British cycling. Have you joined??

nicube

Hi folks, I've been pedalling for years but only taken to road cycling since August 2014 and love it. So I started to think about insurance away from the home more for accident/liability cover more than theft, I've noticed that British cycling include cover in a couple of their packages for around £30 a year, does any one on here use it, or has used it, any good?

I also noticed there's discount at Halfords and Wiggle as a member, all seems a bit too god to be true, looking for folks feedback on being a member

Cheers

Nick

alihisgreat

I have a gold membership and its definitely worth it. Everyone should have insurance and BC membership is the best way to get it.

Silly Old Hector

Wiggle 12% discount now gone, but likely to be replaced by CRC equivalent.

10% Halfrauds discount useful for car stuff also.

Good for liability/3rd party legal help.

JackPozzi

I've had silver for years, joined a club when I started and BC or CTC membership was required for insurance purposes on club rides. Have since left the club but the insurance is good value so have stayed with BC. Worth noting that the discount at WIggle has been discontinued recently if that is important to you, have heard rumours that there will be a partnership with chain reaction starting soon but not sure if that's been confirmed as yet....

nbalcombe

I signed up for race membership before Christmas mainly for the insurance. As others have said, the Wiggle discount has now gone but they are currently offering a one off 10% CRC discount and will be announcing a full on discount soon. I used my 10% discount on a new Garmin with some Christmas money and saved my membership costs. No brainer really.

Pigtail

I joined a couple of years ago and about 7 months ago I was hit by a car emerging from a junction. BC provided a solicitor who are dealing with my claim and have been very good. For the modest cost its a no-brainer, and if you need them you'll be glad they are there.

NeXXus

No My club is Irish federation registered

rozzer32

I think it's a must. I race so need to for the license but I've been knocked off my bike twice. The solicitors that BC provided were great and did all the work. It's worth it just for that.

paul_onabike

Been a silver member for more years than I can remember- for less than the cost of a decent tyre for the year. Though the cost does seem to be increasing a lot more than inflation on a regular basis

RDW

Have all the major cycling organisations stopped their bike shop discounts? I don't see anything listed on the LCC or CTC member benefit pages any more. LCC used to have a list of London shops, and I think CTC had discounts at Evans (they still list Cotswold Outdoors). The Wiggle CTC shop still seems to be active, though with no link from the CTC site I wonder how long that will continue?: http://forum.ctc.org.uk/viewtopic.php?f=45&t=92765

Insurance benefits seem to be similar for all three, and the annual fees are all within £10 of each other for the equivalent of BC's 'Ride' (non-racing) membership.

iron-clover

I am a member of British Cycling purely for the race license.
Prior to racing I used to be a member of the CTC which provides insurance cover, and IMO seemed to be the 'nicer' organisation to join.
Personally I would prefer to send my money to the CTC rather than BC, as BC seems to be a very commercialised operation that just eats people's money without really being able to see where its giong- just look at BC levies for races compared to say Open Time Trials and the CTT or the TLI racing and I don't see how it's justified.
Unfortunately if you want to race there's nowhere else to go unless you have a TLI group nearby.

englander

Do any BC members use the insurance offer that they offer? (Here: http://www.britishcycling.org.uk/member ... -insurance)

topcattim

iron-clover wrote:

I am a member of British Cycling purely for the race license..

Can somebody explain the race licence bit to me? I'm thinking of dabbling in road/circuit racing this summer for the first time, but when I look at the BC site, it looks as though the licence that comes free (the provisional version) does not cover this and that I'd need to top up with a full licence (which is £35 for a senior).
So, to be able to race, do I need to be both a BC member (e.g. silver at £40) and also pay the top up licence fee?
Thanks

jimmythecuckoo

No sign of the new retail offering as yet though. Says mid- December still on the website.

How Far is too Far

topcattim wrote:

iron-clover wrote:

I am a member of British Cycling purely for the race license..

Can somebody explain the race licence bit to me? I'm thinking of dabbling in road/circuit racing this summer for the first time, but when I look at the BC site, it looks as though the licence that comes free (the provisional version) does not cover this and that I'd need to top up with a full licence (which is £35 for a senior).
So, to be able to race, do I need to be both a BC member (e.g. silver at £40) and also pay the top up licence fee?
Thanks

You get a provisional race licence free with Bronse, Silver or Gold. But you would need to upgrade this to a full race licence for most if not all Crits and road racing.

So you would need a minimum of a Silver for £40 and then the Full Race for £35, you can save a bit by direct debt.

topcattim

How Far is too Far wrote:

topcattim wrote:

iron-clover wrote:

I am a member of British Cycling purely for the race license..

Can somebody explain the race licence bit to me? I'm thinking of dabbling in road/circuit racing this summer for the first time, but when I look at the BC site, it looks as though the licence that comes free (the provisional version) does not cover this and that I'd need to top up with a full licence (which is £35 for a senior).
So, to be able to race, do I need to be both a BC member (e.g. silver at £40) and also pay the top up licence fee?
Thanks

You get a provisional race licence free with Bronse, Silver or Gold. But you would need to upgrade this to a full race licence for most if not all Crits and road racing.

So you would need a minimum of a Silver for £40 and then the Full Race for £35, you can save a bit by direct debt.

thanks HFITF

peat

The 'Cycle' magazine you get with CTC membership is a nice read.

Overkill, but I'm a member of both. My local club is a CTC but I (was told I)needed BC membership for an event I did a few years ago and haven't seen the need to cancel the membership.

jscl

jimmythecuckoo wrote:

No sign of the new retail offering as yet though. Says mid- December still on the website.

10% off everything at ChainReactionCycles is accessible from your dashboard if you're a member

rc856

Good thread
I wasn't aware of the benefits before.

Are the quotes to insure your bike much better as a member?
At the moment it's dearer than my car!

buckmulligan

JSCL wrote:

jimmythecuckoo wrote:

No sign of the new retail offering as yet though. Says mid- December still on the website.

10% off everything at ChainReactionCycles is accessible from your dashboard if you're a member

Yeah, current members have all been assigned a unique single use 10% discount code, details here for the non-believers. Although no dates for rollout to people who aren't already members:

http://www.britishcycling.org.uk/chainreaction

FWIW, I've been a BC member for three years, mostly for the insurance after a couple of close shaves. In that time thankfully I haven't required it, but a shunt in my car with someone who was somewhat "liberal with the truth" to his insurance company has made me realise that you only need to be in an incident with the wrong person and you'll soon be glad you had it.

nicube

Thanks for all your input guys, needless to say I've signed up

Thanks again

topcattim

If you're joining for the first time, you can get a discount code from the BC website here, worth £21.

Stevo_666

I've joined, mainly for the insurance to cover me on the commute in London - just in case I scrape a car or hit a ped. Not needed it so far luckily.