£3,000 on cycletowork to spend... Please help!

linneyliam0ROSBIww

Hi guys,
I'm fairly new to cycling and just trying to get in to it this year. I'm looking at the cycle to work scheme and happy to pay up to £3000 (-42% on the scheme).

There are so many bikes out there it's difficult to know what to go for, or in that vein, what to avoid.

Has anyone got any suggestions?

I'm briefly looking at:
Carbon
<8kg
105 or above
Disc brakes
Endurance class (see my other post about knee and ass pain)
Super comfortable

Thanks everyone
L

joe_totale-2

Canyon Endurace ticks your boxes although availability isn't great for smaller sizes:

https://www.canyon.com/en-gb/road-bikes/endurance-bikes/endurace/endurace-cf-sl-disc-8.0/2185.html?dwvar_2185_pv_rahmenfarbe=BK/GY

IIRC Canyon take Cycle 2 work now.

You aren't going to get much lighter if you're looking at a "super comfortable", "endurance" disc brake bike at your budget.

singleton

Cannondale Synapse carbon would be worth a look.

helterskelter

Around that price you could have pretty much anything you want. Canyon will get you more for your money and seriously impressive bikes. Partner got the disc ultimate with ultegra for under 2.5k. It’s very light and a lovely looking bike. Integrated flat top handlebar is much more comfortable too apparently.

londoncommuter

Which scheme as Canyon don't take CycleScheme so you may have to ignore some of the above?

Obviously you are going to use this to commute on and aren't considering tax evasion?

brundonbianchi

3 grand is quite a healthy budget for a commuter bike. All of the suggestions above are worth looking at, the main issue right now would be availability though. We are just about at the point where most manufacturers are starting to introduce / look to the 2021 model years.

me-109

My advice if you're "just getting in to it" would be to cut back on your aspirations a little, but used for £300-500 and see how much you use it and like it. Otherwise it's a hell of an outlay that you contractually can't sell for a while to recover any of the outlay.

alistaird

This would have been my choice :-). Parking not an issue but unfortunately these are sold out:


https://chpt3.com/products/brompton-x-chpt3-limited-edition?variant=50634174276

fenix

If you are commuting get a bike with full mudguards. Then it's so much more usable.
A three grand bike isn't twice as fast or twice as good as a 1500 one.

Take your time to understand what you need. I'd say most of us aren't riding three grand bikes.

s_j_pwmb

CtW and Green Cycle Initiative are a great idea but do watch for the pitfalls! What will your company expect you to pay at the end of the hire period (HMRC requires a minimum of 7%, which is £210 on a £3k bike), how much will insurance cost (you’ll be liable for continuing payments if it is stolen), is a £3k bike really a good idea for commuting? What limitations on supplier or brands will be placed on the purchase (which often means you get to pay full retail price without any discount)?

I bought a £1k CtW bike when the scheme first started, but have purchased a further three bikes outright myself as I consider the overall cost and limitations of the scheme to be overly restrictive (and that’s not even getting into the moral debate of actually using the bike for commuting purposes!)

N0bodyOfTheGoat

Forget the sub 8Kg requirement given you're new to cycling and get the new incoming grey/black Boardman ADV 8.9 for £1k?

https://www.halfords.com/bikes/adventure-bikes/boardman-adv-8.9-mens-adventure-bike-2021---s-m-l-xl-frames-389606.html

linneyliam0ROSBIww

Gosh, what a great response, thank you so much everyone for taking the time to reply, I really appreciate it and will take on board the comments!

Canyon do the Green Commute Initiative, which is a cycletowork equivalent so no tax evasion here don't worry ha!

When I say just getting in to it, I'm going out daily on a minimum of 10 miles and have been on several 30-45 milers. When I go out with my friends, they all seem to fly past me with significantly lower cadences.

As to the budget... It's my birthday coming up, I've just passed my last exam and got a tasty new job... Screw it I'm treating myself!

webboo

Super comfortable. You might to spend your 3 grand on a sofa, rather than ride a bike.

fenix

It's really not about the bike. Don't spend a penny until you get your position/problem sorted.

It's very easy to spend a lot of money on completely the wrong bike. A badly fitting superbike won't be as fast as a nicely fitting Halfords special.

If your pals are passing you with lower cadence they're just in higher gears. You'll improve with time.

londoncommuter

linneyliam0ROSBIww said:

Canyon do the Green Commute Initiative, which is a cycletowork equivalent so no tax evasion here don't worry ha!

That's not really the point, you should be using it for commuting to qualify. Didn't mean to make a meal of it just usually when people post about spending £3k they've no intention of it!

londoncommuter

Oh and congratulations on your employer using GCI, much better value than CycleScheme.

linneyliam0ROSBIww

londoncommuter said:

Oh and congratulations on your employer using GCI, much better value than CycleScheme.

