Cyclescheme Cycle Commuter Magazine Issue 1 Online

Snodgrass

Cyclescheme now have an online magazine , Issue 1here

http://tinyurl.com/64xajw

Has anybody ever benefitted from the scheme ?

Clever Pun

yep, I got my brompton on it... still ended up paying £200 extra as well..

alfablue

I am benefiting with my Planet-X SL Carbon Dura Ace for £49 per month over 12 months, plus £50 final purchase fee; I am delighted to be getting such a bike for £638!

rontana

Shame it needs flash to view it. Which nither my phone or work pc have

Edited: undoing incorrect autocorrections

DonDaddyD

alfablue wrote:

I am benefiting with my Planet-X SL Carbon Dura Ace for £49 per month over 12 months, plus £50 final purchase fee; I am delighted to be getting such a bike for £638!

Cyclescheme as in these people: http://www.cyclescheme.co.uk/

Do they also support wiggle?

alfablue

Yes, that cyclescheme. Unfortunately they only work with retailers with a shop front, so that rules out Wiggle and now Planet-X (indeed they pulled the plug on Planet-X before my bike was delivered and cancelled the voucher! I haggled and they let it through). If you put your postcode in the cylescheme web site it will show the dealers that use them.

DonDaddyD

alfablue wrote:

Yes, that cyclescheme. Unfortunately they only work with retailers with a shop front, so that rules out Wiggle and now Planet-X (indeed they pulled the plug on Planet-X before my bike was delivered and cancelled the voucher! I haggled and they let it through). If you put your postcode in the cylescheme web site it will show the dealers that use them.

Damn, Damn it all!

I'm looking for a carbon fibre bike most of the shops around me that do Cycle scheme sell bikes that I don't think are worth the price when considering bikes like Planet X's Dura Ace build or the Kiron Scandium.

Its not so much the shop as much as it is the bike.

How about Ribble, do you know if Ribble support cycle scheme?

alfablue

Ribble do support Cyclescheme, I was originally looking to buy a Nero Corsa. I phoned to make some enquiries and they were so ignorant and rude they lost the sale. They did mention at the end of the conversation that there was a £50 surcharge on cyclescheme sales (not a huge problem, not as much as their general attitude). Actually, I think that last sentence was the only complete sentence they managed on the phone!

Planet-X were a breath of fresh air in comparison, such a shame they can't do it any more (nothing to stop your company doing an in-house arrangement with them).

Two weeks ago, just because the issue came up here, I emailed Ribble to ask what the warranty was on bikes and frames (no info on their site). They haven't replied to date - says it all really! (indeed I have emailed them a few times, including with pre-sales enquiries and have never had a reply, that's why I resorted to the phone, which was a waste of time).

I am sure the bikes are great, but nothing else seems to be! I wouldn't give them my money if it was the last carbon bike on earth!

DonDaddyD

I've had one good experience with ribble - my shoes and pedals, which have been great.

One ok experience - ordered a cycle top and shorts (both XL), both too small to fit and they don't even fit my 14yr old brother to indicate that I'm not some fat b*stard.

One bad experience - when I tried to talk to them (on the phone) about their returns policy it was enough to make just throw the items in the bin and loose money.

So yeah, with more thought I may actually just buy from a shop spend a little more arguably get a little less but gain in service and customer care.

I like that cyclescheme do not do business with the major bike stores Halfords and Evans and focus on the smaller shops. That's good ethics. The cyclescheme magazine looks like a good read as well. Interested to see what it says about the Trek 1.5

alfablue

Yes I agree with you that it is good they support the little guy, though they do charge the shop 10% (I believe), this sometimes results in shops making a surcharge (like Ribble, or Spa Cycles who add 12.5%) or refuse to sell at the ticket price and stick to RRP. This has to be taken on board, keeping in mind the big picture. Spa Cycles for example, have very good prices - Dawes Super Galaxy £800 becomes £900, still less than most other shops. What did perturb me is that Avon Valley Cyclery, who own Cyclescheme, refused to sell me a Super Galaxy for anything less than the £1149 rrp, which ironically made it unavailable on the scheme!

spanielsson

I bought my last bike through my LBS via the Cyclescheme. I knew about the surcharge from Cyclescheme so I didn't bother in trying to get a better deal than they were offering, that's the last thing they need.

