Struggling to find a hardtrail bike

john10012

I've been doing a fair bit of research in the last few months as I was wanting to get a hardtrail mountain bike through my employers cyclescheme.

I was looking for bikes in the £450 to £600 price bracket and figure it would mean a 32% reduction in the new price if I go through the scheme.

Unfortunately I have not seen any hardtails available through cyclescheme.co.uk partners that I am interested in.

The kind of bikes I have been looking at that do interest me are the Voodoo Hoodoo, Boardman HT Comp and Carrera Fury.

It seems that these bikes are only available through Halfords and no other way to buy one at least not through cyclescheme and my employer through salary sacrifice and the 32% discount I would obtain.

I did read on Bike Radar that one of the more expensive Boardman Team bikes priced £850 that has just been reviewed may have special versions available through independent retailers?

It is looking like my only option may be to try and find one of these independent retailers that are signed up with cyclescheme offering the bikes I'm interested in which may be a difficult process.

Other than that I may have to just get a used bike instead on eBay.

I am wondering why all the good top rated value hardtrails with decent forks and spec only seem to be available through Halfords?

supersonic

What stores can you use?

cooldad

So who can you buy from on the scheme?
The bikes from Halfords are cheap because they sell a lot and cut out the middleman.

ps it's hardtail.

chez_m356

john10001 wrote:

It is looking like my only option may be to try and find one of these independent retailers that are signed up with cyclescheme offering the bikes I'm interested in which may be a difficult process.

the independent retailers sell the elite range starting at £2600, http://www.boardmanbikes.com/mtb/ht_em10.html doubt you'll find one of those on a cyclescheme

oodboo

If you have a choice of retailers, why can't you use Halfords?

MonkFunk

I believe Decathlon bikes can be purchased through the cyclescheme C2W.

Get the Rockrider 8.1

The Rookie

If your employer is using Cyclesheme you can get a Decathlon, but Halfords only do C2W though their own scheme.

castlelad

has it now changed tho, i know at our place we have to go onto a website and choose a bike from an "online catalogue".

john10012

Thanks for the input!

Seems a shame that a lot of good bikes are only available through Halfords and not through my employer who are with the cycle to work scheme not the halfords one.

Bikes like the Fury, Boardman HT Comp and Voodoo Hoodoo. The Hoodoo looks a great bike and I love the colour. The only slight negative is its slightly heavy but judging by reviews alone that doesn't seem to matter much. The Boardman Team looks incredible but the price at £850 is beyond what I can afford. HT Comp looks nice alternative. Shame none of these I can get anyway.

That leaves the likes of Decathalon with the Rockrider 8.1. Have to admit I am slightly confused by their branding. I am not sure what it all means. Company name - Decathalon? Model Rockrider? Btwin or 8.1? Looks a nice bike and good forks. Still not 100% sure about the gearing etc I think I have a bit to learn and read up on. Crosscountry seems to imply to me not very steep hills etc. Would like to know what the weight of this bike is so I have asked them. It does seem to be highly recommended in the stickied advice thread on these forums.

Specialized Rockhopper 2012. I think these are selling fairly cheaply now in some stores. A lot of people seem to rate them but the forks are not so good?

The Rookie

castlelad wrote:

has it now changed tho, i know at our place we have to go onto a website and choose a bike from an "online catalogue".

There is one govt C2W tax regime, there are lots of suppliers for companys who don't want to DIY, so what your company does is what your company does, which may or may not be via a scheme, that has no effect on others though!

passout

For 800 you can get an On One bike - inbred or 456....nice. A discounted Kona hardtail is often a bargain around this time of year. You need to keep on looking...

Time.to.ride

Hi all i am pretty sure that while the bikes may have changed there is one fact that hasnt , and tht is whatever bike you purchase from companies available, the maximum you can spend is £1000 either including or not including and extras like lights, helmet, lock etc.... saw this on a cycle programme on tv not to long ago.

The Rookie

And it's wrong, most companies are limited to £1000 as they don't have a credit licence, those that do can offer more.