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Bike4Work scheme

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  • Nasqueron
    Nasqueron Posts: 10,761 Forumite
    Part of the Furniture 10,000 Posts Photogenic Name Dropper
    So are you saying nobody should buy a second hand bike in case it might be stolen? please!
    What are people who want to sell their bike to fund an upgrade supposed to do then? Leave it in the shed to rot? Rather wasteful in my eyes.


    Nope, I'm saying the c2w scheme is a better option than chancing it on a second hand bike of unknown providence. At the least you need to see the bike, get the serial number, check it's not reported stolen before you part with cash, see if the owner knows what they are talking about e.g. if it has clipless, does he know the type of pedal? Then, check over the entire bike, look for chain wear (take your tool), wheel true, any obvious scuff or impact marks that could be covered up, check shifters, will it need cables replacing (can you tell?), do gears shift nicely (indexing, new cassette?), is it the right height, is the seat post seized, can you adjust stuff. How worn are the tyres, do you need new ones soon etc etc

    It's a lot to check over before parting with money with no comeback with it being a private sale. A lot can go wrong for someone looking to start commuting on a bike with little experience (which C2W types tend to be)

    Sam 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.

  • Nasqueron
    Nasqueron Posts: 10,761 Forumite
    Part of the Furniture 10,000 Posts Photogenic Name Dropper
    Thats not correct.
    If you buy a house with a mortgage you do own the house. You simply have a loan that needs to be repaid. It doesnt mean the bank owns the house, it just means they will take ownership of it should payments stop. A slight technicality but needs to be mentioned.


    Which is exactly the same as the cycle scheme...


    Hence why it's a false analogy, it's not true and has been shown not to be true. Repeating it after you've been shown it not to be true is telling lies.

    Sam 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.

  • Nasqueron wrote: »
    Nope, I'm saying the c2w scheme is a better option than chancing it on a second hand bike of unknown providence. At the least you need to see the bike, get the serial number, check it's not reported stolen before you part with cash, see if the owner knows what they are talking about e.g. if it has clipless, does he know the type of pedal? Then, check over the entire bike, look for chain wear (take your tool), wheel true, any obvious scuff or impact marks that could be covered up, check shifters, will it need cables replacing (can you tell?), do gears shift nicely (indexing, new cassette?), is it the right height, is the seat post seized, can you adjust stuff. How worn are the tyres, do you need new ones soon etc etc

    It's a lot to check over before parting with money with no comeback with it being a private sale. A lot can go wrong for someone looking to start commuting on a bike with little experience (which C2W types tend to be)


    Fair enough. I disagree.
  • Nasqueron wrote: »
    Which is exactly the same as the cycle scheme...

    Hence why it's a false analogy, it's not true and has been shown not to be true. Repeating it after you've been shown it not to be true is telling lies.

    So why did you say you dont own a house if you have a mortgage?
  • Nasqueron
    Nasqueron Posts: 10,761 Forumite
    Part of the Furniture 10,000 Posts Photogenic Name Dropper
    Fair enough. I disagree.


    Disagree with what? The fact that buying a second hand bike for a novice rider with no experience is fraught with issues vs buying from a shop where you have comeback if there are any issues?


    So why did you say you dont own a house if you have a mortgage?


    I was making a facetious comment in response to the false claim in the post I quoted that you don't "own" the cycle to work bike after the loan to your company is paid back, as if that's some sort of barrier to using the bike

    Sam 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.

  • Nasqueron wrote: »
    Disagree with what? The fact that buying a second hand bike for a novice rider with no experience is fraught with issues vs buying from a shop where you have comeback if there are any issues?



    Yes I totally disagree with the above. Besides, it isnt a "fact", its your opinion.

    That aside OP did make the below comment. Funny kind of novice, but thats just my opinion.

    "I have used the scheme before, not the last bike two years ago but the one before that."
  • GibbsRule_No3.
    GibbsRule_No3. Posts: 510 Forumite
    Seventh Anniversary 100 Posts Name Dropper Photogenic
    Yes I totally disagree with the above. Besides, it isnt a "fact", its your opinion.

    That aside OP did make the below comment. Funny kind of novice, but thats just my opinion.

    "I have used the scheme before, not the last bike two years ago but the one before that."
    I don’t think Nas was referring to me as such, just that a new rider might feel better buying a new bike rather than a “cheaper” second hand one. Even with my years of riding to work, I would not consider a secondhand one either.
    Paddle No 21:wave:
  • Nasqueron
    Nasqueron Posts: 10,761 Forumite
    Part of the Furniture 10,000 Posts Photogenic Name Dropper
    Yes I totally disagree with the above. Besides, it isnt a "fact", its your opinion.

    That aside OP did make the below comment. Funny kind of novice, but thats just my opinion.

    "I have used the scheme before, not the last bike two years ago but the one before that."


    It's a fact that buying a second hand bike has more risk and needs more skill than buying a new bike from store, that's not an opinion - all the reasons I listed above are things a new rider would need to check, which of those are not factual?


    The only mention of the OP in the context of C2W is that first post, it's perfectly clear to anyone reading this that the discussion is about C2W in general, not the OP.

    Sam 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.

  • Spidernick
    Spidernick Posts: 3,803 Forumite
    1,000 Posts Combo Breaker
    molerat wrote: »
    Why is that ?

    All seems perfectly within the rules to me.
    £800 - 42% = £464 / 12 = £38.66. 7% of £800 = £56.

    I thought it wasn't as simple as that and you had to pay the full VAT, with no tax and NI relief on that? Certainly when I did it years ago I struggled to work out how they came up with the monthly amount I paid (even factoring in the VAT)! Saying that, I thought it was still good value.
    'I want to die peacefully in my sleep, like my father. Not screaming and terrified like his passengers.' (Bob Monkhouse).

    Sky? Believe in better.

    Note: win, draw or lose (not 'loose' - opposite of tight!)
  • Nasqueron
    Nasqueron Posts: 10,761 Forumite
    Part of the Furniture 10,000 Posts Photogenic Name Dropper
    Spidernick wrote: »
    I thought it wasn't as simple as that and you had to pay the full VAT, with no tax and NI relief on that? Certainly when I did it years ago I struggled to work out how they came up with the monthly amount I paid (even factoring in the VAT)! Saying that, I thought it was still good value.


    If you are going through PAYE you simply put the value of the bike into the website, get the certificate, the firm pays for the bike and you pay the firm back through your payslip before tax / NI is done so you appear to earn less, so pay less tax, hence the savings

    Sam 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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