Road Bike on Finance

Munch101

Hello, I'm a very poor person and can not afford to pay for a bike in a lump sum! I want to get one on warranty for about £40 a month! I don't want to pay extra so 0% APR is a must and want carbon forks!

Have any of you stumbled across any bargains or know of any decent bikes/sites I should look for?

Thanks a lot!

Fat-Boy-Roubaix

I bought mine from Hargroves Cycles, took 15 minutes from start to finish digitally signed online finance agreement bike delivered 48 hours later, bit too easy!

£41 will get you £1100 bike over 24 months with a deposit of £110..

You will not get a discount on the bike, roughly speaking they would either give you 10% off the bike or 0% interest.

I got both when they put the bike I was interested in on sale and I think forgot to remove the 0% Finance button..

Munch101

Fat-Boy-Roubaix wrote:

I bought mine from Hargroves Cycles, took 15 minutes from start to finish digitally signed online finance agreement bike delivered 48 hours later, bit too easy!

£41 will get you £1100 bike over 24 months with a deposit of £110..

You will not get a discount on the bike, roughly speaking they would either give you 10% off the bike or 0% interest.

I got both when they put the bike I was interested in on sale and I think forgot to remove the 0% Finance button..

Oh nice thank you! If im doing it on finance can I pay more in 1 go if I want to? To pay it off? Like with 4 months to go pay the remainder?

arlowood

Leisure Lakes do 0% finance:-

http://www.leisurelakesbikes.com/finance

With your budget you would be looking at spending around £600 on the bike itself with a 10% deposit of £60 and 12 monthly payments of £45.

Plenty of options in their sale listings so fill yer boots.

http://www.leisurelakesbikes.com/sale/r ... bcats/none

Munch101

arlowood wrote:

Leisure Lakes do 0% finance:-

http://www.leisurelakesbikes.com/finance

With your budget you would be looking at spending around £600 on the bike itself with a 10% deposit of £60 and 12 monthly payments of £45.

Plenty of options in their sale listings so fill yer boots.

http://www.leisurelakesbikes.com/sale/r ... bcats/none

Anything on there that screams out bargain?

supermurph09

If using leisure lakes get their VIP membership first.

Bozman

J E James and All Terrain cycles used to do 36 months interest free.
If I remember right you could virtually build a bike at James on the never never, frame, wheels etc and they'd total it up and Bobs your uncle.

Fat-Boy-Roubaix

Munch101 wrote:

Fat-Boy-Roubaix wrote:

I bought mine from Hargroves Cycles, took 15 minutes from start to finish digitally signed online finance agreement bike delivered 48 hours later, bit too easy!

£41 will get you £1100 bike over 24 months with a deposit of £110..

You will not get a discount on the bike, roughly speaking they would either give you 10% off the bike or 0% interest.

I got both when they put the bike I was interested in on sale and I think forgot to remove the 0% Finance button..

Oh nice thank you! If im doing it on finance can I pay more in 1 go if I want to? To pay it off? Like with 4 months to go pay the remainder?

Sure the finance company have had their profit already paid by Hargroves so if you have 10 months left @ £41 they will accept £410 as final settlement, I would imagine there would be a Admin fee of £20-30 though but you would need to check their T&C's

passout

Winstanleys offer finance (not sure of details) & have soem good discounts. Otherwise Planet X & I think wheelbase have decent finance.

arlowood

Munch101 wrote:

arlowood wrote:

Leisure Lakes do 0% finance:-

http://www.leisurelakesbikes.com/finance

With your budget you would be looking at spending around £600 on the bike itself with a 10% deposit of £60 and 12 monthly payments of £45.

Plenty of options in their sale listings so fill yer boots.

http://www.leisurelakesbikes.com/sale/r ... bcats/none

Anything on there that screams out bargain?

This is worth consideration:-

http://www.leisurelakesbikes.com/p/9782 ... -2013-sale

Excellent frame that can be upgraded later when funds permit.

Munch101

arlowood wrote:

Munch101 wrote:

arlowood wrote:

Leisure Lakes do 0% finance:-

http://www.leisurelakesbikes.com/finance

With your budget you would be looking at spending around £600 on the bike itself with a 10% deposit of £60 and 12 monthly payments of £45.

Plenty of options in their sale listings so fill yer boots.

http://www.leisurelakesbikes.com/sale/r ... bcats/none

Anything on there that screams out bargain?

This is worth consideration:-

http://www.leisurelakesbikes.com/p/9782 ... -2013-sale

Excellent frame that can be upgraded later when funds permit.

Don't have my frame size

string78

Would it not be better to apply for a 0% Credit Card - plenty of deals out there for 18 months 0% interest. You'll be able to shop around and hopefully negotiate a little too.

If cash is a little tight, one the 0% finishes just do a balance transfer for a small fee for a further 2 - 3 years.

oola

string78 wrote:

Would it not be better to apply for a 0% Credit Card - plenty of deals out there for 18 months 0% interest. You'll be able to shop around and hopefully negotiate a little too.

