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Bike to work scheme 2016
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Mr_Singleton wrote: »
A quick look on Evans Cycles website shows lots of 2016 bike with up to 25% discounts. They also offer 0% finance. Worth noting is that any safety gear you buy via cycle to work schemes will have 20% VAT added not so if you buy it direct.
It depends when you buy really, if you are in the sale time (generally August on when the 2017 bikes start flooding the market), any bike with a saving over 30% with 0% finance is probably better than the cycle scheme as that is around 30% saving, a <25% discount will work out cheaper on cycle to work.
As an example:
Bike costs £1000
With cyclescheme full term you save £319.12
Add on the extended hire of £70
Total saving = £249.12
Bike costs you £750.88 or approx 25% off RRP
Bike costs £1000
25% discount sale bike - £250 off
Bike costs you £750
Any saving less than 25% the cycle scheme works out cheaper
Note you may also be able to have a haggle with staff to see if they will let you get a small discounted sale bike on the c2w scheme. Evans also need £499 spend minimum for the 0% finance. Also work nothing that not everyone qualifies for a 0% finance deal or 0% cardMr_Singleton wrote: »All cycle to work savings are based on you staying in the scheme for the full term. If you don't then as has been pointed out your company won't want the bike back BUT it will deduct up to 25% of the bikes value from your final pay packet.
This is incorrect, the information on the cycle to work websites is freely available - if you leave the scheme early (redundancy, quitting, fired etc) you have to pay off the rest of the finance without the tax saving - it's not 25% of the bike value - the whole point of c2w is your company loans you the money to pay the bike, you pay them back via your salary or wage and as it reduces your take home pay, you pay less taxSam Vimes' Boots Theory of Socioeconomic Unfairness:
People are rich because they spend less money. A poor man buys $10 boots that last a season or two before he's walking in wet shoes and has to buy another pair. A rich man buys $50 boots that are made better and give him 10 years of dry feet. The poor man has spent $100 over those 10 years and still has wet feet.
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Quite funny really. Just been reading the thread about whether or not a modern bike is better than a 30 year old bike. Model years on bikes don't make much difference. Often just a change of colour or tyre. Often the more recent one has a worse specification and you can guess the company is trying to make the bike more profitable. I have been looking at bike specs for years and I often prefer last years spec.
It depends how much attention you pay to the specific changes as opposed to the general changes and factor in the improvements in gearing.
A tiagra 4700 is on a par like the old 105 5700 so a bike with the tiagra gears on will be cheaper due to the tech level but will perform almost the same as the 105.
Shimano tend to do the groupset upgrades in 4 year cycles (e.g. ultegra 6700 out around October 2009 and the 6800 announced May 2013 or 105 5700 announced Feb 2010 and 105 5800 announced April 2014) so it may seem like the specs don't change year on year but only if you look at a specific groupset name not model.
If brand A has the 105 5700 in 2014 then they may release a cheaper tiagra spec in 2015 which seems like a downgrade but if it's the new 4700 it's not really.
Trickle down tech is what to look for as considerable improvements can be gained for a reduced bike cost. Don't just look at name, look at spec - the "new colour, new tyre" changes are realistically only 1 year in 4 as the groupsets will either be new or replaced with the improved versionSam Vimes' Boots Theory of Socioeconomic Unfairness:
People are rich because they spend less money. A poor man buys $10 boots that last a season or two before he's walking in wet shoes and has to buy another pair. A rich man buys $50 boots that are made better and give him 10 years of dry feet. The poor man has spent $100 over those 10 years and still has wet feet.
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Hi Guys,
Reading this thread with interest. Can I ask a couple of questions please.
Does anyone actually check if you are using the bike for work? I`m in the process of moving work site and not sure if it would be viable to cycle although I still want to get a cycle.
Also I was in Halfords today and they had some great deals, are bikes on promotion part of the scheme? and if so what if the price changes while you wait for your certificate?
Finally I would be spending less than 500 max and as a basic rate taxpayer would the scheme be worth it in the long run?
Many thanks
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I looked into it, and made the conclusion it is cheaper to buy 2nd hand.0
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FUNKYDADDIO wrote: »Hi Guys,
Reading this thread with interest. Can I ask a couple of questions please.
