£1,000 club - advice from 220 or trying to clear stock!

stevebaker

Having just completed my first few sprint tri's on a hand me down road bike, i want to invest more time and money on a new beast! With this in mind i'm looking at the cycle to work scheme and therefor have a budget of £1k.

I am considering, but not limited to the following and would love some friendly advice for a petrified novice!!

Boardman Road Bike Team Carbon Large 09
http://www.halfords.com/webapp/wcs/stor ... yId_165710

Planet-X SL Pro Veloce
http://www.gbcycles.co.uk/eshop.asp?wci ... PRO+VELOCE

MANY THANKS!!

STEFANOS4784

http://www.planet-x-warehouse.co.uk/?p=5745

Seems better value imo.......

alfablue

You need to establish how your employer is implementing the scheme, if they use Halfords, Cyclescheme, Evans etc, there are limitations to what brands/shops are open to you.

gregster10217

My C2W scheme has just been relaunched through Halfords. You can order most brands of bike through them, however when I enquired about Planet X they were not one of the makes available. Planet X also won't supply Halfords.
There is a firm, GB Cycles, in Croydon that sell Planet X bikes but am unsure whether they will take the Halfords voucher direct like some others will - Lakeland Leisure, Activ in Folkestone etc.
I whittled it down to 3 and after some testing and opinions gathered, I opted for the Boardman carbon. Cycling press etc rate the bike very highly, and for me it won't be going near Halfords after I've got my mitts on it!!
I'm sure you're aware of the varying customer experiences of people on here, but the one I found were decent and even happy to order in the next size up frame just for me to try it against the one in store-so not all bad, and bonus of it is that the bike will be there when I've got my voucher.
Good luck. It's a hard choice to make.

Gav888

Boardman vs Planet X is an ongoing saga.... both are very good bikes for the money.

At the end of the day I would say it comes down to the look and feel of the bike, and im in the Boardman camp. Spec wise, 50 / 50.

stevebaker

Thanks for the advice...having spent some time going through older posts, it seems like an ongoing battle between the two, maybe with a Focus thrown in for giggles.

For my sins, i live in croydon and know GB Cycles and they are on the C2W. Their spec is as per the above link and different from PX Warehouse.

My brain is pickled by the dilema!

alfablue

stevebaker wrote:

Thanks for the advice...having spent some time going through older posts, it seems like an ongoing battle between the two, maybe with a Focus thrown in for giggles.

For my sins, i live in croydon and know GB Cycles and they are on the C2W. Their spec is as per the above link and different from PX Warehouse.

My brain is pickled by the dilema!

Steve, I don't know if you are getting my point. C2W could mean anything. HAlfords do Bike 2 Work, you buy through Halfords, but they can order many non-stock brands but not all (not Planet-X, not Brompton for example). Some other shops will accept HAlfords vouchers (e.g. Leisure Lakes, Condor). However, if its Halfords Bike 2 WOrk, you cannot get a Focus (only sold by Wiggle who won't deal with Halfords) and you can't get a Planet-X.

Another big scheme provider is Cyclescheme - you can buy from almost any local bike shop, but not Halfords. So you can't get a Boardman (exclusive to Halfords). Neither can you get a Plenet-X.

So as far as I can see it, you can't possibly have the choice between a Boardman and a Planet-X, and you can only have a Focus if the scheme is Wiggle (then you only get what Wiggle have). What choice you do have all depends on the scheme provider. Who is the scheme provider?

(nb: if your employer does it in house and is not tied to any scheme, then of course you have a free choice, but almost all employers are tied to one of the commercial providers schemes).