If cash is a little tight, one the 0% finishes just do a balance transfer for a small fee for a further 2 - 3 years.

This. Its the most cost effective way IMO. Better bargaining power and it also gives you the flexibility to pay as much as you want off over this period whilst keeping your money in the bank in case you need it for something less important.

btiratsoo

oola wrote:

string78 wrote:

Would it not be better to apply for a 0% Credit Card - plenty of deals out there for 18 months 0% interest. You'll be able to shop around and hopefully negotiate a little too.

If cash is a little tight, one the 0% finishes just do a balance transfer for a small fee for a further 2 - 3 years.

This. Its the most cost effective way IMO. Better bargaining power and it also gives you the flexibility to pay as much as you want off over this period whilst keeping your money in the bank in case you need it for something less important.

Best bit of advice regarding credit. I have just done exactly this and for me it was by far the best way of going. Allows me to keep the savings for life and pay off the card as slowly or as quickly as I want. I opted for 12 months 0% as that was all I needed. As said, if I haven't managed to clear it by the end of 12 months, then a quick balance transfer and that will give me another significant period. This method gives you flexibility as mentioned already.

Munch101

btiratsoo wrote:

oola wrote:

string78 wrote:

Would it not be better to apply for a 0% Credit Card - plenty of deals out there for 18 months 0% interest. You'll be able to shop around and hopefully negotiate a little too.

If cash is a little tight, one the 0% finishes just do a balance transfer for a small fee for a further 2 - 3 years.

This. Its the most cost effective way IMO. Better bargaining power and it also gives you the flexibility to pay as much as you want off over this period whilst keeping your money in the bank in case you need it for something less important.

Best bit of advice regarding credit. I have just done exactly this and for me it was by far the best way of going. Allows me to keep the savings for life and pay off the card as slowly or as quickly as I want. I opted for 12 months 0% as that was all I needed. As said, if I haven't managed to clear it by the end of 12 months, then a quick balance transfer and that will give me another significant period. This method gives you flexibility as mentioned already.

So take out a 0% credit card, pay off all the bike, basically go in debt with that credit card, then pay the card off at how ever much I want a month then at the end of the 0% time just finish paying it off and sit pretty at basically £0.00??

hugo15

Munch101 wrote:

So take out a 0% credit card, pay off all the bike, basically go in debt with that credit card, then pay the card off at how ever much I want a month then at the end of the 0% time just finish paying it off and sit pretty at basically £0.00??

Yes. What you must do is to set up a direct debit so you at least pay the minimum balance off each month, otherwise you will lose the 0% interest free offer.

You can then either keep the money in the bank until the end of the 0% free period or set up the direct debit so that you pay off an amount monthly and the last payment clears the remaining balance.

A word of warning........ you need to be disciplined if you go down the credit card route. It would be all too easy to think "oh, I'll pay a bit less this month and a bit more off next month" and end up at the 0% period without the cash to pay it off. This is what the credit card compamy want you to do so they can start charging you interest. Yes, you could transfer to another 0% card but there is likely to be a fee of 2-4% of the outstanding balance.

I've been running with a variety of 0% cards for the last few years, paying off the minimum each month and putting the money in the bank. Basically borrowing money from one bank at 0% and earning interest with another bank. I just then pay it back at the end of the 0% period. Not as great with the interest rates being so low but still worth it IMHO.

btiratsoo

hugo15 wrote:

A word of warning........ you need to be disciplined if you go down the credit card route. It would be all too easy to think "oh, I'll pay a bit less this month and a bit more off next month" and end up at the 0% period without the cash to pay it off. This is what the credit card compamy want you to do so they can start charging you interest. Yes, you could transfer to another 0% card but there is likely to be a fee of 2-4% of the outstanding balance.

Hugo is spot on here. Discipline is key here. I used the 0% credit card because I know that I have the savings in the bank to pay a large chunk off or all of it if I wanted to. I just don't want to at the moment as we have just moved house so it is nice to have the cash for emergencies. I know I can afford the monthly minimum on the card and I know that by the end of the 0% period I will have been able to save enough to pya it off, all the while having instant access to savings if I need them for whatever reason.

The minimum monthly payment on the card is far lower than the equivalent finance payment but with a finance payment you know by the end of the finance period your loan will be cleared, not so if you only pay the minimum on the card. This is where the discipline comes in.

It is swings and roundabouts. Credit cards aren't for everybody and neither is finance. It is all about what you feel more comfortable with in the end. Do your research, find the bike, work out the numbers and then settle on the method of payment. Obviously in an ideal world we wouldn't use any form of "credit" as such, but save up until we have the money. Credit isn't evil though and can be a sensible way of getting what you want but you have to be sensible.

Good luck and enjoy the bike!