However, since I've had the bike I've tried to use them as much as possible, they now knock 10% of most things I buy from them. If I'd not used the postcose search on the cyclescheme website I wouldn't have known they were there.

I'll go for another £1000 voucher next time, because of the saving I make and how good they are I'll take £900's worth and let them make some profit this time around.

DonDaddyD

Can you buy stuff direct from Cyclescheme?

How? I thought I had to go through my workplace and enter into the cycle to work ordeal...

the_hundredth_idiot

rontana wrote:

Shame it needs flash to view it. Which nither my phone or work pc have

Edited: undoing incorrect autocorrections

Slightly different problem for me - some script in the Flash caused an error message so I couldn't read it. :? Could be an interesting read but if you can't actually read it, ...

pintoo

the site does seem like over-kill - although it works fine on my PC. PDF'ing the mag would have been better. Some interesting stuff on it, but all pretty basic.

FWIW, I got my bike last year from Evans' version of the cyclescheme. The bike I bought was on sale, but they honoured the sale price, so I got a £750 for £600, which cost me about £300. Can't argue with that.

This year, I was going use cyclesheme itself, but the retailer I spoke to added 10% to the cost of the bike. Not a deal-breaker since it's still a good price, but I get the impression cyclesheme are taking the mickey. Not quite supporting the LBS.

DonDaddyD

I didn't think Evans was with Cycle Scheme.

Either way I've just found out that Epic Cycles is with Cycle Scheme.

This may be the clincher for me to stay another year with my current employer...

alfablue

DonDaddyD wrote:

I didn't think Evans was with Cycle Scheme.

They do their own scheme.

This may be the clincher for me to stay another year with my current employer...

An another good reason for employers to take up the scheme (unless they want rid of you! )

Griggers

alfablue wrote:

Yes I agree with you that it is good they support the little guy, though they do charge the shop 10% (I believe), this sometimes results in shops making a surcharge (like Ribble, or Spa Cycles who add 12.5%) or refuse to sell at the ticket price and stick to RRP. This has to be taken on board, keeping in mind the big picture. Spa Cycles for example, have very good prices - Dawes Super Galaxy £800 becomes £900, still less than most other shops. What did perturb me is that Avon Valley Cyclery, who own Cyclescheme, refused to sell me a Super Galaxy for anything less than the £1149 rrp, which ironically made it unavailable on the scheme!

Just need to set some facts straight here:

AVC do not own Cyclescheme - AVC was sold in Feb 2008 making each limited company, and their respective directors, totally independent.

Cyclescheme partner shops should not use anything other than suggested retail price.

And yes, paying over £1000 usually means employees are moving into dual ownership issues which neither the HMRC or Cyclescheme condone.

I ope this helps, please see our recently refurbished website for FAQs or phone our help line 01225 448933 for help.

Best wishes,

Richard Grigsby, Director

Griggers

Hi all, firstly, we don't condone adding any admin charges - all Cyclescheme partner shops should only use suggested retail prices.

Secondly, AVC was sold in Feb 2008 to Luke and Gareth who had been running the shop whilst Cyclescheme Directors were dong their bit. Both companies are therefore separate and AVC is still as individual and worthwhile as it ever has been.

Thirdly, I'm gad to hear the comments about our new mag'.

All the best,

Richard Grigsby, Director, Cyclescheme

spen666

Griggers wrote:

alfablue wrote:

Yes I agree with you that it is good they support the little guy, though they do charge the shop 10% (I believe), this sometimes results in shops making a surcharge (like Ribble, or Spa Cycles who add 12.5%) or refuse to sell at the ticket price and stick to RRP. This has to be taken on board, keeping in mind the big picture. Spa Cycles for example, have very good prices - Dawes Super Galaxy £800 becomes £900, still less than most other shops. What did perturb me is that Avon Valley Cyclery, who own Cyclescheme, refused to sell me a Super Galaxy for anything less than the £1149 rrp, which ironically made it unavailable on the scheme!

Just need to set some facts straight here:

AVC do not own Cyclescheme - AVC was sold in Feb 2008 making each limited company, and their respective directors, totally independent.