Does anyone actually check if you are using the bike for work? I`m in the process of moving work site and not sure if it would be viable to cycle although I still want to get a cycle.
Also I was in Halfords today and they had some great deals, are bikes on promotion part of the scheme? and if so what if the price changes while you wait for your certificate?
Finally I would be spending less than 500 max and as a basic rate taxpayer would the scheme be worth it in the long run?
Many thanks
I am pretty sure no-one checks if its's used for work. The only loser is the taxman so I can't see the HMRC sending an inspector to check who is cycling to work.
Well done for choosing a £500 bike. £500 is plenty to spend on a commuting bike. Where I work lots of people got a nice shiny £1000 bike with totally hilarious useless security and then promptly got them stolen.
No idea about the other questions0 -
parking_question_chap wrote: »I looked into it, and made the conclusion it is cheaper to buy 2nd hand.
It's always cheaper to buy 2nd hand, but you probably won't get Shimano's latest 4 yearly upgrade to it's groupset. Personally I'd rather keep my pension and have the previous groupset but it's up to individuals to choose what's important for them.0 -
It's always cheaper to buy 2nd hand, but you probably won't get Shimano's latest 4 yearly upgrade to it's groupset. Personally I'd rather keep my pension and have the previous groupset but it's up to individuals to choose what's important for them.
Are there that many people who have that sort of pension scheme though?
2nd hand also you don't know how much it's been thrashed, you might be able to spot any obvious damage with a good look but there could be stuff covering cracks or evidence of a crash
Spending £500 on a commuter bike is fine, gets you on the cheaper end of term deposit and isn't such a worry about it getting stolen and then buy accessories later. There is certainly no rush to buy top of the range groupsets but the newer version of a groupset is always better specced (weight, smoothness of shifting, reliability etc) whatever you might prefer personally, if the price is the same, only a fool would take a 2015 bike with say 4600 tiagra over a 2016 4700Sam Vimes' Boots Theory of Socioeconomic Unfairness:
People are rich because they spend less money. A poor man buys $10 boots that last a season or two before he's walking in wet shoes and has to buy another pair. A rich man buys $50 boots that are made better and give him 10 years of dry feet. The poor man has spent $100 over those 10 years and still has wet feet.
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2nd hand also you don't know how much it's been thrashed, you might be able to spot any obvious damage with a good look but there could be stuff covering cracks or evidence of a crash
Granted, but you could buy a new bike and the brake fail or a wheel falls off going down a hill. Nothing is risk free.
Even with a service from a reputable local bike store, you are going to be better off buying used imo.0 -
parking_question_chap wrote: »Granted, but you could buy a new bike and the brake fail or a wheel falls off going down a hill. Nothing is risk free.
Even with a service from a reputable local bike store, you are going to be better off buying used imo.
There is substantially less chance of that happening on a new bike from a reputable shop i.e. not Halfords than there is on a second hand bike where you have little to no recourse - at least if the wheel falls off (which let's be honest, is not going to happen is it?) you have consumer rights to go back to the shop with.
In terms of buying a bike and saving money with the added bonus of a free 6 week checkup to deal with the cables bedding in etc, a new bike always rules over a second hand bike.
With a second hand bike you have little to no recourse and are at the mercy of whatever the previous owner did, or did not do, in terms of servicing and maintenance - they may think skipping gears or poor braking was normal, unlikely a bike selling for a few hundred will be that well cared for - and that's assuming it's not stolen of course.
Buy from a shop, ignore hypothetical scare stories, the average bike commuter isn't going to want to do lengthy bike maintenance to fix up a second hand ragged bikeSam Vimes' Boots Theory of Socioeconomic Unfairness:
People are rich because they spend less money. A poor man buys $10 boots that last a season or two before he's walking in wet shoes and has to buy another pair. A rich man buys $50 boots that are made better and give him 10 years of dry feet. The poor man has spent $100 over those 10 years and still has wet feet.
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Buy from a shop, ignore hypothetical scare stories, the average bike commuter isn't going to want to do lengthy bike maintenance to fix up a second hand ragged bike
Its not difficult to give a used bike a good once over before buying. Even a novice could do this after watching a couple of basic youtube clips.
You make it sound like servicing the Saturn 5 rocket.0
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