£1000 on cycle to work

stueyc
stueyc Posts: 518
edited December 2008 in Road beginners
too much to choose from...help please

allez 2009 elite
cube attempt
focus cayo 105 2009
colnago primavera
bianchi c2c 2009 105
1885 2008 veloce
scott s30

Comments

  • Best thing to do is see if you ca test ride any of them and see which one fits best and you prefer the feel of.
  • also the Boardman Team Carbon 09 for £999 with sram rival....
  • stueyc
    stueyc Posts: 518
    spec spot on on boardman....just can't get my head round ''its a Boardman!!!''
  • doyler78
    doyler78 Posts: 1,951
    Are you sure the Focus is an option as it has a list price £1075.99 which in the past has meant that it will not be available to anyone who doesn't use their cycle to work scheme or any organisation which runs it own scheme and allows you buy from Wiggle.
  • stueyc
    stueyc Posts: 518
    im under the impression halfords state they can source and bike??
  • alfablue
    alfablue Posts: 8,497
    Most bikes, I don't think they can source from Wiggle - worth a try though!
  • kingrollo
    kingrollo Posts: 3,198
    i was looking at this ...and you can get a nice dolan for £1000
  • kingrollo
    kingrollo Posts: 3,198
    i was looking at this ...and you can get a nice dolan for £1000
  • Scrumple
    Scrumple Posts: 2,665
    edited December 2008
    The cycle to work thing is an initiative which is "facilitated" by a few profit making companies.

    Every year people assume that it is one scheme that is universal. In fact, it is a way an employer can deduct wages to pay free of tax.
    The "facilitators" charge for the service (reducing the headache of admin for the employees) and take a cut from the poor bike seller!
    The sellers win in the end as sales go up, despite profit per bike going down.

    Some major retailers have their own scheme (e.g. Halfords, or Wiggle). Local Bike Shops would go under if they had to wait each month for instalments, so the "facilitator" pays up front and takes the hit out of the profit from its fee.

    SO... YOU NEED TO KNOW which scheme you are on! "Cycle to work scheme" is not the same as Halford's own. Your employer picks one... or if it is clever it just runs the initiative itself and cuts out the facilitator.

    What confuses most is that one company (profit making) is called "Cycle to Work Scheme" which is NOT, I repeat NOT the same thing as the cycling to work initiative!!


    Halfords wont sell any bike that is listed above £1000, Wiggle may sell it for £999 but they wont give one to Halfords for that (even if they did Halfords wont make anything from the deal if they sell it to you at £999!). Read the "actual price" before discounts.

    Wiggle wont supply bikes to anyone but their partner shop near the factory. If you are under the "cycle to work" scheme (most small retailers use this) you'd have to buy the Cayo from the Wiggle partner store. The condition? You need to physically go to Portsmouth to pick it up (part of the contract between stores and "cycle to work").

    I believe (not 100% sure) that Planet X were with "cycle to work" but fell foul of some of the rules.

    So... you need to see who your employer has picked before you can even begin to make your shortlist !

    "Cycle to work scheme"
    = anything your LBS can get their hands on if they have signed up with the company and pay them a fee per sale.
    Halfords = any bike that they can source for under £1000 (they can advise as what you see advertised is not always what they have to pay. Focus bikes they can get are the cheaper ones in the range, NOT Cayo's).
    Wiggle = anything they stock to £1000

    Going over £1000 isn't an option unless your employer has paid for a certificate to allow this (wont bore you with details, but your employer will know).
    Some LBS shops may allow a sale of a bike over £1k by creating £1000 sale on paper, and charging you the excess for cash - although this isn't "allowed" and is usually done face to face and kept between you and them! Don't be offended if they refuse as their contracts depend on it!
  • stueyc
    stueyc Posts: 518
    dolan mythos is very tidy
  • alfablue
    alfablue Posts: 8,497
    Scrumple, just for the avoidance of confusion, the facilitator (I think) you refer to as "Cycle to Work" is in fact "Cyclescheme" - this is the one most LBS's sign up to.

    Cyclescheme stopped dealing with Planet-X in September, they cancelled my voucher after the bike was being built stating a "system incompatability" :roll:

    With a little cajoling (like quoting the 200 bikes they had already provided for my employer) they agreed to honour my voucher, but there will be no more unfortunately.
  • doyler78
    doyler78 Posts: 1,951
    Sorry never got the whole poor LBS because they get charged a commission argument. It just doesn't stack up.

    The standard commission that the facilitators take is 10% as I understand it. As they will only sell bikes, even those on sale at greater than 10%, at full retail cost they an actually make more money on some of the sales and even for those that they don't I really think 10% discount for increased business brought to them. I think that LBS were finding it increasingly difficult to compete at the £700 to £1300 market with online etailers and what Cycle to Work has done has allowed them to compete better.
  • I was looking for an audax type bike, of which Halfords don't stock any. Unfortunately, the company I work for use Halfords to run their scheme. I had one hell of a task to find something that they could order. They should have had a 'sold to order' catalogue in store, but in the local store they didn't know what one of those was.

    I finally came upon a Condor Agio, which takes full guards and a rack, if I need it. The full guards are needed for the condition of one of the lanes I ride along near work. To Condor's credit, they advertised that they could deal with Halfords, so they got my order.

    My LBS said they were willing to fudge the quote on a Ridley Triton, but when it came down to it the quote didn't arrive. The Triton looked too chunkey and industrial compared to the Condor.
    To err is human, but to make a real balls up takes a super computer.
  • stueyc
    stueyc Posts: 518
    anyone know of a decent halfords in the yorkshire area?...cycle to work uses halfords and ideally wanna go to one where guys are half decent
  • Stueyc

    I ordered a Boardman last night from the Huddersfield branch of Halfords, if you ask for a guy called Kieran he's really helpful, seems like he knows what he's on about.

    Halifax are crap.
  • stueyc
    stueyc Posts: 518
    Thanks Andy
  • They also had a team carbon 09 in stock, not sure which size though, fantastic looking things! Dura Ace specced carbon bike for £999!! wish I'd have spent a bit more now really!!