ChrisB

Nope, not quite.

HMRC have issued a Group Consumer Credit Licence with a limit of £1000 for companies participating in C2W.

Companies can let employees go above £1000 but their employer needs to have their own Consumer Credit License.

See Section 9.1.

Matteeboy

Chris - I nearly fell foul of that "rule" but adding my own top up was allowed.

SiPie

The thing about this is that in reality, anyone one in their right mind wouldn't commute on any bike over £1,000, in the summer possibly, but winter, a big giant from me.

I had to pitch the cycle to work sheme to my employers and trying to justify why we needed the license to buy bikes above £1,000 was impossible (as cheap as the license is).

Maximum daily commuting distance by any member of our staff (616 staff) was 20 miles (by me funnily enough) and if I couldn't find a reason to go over £1,000 for me, then it was always going to be a struggle.

ScoTTyB

Just got this for my commute:

SiPie

No use without pedals mate




Nice

Bonehead

I nearly signed up last november for one of the Boardman bikes. I'm thinking about having another look at it soon as my work are going to be running another cycle2work scheme.
The Boardman's really the only choice as we can only get stuff from Halfrauds.

AC, any chance you're employed by the same folks as me? They work from Deepdale Lane in Nettleham

J4CKO

iTrader: (1)

Matteeboy, 4000 miles in a year is commitment ! ditto Kieran, unfortunately I cant get them to move me to a further away office, now the weather/light is better will do longer routes home.

Did 20 miles this morning, had to pick up new specs from the Opticians (7 miles away), was going to go in the car but had arranged a pub lunch with the missus, so thought I would build up an appetite which I did but it took me longer, therefore I got back in time for lunch but there wasn't time for "Starters" as she was hungry (for food) by then....

Bugger !

J4CKO

iTrader: (1)

Why is it when I hear Stumpjumper, I always think of Paul McCartney ?

SiPie

Got to agree with J4CKO on this one, if I worked from home I'd find it hard to discipline myself to go out every day. I'd probably go out on the MTB a copule of times a week. Different with my commute as it HAS to be done (well, could take the car if I was lazily inclined) but hey, hats off to ya Matteeboy

Matteeboy

Si - I am borderline obsessive on exercise though. It's not right really.
LOL on Stumpjumper line!!

Random but just had a two hour surf in big and heavy waves. Friggin hell that was what I call a workout!!

Kieran_Burns

iTrader: (1)

The brakes are great and require heardly any pressure to bring you to a screeching halt. There are also second separate brake levers on the bars which are very useful in town - it does limit the space for lights and the like but i fitted a short neck extender bar which works great.

You've got road geometry (albeit slightly relaxed), 32c tyres, but they look bigger and have a slick mid section. 27 gears ranging from 30/32 to 50/11 on 700c wheels. I think this gives you a very wide range for any damn hill up or down!

There are mounts for panniers and guards if you want them - the top bar has a flat undersection which is great for carrying the bike (if you need to).

Really I can't fault it - I do an eclectic mix of surfaces on the way to and from work and needed something that suited them all, the CX bike was ideal and the tricross ticked all the boxes.

..edit..

just remembered one issue: there is limited space between the pedals and front wheel. I catch my foot on the front mudguard but only at low speeds never when on the road.

Kieran_Burns

iTrader: (1)

A guy over on Bikeradar made the comment that some Halfords will supply ANY bike requested if they are given a good lead time. Plus I could swear I saw a Cannondale in one mag in my local one.

LanCat

Yep, I have been told the same Halfords will supply most brands that have common distributors but there are limitations on returns. You obviously can't try it before you buy and they may not be able to set it up as well as a bike they are familiar with.

Deciding then becomes much harder

Kieran_Burns

iTrader: (1)

LBS can get you set up properly if you pop down.

Which reminds me....

yoza

Ste,






I bought a £1000 bike through the scheme, but not through Jag, I did it through JLT.

The final payment was the same as the monthly payment, dead easy, didnt notice it going out the account.

Plus Halfords gave me £100 of free accessories whith the bike, so go a computer/upgrade pedals/microlight kit and tyre upgrade.

All in all cost me £750 ish.

I have used it alot, 57 miles in 18months.

moneys

iTrader: (5)

Pete

who is JLT? are you another name i can add to my list that im going to give to work soon then mate?

J4CKO

iTrader: (1)

Yoza, thats a nice enough bike but I reckon full sussers put people off cycling unless they are off road all the time, I bet on road that bike is a right lump, I suspect that if you sold it bought something like a Specialized Allez or even a Carrera Subway you would feel more like riding it.