Cyclescheme partner shops should not use anything other than suggested retail price.

And yes, paying over £1000 usually means employees are moving into dual ownership issues which neither the HMRC or Cyclescheme condone.

I ope this helps, please see our recently refurbished website for FAQs or phone our help line 01225 448933 for help.

Best wishes,

Richard Grigsby, Director

The issue about £1000 figure is that employees' companies need a consumer credit licence if the ourchase of bike is >£1000. As the cycle to work scheme is trweated as a finance scheme (HP effectively).

If you want a bike costing over £1000 and your company has not got a consumer credit licence, then you are into the problem of potentially dual ownership. This is a legal minefield and I would not recommend any company wants to get involved in this

andy jackson

spen666 wrote:

Griggers wrote:

alfablue wrote:

Yes I agree with you that it is good they support the little guy, though they do charge the shop 10% (I believe), this sometimes results in shops making a surcharge (like Ribble, or Spa Cycles who add 12.5%) or refuse to sell at the ticket price and stick to RRP. This has to be taken on board, keeping in mind the big picture. Spa Cycles for example, have very good prices - Dawes Super Galaxy £800 becomes £900, still less than most other shops. What did perturb me is that Avon Valley Cyclery, who own Cyclescheme, refused to sell me a Super Galaxy for anything less than the £1149 rrp, which ironically made it unavailable on the scheme!

Just need to set some facts straight here:

AVC do not own Cyclescheme - AVC was sold in Feb 2008 making each limited company, and their respective directors, totally independent.

Cyclescheme partner shops should not use anything other than suggested retail price.

And yes, paying over £1000 usually means employees are moving into dual ownership issues which neither the HMRC or Cyclescheme condone.

I ope this helps, please see our recently refurbished website for FAQs or phone our help line 01225 448933 for help.

Best wishes,

Richard Grigsby, Director

The issue about £1000 figure is that employees' companies need a consumer credit licence if the ourchase of bike is >£1000. As the cycle to work scheme is trweated as a finance scheme (HP effectively).

If you want a bike costing over £1000 and your company has not got a consumer credit licence, then you are into the problem of potentially dual ownership. This is a legal minefield and I would not recommend any company wants to get involved in this

Although work are in no way obliged to sell you the bike after the loan period. If it was HP then it wouldn't fall into the tax free frame, and would be a taxable benefit.(like BUPA etc) As i understand, but im more than happy to be corrected!

A

andy jackson

spen666 wrote:

Griggers wrote:

alfablue wrote:

Yes I agree with you that it is good they support the little guy, though they do charge the shop 10% (I believe), this sometimes results in shops making a surcharge (like Ribble, or Spa Cycles who add 12.5%) or refuse to sell at the ticket price and stick to RRP. This has to be taken on board, keeping in mind the big picture. Spa Cycles for example, have very good prices - Dawes Super Galaxy £800 becomes £900, still less than most other shops. What did perturb me is that Avon Valley Cyclery, who own Cyclescheme, refused to sell me a Super Galaxy for anything less than the £1149 rrp, which ironically made it unavailable on the scheme!

Just need to set some facts straight here:

AVC do not own Cyclescheme - AVC was sold in Feb 2008 making each limited company, and their respective directors, totally independent.

Cyclescheme partner shops should not use anything other than suggested retail price.

And yes, paying over £1000 usually means employees are moving into dual ownership issues which neither the HMRC or Cyclescheme condone.

I ope this helps, please see our recently refurbished website for FAQs or phone our help line 01225 448933 for help.

Best wishes,

Richard Grigsby, Director

The issue about £1000 figure is that employees' companies need a consumer credit licence if the ourchase of bike is >£1000. As the cycle to work scheme is trweated as a finance scheme (HP effectively).

If you want a bike costing over £1000 and your company has not got a consumer credit licence, then you are into the problem of potentially dual ownership. This is a legal minefield and I would not recommend any company wants to get involved in this

Although work are in no way obliged to sell you the bike after the loan period. If it was HP then it wouldn't fall into the tax free frame, and would be a taxable benefit.(like BUPA etc) As i understand, but im more than happy to be corrected!

A