It was part of my contract negotiation...

londoncommuter said:

linneyliam0ROSBIww said:

Canyon do the Green Commute Initiative, which is a cycletowork equivalent so no tax evasion here don't worry ha!

That's not really the point, you should be using it for commuting to qualify. Didn't mean to make a meal of it just usually when people post about spending £3k they've no intention of it!

I'm sure I'm reading too much in to this but.... I am planning on using to commute when they weather allows... But I also plan to use it in the evenings and weekends as well.

londoncommuter

The legislation says: "(3)Condition B is that the employee uses the cycle or equipment in question mainly for qualifying journeys."

HMRC guidance is "At least 50% of the cycle’s use must be for ‘qualifying journeys’, i.e. commuting to work purposes"

CycleScheme claim it's number of trips rather than miles that are relevant but not sure about that: "At least 50% of the bike and/or accessories use should be for work purposes. For example, if you used the bike 10 times in a year, at least 5 of those journies must be work-related. "

shortfall

londoncommuter said:

linneyliam0ROSBIww said:

Canyon do the Green Commute Initiative, which is a cycletowork equivalent so no tax evasion here don't worry ha!

That's not really the point, you should be using it for commuting to qualify. Didn't mean to make a meal of it just usually when people post about spending £3k they've no intention of it!

Yeah you sound like that guy who's really not trying to make a meal out of it.

londoncommuter

shortfall said:

londoncommuter said:

linneyliam0ROSBIww said:

Canyon do the Green Commute Initiative, which is a cycletowork equivalent so no tax evasion here don't worry ha!

That's not really the point, you should be using it for commuting to qualify. Didn't mean to make a meal of it just usually when people post about spending £3k they've no intention of it!

Yeah you sound like that guy who's really not trying to make a meal out of it.

Sorry rant over, off to pay the builder cash in hand......

linneyliam0ROSBIww

I don't know what's going on... I just wanted to gauge opinion about what a nice comfortable yet fast bike would be...

londoncommuter

Sorry, I think we (especially me) went off track a bit as it's very very unusual to want to spend £3k on a commuter as it doesn't make sense for so many reasons. Much better to get something cheaper that can get scratched in the bike racks and can have mudguards etc. Then get another lovely bike for social rides.

kingstonian

I’m about to order an Orbea Terra. I’m getting the carbon frame but they also do it in aluminium. It is a gravel bike but really good on road, mounts for mudguards too which is handy through the wet winter months. It could be your do anything bike.

teisetrotter

I'd recommend making the time to go to a good bike shop unless you're OK with the principle of ordering a stock bike and fitting yourself to the bike. I've been pedalling my race bike for many a year. As an insurance job for a crash, I got an off the shelf CAAD12, the first time ever and last time ever I do that. Wheels ... shocking, saddle .... shocking, wrong stem size, wrong handlebar size, tyres crap and the groupset was an abortion. The replacement price was £2,300 and when you look at it, £2,300 for a seat post, Alu' frame and two inner tubes is quite a lot.

If you are doing web order bikes then companies like Ribble are much better. As you can customise the bike. But my advice is to go for a bike fitting and get something for you and not what the bike company thinks it can get away with. It's all-round a very nice experience and you wheel out a bike all special for you.

linneyliam0ROSBIww

teisetrotter said:

I'd recommend making the time to go to a good bike shop unless you're OK with the principle of ordering a stock bike and fitting yourself to the bike. I've been pedalling my race bike for many a year. As an insurance job for a crash, I got an off the shelf CAAD12, the first time ever and last time ever I do that. Wheels ... shocking, saddle .... shocking, wrong stem size, wrong handlebar size, tyres censored and the groupset was an abortion. The replacement price was £2,300 and when you look at it, £2,300 for a seat post, Alu' frame and two inner tubes is quite a lot.

If you are doing web order bikes then companies like Ribble are much better. As you can customise the bike. But my advice is to go for a bike fitting and get something for you and not what the bike company thinks it can get away with. It's all-round a very nice experience and you wheel out a bike all special for you.

That's great advice thank you.

I should clarify, I'm not after a commuter bike, I'm after something I can commute on but can also go off a jolly on the weekend

joenobody

linneyliam0ROSBIww said:

I should clarify, I'm not after a commuter bike, I'm after something I can commute on but can also go off a jolly on the weekend

How far is your commute? Do you need to carry stuff (clothes, laptop, etc)? I did what you're proposing, and bought an aero bike that I have commuted on, but mostly use for non-commute riding. Part of the problem is that carrying my laptop and spare clothes in a rucksack isn't particularly comfortable and the bike isn't capable of taking a rack. Nor can it take mudguards, so I've only commuted when its dry. I've come to the conclusion that I need something better suited to commuting if I'm going to do it regularly, and that such a bike wouldn't satisfy my non-commute riding needs.