Some of the MTB's are basically scrambler bikes without the engine, people buy a bike and gravitate towards stuff like that as it does look good when in reality a full susser is a specialised piece of equipment and should be about the third bike you buy in any given collection, first being a nice Hybrid that with a change of tyres can do pretty much anything ok, maybe a nice road bike if you take the road direction, hardtail MTB if you prefer off road and then a full susser when feel a solid rear end limits what you can do, after that you get into downhill bikes, single speeders, tourers, Time Trial bikes etc

yoza

My wife works for JLT pensions, she did the deal through them.

Steve I wont be buying another, although I did see the last E-mail through work with the LandRover bikes some were very high spec bikes at a good price.

Jacko you are dead right, I bought it because it looked good and was the most expensive in the shop....so there a two good reasons NOT to buy it.

It does ride well though and the front and rear suss can be locked out solid when your on the fly, or the other way around if you hit the rough stuff, not that I would know what rough stuff was.

The bottle cage is ideal for carring your rolled up Sunday papers though.

I find it easier to ride this.






Less effort more fun.

alpha charlie

Agreed matey, when you are tied to Haflords the options arent great

No matey I work south of the city at the side of the A15

Cheers
AC

yoza

Steve this may be of some use to you, and by complete coincidence there is a picture of you sporting your helmet on the home page.



Tax free bikes for work through the Government's Green Transport Initiative - Cyclescheme, provider of Cycle to Work schemes for UK employers

moneys

iTrader: (5)

haha looks just like me whilst im giving you a chinese burn you mean

been on there mate, got loads of info, i really cant understand why there dragging there heels bout it. if you read it it tells you about the way you paying it is classed as salary sacrifice, remember the recent wish list in work an what they wanted to do with the way we pay our pensions? surely this will also save them money

ChrisB

Here's my C2W purchase:



~8.2kg - goes like stink

Gordon Brown... nice one

Gutmann pug

I say he will

Gutmann pug

Bought myself a £400 bike (4 months ago) for £15 per month and around £20 at the end. Job's a good un

PG

'07 I got this:

Spesh Stumpjumper comp.

Last year I got:

Bionicon Golden Willow.

Both were expensive bikes that exceeded the limit .......
Lets just say that it's handy if one of your colleagues isn't using their allowance (and you have the cash equivalent plus a wee bit more) and your bike shop will work along with you it's a shame to see it go to waste

This year, if it runs again I'll prob. replace one of my road bikes with a nice carbon number.

J4CKO

iTrader: (1)

Summer is on its way, switched tyres from the mixed road/knobbly 37 mm and went back to 28 mm slicks, also a wardrobe change to full Lycra gayness instead of a big yellow Night Vision Rainproof.

**** me what a difference, was averaging 12 to 14 mph, best last summer was a 15.5, today I beat that by 2 mph, 17.5 mph average over the 14 miles. Well pleased, will hopefully improve on that over the summer, I would love to try it on that lovely Carbon road bike of Chris's, wonder how much difference it would make compared to 40 lbs of Cannondale Hybrid and panniers ?

SiPie

With the winds we get up here, I need that extra weight for ballast

That damned South Westerly would blow my skeletal 11 1/2 stones away if I was on a road bike

Current state of Edinburgh's roads rule out a road bike for me at the moment, tis dire to say the least. Assume every council employee who could fill a hole is busy working on the current 'tram installation fiasco project'

moneys

iTrader: (5)

im hoping to buy my road bike by the end of the month, either with the scheme or not, i will still be pushing for the scheme to be brought in though, im going for the allez road bike, not sure wether to go for the sport or push my budget that bit more and get the next one up that is very highly spec,d

this
http://www.formbycycles.co.uk/images/prod_5382.jpg

or this
Specialized Allez Elite 09 : Formby Cycles :: BMX Bikes, Mountain Bikes, Road Bikes, Ladies Bikes & Folding Bikes

what do you think? is it worth the extra cash or do i wait till i really get into it and then upgrade?

J4CKO

iTrader: (1)

Money's, let me know how you get on, I suspect the Allez Elite might be my next one.

PG

The Allez elite does offer very good value for money!
I have this Allez:


It offered ve-e-e-ery good value as split new out of the box (with campag and ITM upgrades) it cost me the grand total of £140 There's a story there and it's mostly all legit
That's my commuter, well, will be once I get my finger out again and this:



is for the nice days.