Cycle to work Scheme - Company tie ins

Breathless Commuter Man

My Company run a bike to work scheme with Halfords. I was in my LBS a few days ago, explained I couldn't afford not to buy my new bike from Halfords, but could i pay them to give it once over once I got the new bike due to concerns that I will not put down in black and white, but we all know about. The LBS told me that I should contact my company/the cycle to work scheme as companies are not allowed to tie in to one supplier. I am not so sure, does anyone have any experience of this before I stir things up at work.

Thanks in advance.

galaxyboy

I thought that if your LBS was part of the cycle to work scheme that you would be able to purchase from them - or any others.

alfablue

There is some confusion here - Halfords run their own scheme, which they are entitled to do, and employers are entitled to choose to use this alone.

Cyclescheme (which is the name of a company, not the name of the governments Cycle to Work initiative) operate through any local bike shop that chooses to sign up, likewise, employers can sign up to it and then employees can use any shop in the scheme.

Take note that Cycle to Work and Cyclescheme are not synonymous, however the brand "Cyclescheme" has been loosely and incorrectly used to refer to any such scheme (a bit like buying a "Hoover"). Cyclescheme is but one way of using the Cycle to Work tax break.

Cyclescheme charge a 10% commission to the shops, so sometimes sale prices may not be available, whilst others may charge a surcharge (Ribble charge £50, Spa Cycles add 12.5% to the web price).

An employer can, if they wish, use any individual bike shop of their choice, but not if they are using Cyclescheme.

Two points to note - Firstly, Halfords say they will source any bike, not just their usual stock (however they can't get Bromptons, and the relationship has been on/off with Planet-X) and when they do so, it will often be from the local stockist, which could well be your preferred local bike shop. (Anecdotally, it has been a bit hit and miss whether Halfords live up to this, but they definitely do so sometimes).

Secondly, some bike shops may well accept the Halfords scheme voucher, I have read on here that Condor do.

soy_sauce

alfablue wrote:

......
Two points to note - Firstly, Halfords say they will source any bike, not just their usual stock (however they can't get Bromptons, and the relationship has been on/off with Planet-X) and when they do so, it will often be from the local stockist, which could well be your preferred local bike shop. (Anecdotally, it has been a bit hit and miss whether Halfords live up to this, but they definitely do so sometimes)......

to add more detail on this matter, you would need to call the bike scheme people (or Halfords head office) to order the bike into your prefer store, as the store can not order it in for you since it won't be on their system. my company ran the bike scheme via Halfords also and one of my workmate got a CUBE Team delivery to work for him, but that took almost 6-7 weeks and when he received the bike, he had to put it all together himself.
myself got a Specialized Rockhopper PRO Disc via the scheme, so yeah they can get you any bike apart from what Alfablue mentioned above.