Full carbon on cycle to work scheme?

mattstone2000

I'm interested to see if I can get a decent full carbon bike on c2w. My employer allows us to add an upfront payment to the £1k credit, although of course the more that you add the less % you save. I'm looking for a sportive style bike - something I can do my relatively short commute on, but will also be suited to regular 30+ mile rides in evenings and weekends.

I've narrowed things down to three ideas. What do people think?:

Planet X Pro Carbon with Ultegra: http://www.planetx.co.uk/i/q/CBPXSLPULT ... -road-bike
This bike seems to get discussed a lot, although often with a split between those who think it's a great deal and those who think its held back by quite an ageing frameset. Plus they will add £100 for buying it with c2w.

Cube Attain GTC Race 2016: http://www.chainreactioncycles.com/cube ... prod141419

Ribble Sportive Racing with 105: http://www.ribblecycles.co.uk/ribble-sportive-racing/

And any other suggestions?

mrb123

mattstone2000 wrote:

I'm interested to see if I can get a decent full carbon bike on c2w. My employer allows us to add an upfront payment to the £1k credit, although of course the more that you add the less % you save. I'm looking for a sportive style bike - something I can do my relatively short commute on, but will also be suited to regular 30+ mile rides in evenings and weekends.

I've narrowed things down to three ideas. What do people think?:

Planet X Pro Carbon with Ultegra: http://www.planetx.co.uk/i/q/CBPXSLPULT ... -road-bike
This bike seems to get discussed a lot, although often with a split between those who think it's a great deal and those who think its held back by quite an ageing frameset. Plus they will add £100 for buying it with c2w.

Cube Attain GTC Race 2016: http://www.chainreactioncycles.com/cube ... prod141419

Ribble Sportive Racing with 105: http://www.ribblecycles.co.uk/ribble-sportive-racing/

And any other suggestions?

How about the Cube with hydraulic discs for £50 more?
http://www.hargrovescycles.co.uk/cube-a ... 3d2073b406

mattstone2000

Thanks for the tip. Haven't really felt the urge to go for disc brakes before, and a bit hesitant about the extra .75kg on that model though.

phil485

Just done very similar with a Dolan Dual.
Been very impressed with how it rides.
Using it for my commutes and winter weekend club rides

lakesluddite

mattstone2000 wrote:

Thanks for the tip. Haven't really felt the urge to go for disc brakes before, and a bit hesitant about the extra .75kg on that model though.

Well the lower spec model might not fit your weight criteria, but it would come in under the £1000 in the sale:

http://www.hargrovescycles.co.uk/bikes/ ... -bike.html

Discs are great! Especially for commuting if in the wet - and I think this model fits 'guards as well, which is also a commuting essential.

mrb123

mattstone2000 wrote:

Thanks for the tip. Haven't really felt the urge to go for disc brakes before, and a bit hesitant about the extra .75kg on that model though.

I wouldn't worry too much about the extra weight. Not something you'd be likely to notice, being probably less than 1% of the total weight of rider and bike.

Discs have some advantages if you're planning to use the bike to commute. Better braking in the wet. You won't ever wear out your rims. Potentially better clearance so scope to fit bigger tyres and/or mudguards.

The small price difference between the bikes makes that hydro model much the better value.

diamonddog

Planet X RT80 @ £999.99

kingrollo

Be sure to factor in all the extra's with c2w

_the transfer of ownership fee

-repayments if you extend the hire purchase beyond a year

and of course the fact that if you got a 0% credit card - you may be able to buy cheaper anyway.

timothyw

And of course some retailers charge a premium on cyclescheme purchases (some only on sale bikes), some others (eg wiggle) only have certain bikes available for cyclescheme purchase.

Transfer of ownership fee is a bit of a non issue given that cyclescheme (and I presume others) allow you to 'extend the hire' to five years for a small nominal fee, at which point the taxable value of the bike is zero and it becomes legally yours (although in practice it is yours pretty much from the start).

The vast majority of people will save at least a few quid by going via Cyclescheme, although worth bearing in mind it does make it harder to change jobs should you so desire (during the first year of salary sacrifice - if you do the above mentioned hire extension then it is no longer tied to your employer).

