Cycle To Work scheme and the LBS

Shadowduck

My employer has recently started up a Cycle To Work scheme, administered by Evans. I personally won't be buying anything through it* but quite a few people seem to be thinking of giving it a go.**

This got me thinking... Presumably, some of those people would have bought a bike anyway and some of those people would have gone to their LBS rather than one of the bike supermarkets. Since Halfords and Evans appear to be getting the lion's share of the Cycle To Work trade, is this having a negative effect on trade at the LBS? Anyone know?

*I just (last week) bought a bike from my LBS - to get the rough equivalent at Evans wouldn't have been much cheaper even with the tax break! This way I get superior LBS customer service, I own it from day one and don't have to trust the shifty lot in finance to actually sell it to me at a sensible price after the year's up.

** I know this because as one of the few regular cyclists I get regularly asked which £150 hybrid is best for a 1/2 mile commute. :roll:

Totalnewbie

I got mine through Evans because of the saving and because work said we had to through the scheme - otherwise I would have gone to my LBS, but they were selling the same bike for the full price so there was no comparison pricewise, I made a huge saving. Possibly they might have thrown in some free accessories, who knows, but it still probably wouldn't have been as much of a saving.

I'm still going to take the bike to my LBS when it needs something doing that I can't do, and it will get a yearly service there, so they will get my business that way.

Kafka\'s Doll

I got my C2W bike from my LBS. Through cyclescheme it really isn't difficult.

Random Vince

my LBS has started telling me to go away (in a jokeing way)

but then i keep turning up with a road bike with an odd sized headset that took the mechanic two days to fit and cotted cranks...

if i replace the above bike then it'll probably be in a few years done on a bike to work scheme if there is one...

i think if the cash is to hand then buying it outright from where you want may be the better option (a friend waited for work to get round to it and missed out as they'd sold out of what he wanted)

if you don't have the cash to get a decent bike then the bike to work scheme works nicely.

alfablue

Random Vince wrote:

my LBS has started telling me to go away (in a jokeing way)

but then i keep turning up with a road bike with an odd sized headset that took the mechanic two days to fit and cotted cranks...

if i replace the above bike then it'll probably be in a few years done on a bike to work scheme if there is one...

i think if the cash is to hand then buying it outright from where you want may be the better option (a friend waited for work to get round to it and missed out as they'd sold out of what he wanted)

if you don't have the cash to get a decent bike then the bike to work scheme works nicely.

There is of course the temptation of getting a £1000 bike for £590 (the quote I got) through cyclescheme...

My emplyer has an online form, you fill in the quote details, and the voucher is posted fairly soon after it is received. I may soon take the plunge, it is getting too hard to resist any more :?

Shadowduck

Interesting stuff. Just to clarify, I didn't intend any criticism of people who do use the Cycle To Work scheme - if I had a bit more faith in my employer and / or a worse LBS and / or stood to save hundreds I'd have done it myself!

My thought is more a criticism of the scheme itself - most employers will affiliate with one of the big well-known bike shops leaving a lot of folk, like Totalnewbie, with no choice but to buy from Evans instead of their LBS. I suppose if it gets more people onto bikes that'll benefit the LBS indirectly but it seems that most of the extra revenue will be ending up with the corporations instead of the people who really need it...

benvickery

I'm a teacher and my local authority use Halfords and so It took months for my planet-x bike to come. I've had it 2 weeks now and it is a dream. I've got a new baby and 3 other kids so there is no way I would be able to afford £500 let alone the £1000 bike I've got. Doing it through the cycle2work scheme means that I have an amazing bike at an amazing price. OK I didn't buy from a LBS but at least I'm buying from an English company albeit one screwing foreign bits together!! I'd do it again.

Shadowduck

benvickery wrote:

I've got a new baby and 3 other kids so there is no way I would be able to afford £500 let alone the £1000 bike I've got. Doing it through the cycle2work scheme means that I have an amazing bike at an amazing price. OK I didn't buy from a LBS but at least I'm buying from an English company albeit one screwing foreign bits together!! I'd do it again.

:shock:

Shadowduck wrote:

Just to clarify, I didn't intend any criticism of people who do use the Cycle To Work scheme

There's really no need to justify yourself for using it - I didn't use it because it didn't make sense for me, not because I've got suitcases full of money to give to my LBS. I just wanted to point out a possible unintended consequence and see what people thought!

