Cycle to Work Schemes

rhodrich

So I seem to have ended up on a 'cyclists committee' at work, with the purpose of trying to get more people to commute to work by bike (yay!). One of the things that I've suggested is to improve our cycle to work scheme offering, which is currently run by cycle solutions: https://www.cyclesolutions.co.uk/

Basically, this scheme is rubbish, as it only allows you to buy bikes through them, at full price, online only. They have a very poor range, and are expensive, so it's really not worth the bother.

I know that there are a lot better schemes out there, but which are the best? Ideally would want one that I could spend vouchers with, with a wide range of choice, and the option to test the bikes at 'bricks and mortar' premises, rather than just online.

Any recommendations would be most welcome!

veronese68

We use Cyclescheme which is probably the biggest of them. Seems to work well.

UndercoverElephant

Best is to self adminster. We do that at work, buy any bike from any shop, online or not, in the sale or not. These schemes don't do much for their money.

Snakebite the 2nd

Ours is run by Halfords.

I have had two bikes from them now, maybe not the best of places but your average punter will feel comfortable there.
This might be a factor for getting bums on saddles.

If the company will self administer, that will cater for the more serious rider.

thistle_

I can't find out who we use here (I've not joined it) but others have complained about payments not being taken and duplicate payments being taken each month and have said it's been a nightmare to sort out.

I got mine through cyclescheme with a previous company. Everything seemed to work well.

philcubed

Cyclescheme at our company too. There's a choice of 7 retailers in town, BSO shops, independent shops, specialized concept store, evans. Also online retailers can be used, wiggle, crc etc.

jamesco

Cyclescheme for our small office, too. My purchase had a slight hiccup - payments weren't taken for about six months or so, but rather than cause any fuss I just paid the arrears in a lump sum from the next pay packet.

A few others in the office bought bikes, too, and had no problems, so I guess overall they're okay.

I'm a bit lukewarm about the C2W Scheme, but that's not the question you're asking

graeme_s-2

thistle (MBNW) wrote:

I can't find out who we use here (I've not joined it) but others have complained about payments not being taken and duplicate payments being taken each month and have said it's been a nightmare to sort out.

I got mine through cyclescheme with a previous company. Everything seemed to work well.

Wouldn't be surprised if that is due to the payroll people at your place rather than the company who administer the scheme.

rhodrich

Thanks for the suggestions. Cyclescheme looks to be a safe bet, and a lot better than what we've got at the moment. I'll try and suggest self adminstration, but I don't think they're going to be game for that.

rower63

Rhodrich wrote:

Thanks for the suggestions. Cyclescheme looks to be a safe bet, and a lot better than what we've got at the moment. I'll try and suggest self adminstration, but I don't think they're going to be game for that.

they might if you volunteer to be the administrator?

jeepie1999

We use the halfords scheme which has a couple of good bits. You can get bikes from lots of other shops so are not tied to halfords.

Also, at the end of the period there is a tax liability if your employer gives you an asset. Halfords get around this by the employer giving halfords the asset and halfords renting it to the user for nothing. Other schemes make do this too, I don't know.

adambruntlett

Veronese68 wrote:

We use Cyclescheme which is probably the biggest of them. Seems to work well.

Same here, works well, and they have a pretty broad range of retailers you can buy from. The worst thing is lack of flexibility over where you can get bikes, as you point out, although good communication and admin is important too.

However, it doesn't include Halfords, which is where your average punter would most likely go to get a bike (as pointed out above) due to them not having the intimidation factor that might be felt going to a 'proper' bike shop.

At the end of the year's payments I had to pay a one-off fee (I think about £75 but depends on the value of the bike) to rent the bike for another 3 years, at which point it's completely mine.

bompington

adambruntlett wrote:

Veronese68 wrote:

We use Cyclescheme which is probably the biggest of them. Seems to work well.

Same here, works well, and they have a pretty broad range of retailers you can buy from. The worst thing is lack of flexibility over where you can get bikes, as you point out, although good communication and admin is important too.

However, it doesn't include Halfords, which is where your average punter would most likely go to get a bike (as pointed out above) due to the lack of intimidation that might be felt going to a 'proper' bike shop.

No, the worst thing is that as middleman they take their cut, which the retailers don't like, so a lot of them respond by:

1. not accepting them at all
2. Dumping the 10% fee on you
3. Getting narked enough not to give you good deals.

Self-administered is undoubtedly the best if your employer will go for it.

navt

We're with Cyclescheme and happy with them. They provide the voucher to the staff and invoice the company. It's down to us to administer the salary sacrifice/payroll deductions. Not aware that CS administer payroll deductions.