You can usually find full carbon Giant's for cyclescheme friendly prices - I bought a TCR a couple of years ago which I've been very happy with, although you might be better off with a Defy from what you're describing.

smoggysteve

TimothyW wrote:

And of course some retailers charge a premium on cyclescheme purchases (some only on sale bikes), some others (eg wiggle) only have certain bikes available for cyclescheme purchase.

Transfer of ownership fee is a bit of a non issue given that cyclescheme (and I presume others) allow you to 'extend the hire' to five years for a small nominal fee, at which point the taxable value of the bike is zero and it becomes legally yours (although in practice it is yours pretty much from the start).

The vast majority of people will save at least a few quid by going via Cyclescheme, although worth bearing in mind it does make it harder to change jobs should you so desire (during the first year of salary sacrifice - if you do the above mentioned hire extension then it is no longer tied to your employer).

You can usually find full carbon Giant's for cyclescheme friendly prices - I bought a TCR a couple of years ago which I've been very happy with, although you might be better off with a Defy from what you're describing.

This. You can get a Giant Defy Ultegra for around a grand if you look around. Loads of sales on atm

mattstone2000

Yeah, I had reservations about cyclescheme at first, but unless I'm missing something it seems too good of a deal to pass up. On a £1k bike its a 42% saving with a year's interest free credit, plus a £70 fee to 'extend the hire' (i.e. keep the bike). No transfer of ownership fee if you do this. Even if the seller charges £100 admin fee (which sadly I realise now that Ribble do) it is still a big saving. Not sure how a 0% credit card would give you a better deal. :-/

PX RT-80 does look very good too.

Haven't had much look finding Giant Defys at that price point, but definitely something I'd consider.

And I wasn't aware of Dolan much until now. Do they have a decent rep?

Bluejuice

I went for a 2016 Giant Defy Advanced Pro....it needed a fairly significant £500 "top up" on the C2W £1k.

I'm unlikely to get domestic sign off on another bike for a very long time (already have 3 MTBs) so I opted to pay a bit more and get what I really want first time.

That said for my needs the alloy defy would have been spot on, but need and wants are not the same!

davesnothere

As above watch out for cyclescheme premium on sale bikes. Both Hargroves and Rutland charge an extra 12% for using cyclescheme if it against a bike that's in the sale

smoggysteve

DavesNotHere wrote:

As above watch out for cyclescheme premium on sale bikes. Both Hargroves and Rutland charge an extra 12% for using cyclescheme if it against a bike that's in the sale

Why? Its so easy to just go elsewhere. I would haggle them down or just walk away with that attitude. Its a sale bike for a reason.

londoncommuter

SmoggySteve wrote:

DavesNotHere wrote:

As above watch out for cyclescheme premium on sale bikes. Both Hargroves and Rutland charge an extra 12% for using cyclescheme if it against a bike that's in the sale

Why? Its so easy to just go elsewhere. I would haggle them down or just walk away with that attitude. Its a sale bike for a reason.

Presumably because they get charged by the scheme providers so why they should they take the hit?

bayhota

Bloody Halford is a pain in the arse £1000, can't top it up and all I want is a carbon bike with 105. The specialized tarmac sport was £999.99 but because it's slightly increased yo £1045, rules out this option.

Hinaultscrapcousin

londoncommuter wrote:

SmoggySteve wrote:

DavesNotHere wrote:

As above watch out for cyclescheme premium on sale bikes. Both Hargroves and Rutland charge an extra 12% for using cyclescheme if it against a bike that's in the sale

Why? Its so easy to just go elsewhere. I would haggle them down or just walk away with that attitude. Its a sale bike for a reason.

Presumably because they get charged by the scheme providers so why they should they take the hit?

This. There was a thread about it elsewhere. Basically they get charged that fee so it is, in effect, taking another 12% of the sale price of the bike and cutting into their margins. If you want the sale price pay the full cost up front.

bayhota

After being on the phone to Ribble, it looks like I'm going to go with this:-
http://www.ribblecycles.co.uk/ribble-sp ... l-edition/

For an extra £250 it's full ultegra, and a carbon frame.

I don't think there is anything else I could get better for my money.