MilitantGraham

When I was looking in to buying a bike with cyclescheme I asked at my LBS if they planned to join the scheme soon as I would rather buy through them and they said they could do it anyway.
It might be worth asking about it at your LBS. Just because they are not on the list doesn't mean they can't get you a cheap bike.

Shadowduck

MilitantGraham wrote:

When I was looking in to buying a bike with cyclescheme I asked at my LBS if they planned to join the scheme soon as I would rather buy through them and they said they could do it anyway.
It might be worth asking about it at your LBS. Just because they are not on the list doesn't mean they can't get you a cheap bike.

I was under the impression that if your company signed up to a scheme administered by Evans (or whoever), the bike had to come from that same shop? They might be willing to get something in they don't normally stock via the LBS, but as far as I know you can't actually buy from your LBS unless they administer the scheme - or the company administers it themselves, but I've not heard of any companies doing so.

Of course, I could be wrong.

graeme_s-2

Random Vince wrote:

my LBS has started telling me to go away (in a jokeing way)

Which LBS do you use? I use Coventry Cycle Centre (formerly John Atkins) on Far Gosford Street. Been very happy with them.

Taking this back on topic, the bike I currently commute on is a fixie from my LBS through cyclescheme. When I bought it I was chatting to the owner, and he said they'd sold over 50 bikes through cyclescheme, as Coventry City Council, Coventry University, and now University of Warwick (on the outskirts of Coventry) are all on the scheme. So the bike2work scheme in general is not detrimental to all LBSs

richk

Our C2W scheme only uses a selection of LBS & Halfords is notable by it's absence

I probably would have bought my first bike from Halfords if it wasn't for that.

BigBlackShed

The C2W schemes are a good way to buy if you intend to stay with your employer until your payment scheme ends. Until then you are only leasing the bike and equipment from them.

When I applied through my employer the bike I wanted plus clothes and helmet etc would of cost £950. I would of leased that bike for 12 months (the term of the lease / scheme) for the cost of about £525. Paid in monthly installments from my wages.

The "final" payment to own the bike (normally a token ammount, a few pounds or so) after the finance department had applied their "normal" depreciation factors in, they wanted another £450. That's what they said the bike would be worth in 12 months time. Total price £975. They just didn't understand the point of the scheme.

Shadowduck

Graeme_S wrote:

Taking this back on topic, the bike I currently commute on is a fixie from my LBS through cyclescheme. When I bought it I was chatting to the owner, and he said they'd sold over 50 bikes through cyclescheme, as Coventry City Council, Coventry University, and now University of Warwick (on the outskirts of Coventry) are all on the scheme. So the bike2work scheme in general is not detrimental to all LBSs

RichK wrote:

Our C2W scheme only uses a selection of LBS & Halfords is notable by it's absence

I probably would have bought my first bike from Halfords if it wasn't for that.

That's really encouraging. Maybe I was wrong that the big boys are getting all the business!

BigBlackShed wrote:

When I applied through my employer the bike I wanted plus clothes and helmet etc would of cost £950. I would of leased that bike for 12 months (the term of the lease / scheme) for the cost of about £525. Paid in monthly installments from my wages.

The "final" payment to own the bike (normally a token ammount, a few pounds or so) after the finance department had applied their "normal" depreciation factors in, they wanted another £450. That's what they said the bike would be worth in 12 months time. Total price £975. They just didn't understand the point of the scheme.

That's exactly the scenario I had in mind when I said...

Shadowduck wrote:

I own it from day one and don't have to trust the shifty lot in finance to actually sell it to me at a sensible price after the year's up.

Our finance people simply don't comprehend that there's any point in doing something if you're not making money out of it. Ergo, they will find a way of making money out of C2W, and I suspect it'll be at the expense of the poor punter. For me it cost about an extra £100 to go through my LBS and ignore C2W so that's what I did.* Not a reason for others not to use it, you just need to trust your employer more than I do!

*Not exactly the same bike, I ended up with a custom build instead of an off-the-peg from Evans.

Kafka\'s Doll

Since Halfords claim to be able to source any bike, you could of course still support the UK cycle industry by getting a British bike. I see Mercian, for example, now operate the scheme. If more people are buying bikes because of the scheme, ultimately LBSs will benefit if only through the sale of servicing/parts.accessories.

andywgg

"Since Halfords claim to be able to source any bike" - which is what they claim - until I asked about kinesis, which they said they didn't have a supplier for. So I sent them several. So now they can. Goody gum drops.