think you can get a fairly decent road bike for £500, I wouldn't spend any less if I wanted it to last.

Re: new pedal bike (through the cycle to work scheme)
 

but you have to buy the bike from your work at the end of the 12 months (or however long the scheme is for)

edit: just noticed this point has already been covered

Re: new pedal bike (through the cycle to work scheme)
 

Oh, also, I realllly wouldn't go full suspension unless you're looking to go over a grand, at least. They weigh a lot more than a hardtail at the ?1k point and are harder to ride, set up and enjoy, unless you do a lot of jumping. A decent hardtail these days will do anything, I used to do 20 miles a day on my bicycle for fun and found it great, could ride 20 miles in about 50 minutes by the end of it all.

Is it me or do there seem to be a lot of cycling related threads at the moment?

Re: new pedal bike (through the cycle to work scheme)
 

Blame it on the petrol prices...

Re: new pedal bike (through the cycle to work scheme)
 

i know what your saying. basically i'm just using the scheme to get myself a decent bike. having had hardtails in the past i'm kind of wanting to try the full sus thing. i think it'll help, some fairly good stuff round my way for it!

at the moment i'm thinking specialized FSR xc comp. i know its the entry level version, but its coming in at ?899 rrp. so within the budget and looks fairly good spec. plus a decent base to add new shiney bits to it if i get the bug for it! anyone any thoughts? or recommendations full sus more kind of cross country bit of everything bike round about 1K

Re: new pedal bike (through the cycle to work scheme)
 

Correct - in theory, I will have to pay a final payment for my bike at the end of the 3 years. However, how the hell do you value a pushbike after 3 years of use. if they want to come out and value it, then i have a POS of the garage worth about 20 quid they can have a look at ;)

Re: new pedal bike (through the cycle to work scheme)
 

I wouldn't want to pay 60% of the cost of the bike, for my employer to turn around and demand an extra couple of hundred pounds at the end :( It seems very vague this 'hire purchase' final payment option.

Re: new pedal bike (through the cycle to work scheme)
 

For it to be an HP agreement, woudln't every employer that runs this scheme need to have a Consumer Credit License?

Re: new pedal bike (through the cycle to work scheme)
 

It seems to run that way. The company 'own' the bike.

I've only got 2 months left at work. I wonder if they'd just forget about it :rolleyes:

Re: new pedal bike (through the cycle to work scheme)
 

You never know, I've seen it happen with other salary deductions often enough!

Re: new pedal bike (through the cycle to work scheme)
 

on the plus side, i've just had my e-mail saying i was accepted to scheme and i'll be getting my voucher in the next 4 working days, then its off to get my bike! well i say get my bike, i need to wait on halfords ordering it in. (decided to go with a specialized XC fsr comp if anyones interested) so looking forward to getting a blast on some decent trails on it!

my only concern will be the guys at halfords building the bike up. think i'll be going straight home with it and just giving all the nuts and bolts a quick once over myself!

Re: new pedal bike (through the cycle to work scheme)
 

Intresting thread.

Clearly I know nothing about bicycles, but I was thinking on this a while ago. The downside is that I live 15 miles from work, and those are 15 London miles with bomb holes in the tarmac, tons of traffic and plety of hills. I'm not sure I'm fit enough to manage that twice a day!

Jambo

Re: new pedal bike (through the cycle to work scheme)
 

Maybe not when you started, but a few weeks down the line for sure!

Re: new pedal bike (through the cycle to work scheme)
 

Yep it'll take a few weeks but after that you should pick up your fitness quite quickly.

I quite often take the long way home if its nice and clock up 20 or so miles + 4 or 5 in the morning to.

Just build up to it slowly and dont do to much to soon.

Re: new pedal bike (through the cycle to work scheme)
 

£1000!?!? That looks like a lot of bike for a k.

I've got a Giant SCR 1.0 and Spesh Stumpy FSR Elite. Need to get out on them a lot more!

Re: new pedal bike (through the cycle to work scheme)
 

It is the planet x stuf has a well deserved reputation for being good value for money.

Re: new pedal bike (through the cycle to work scheme)
 

My house-mate picked up one of these. It's gorgeous!
http://www.feltbikes.co.uk/images/model_image/b2pro.jpg

(£3500!)

Re: new pedal bike (through the cycle to work scheme)
 

*Dribble* thats lovely

Re: new pedal bike (through the cycle to work scheme)
 

It's a work of art. All that money spent on it....then he uses electrical tape on the frame to attach chocolate bars :smt045

Re: new pedal bike (through the cycle to work scheme)
 

Just paid for mine - got a ?660 bike plus ?60 of accessories for about ?450 (over 12 months) I had to email my HR department to purchase the bike after the 'hire' period. this cost ?37 - so less than 10% of the value - I haven't seen these schemes running over 3 years before, but I guess it would still be a similar amount

Re: new pedal bike (through the cycle to work scheme)
 

jebus thats a lovely bike

Re: new pedal bike (through the cycle to work scheme)
 

Mmmmm Felt DA and zipp carbon wheels