£500 Cycle to work

[pickup1980]

SORRY if you have had this all before.
But i work for the post office and all they give you for cycle 2 work voucher's is £500 topps with halfords.
halfords said i can pick a bike with the RRP of £500 but dont know were to start can anyone help.
Looking for a road bike with carbon forks and aleast 18 speed gears

 

[GrumpyGregry]

carrera vanquish is around that price or thereabouts isn't it. carrera's are ok, usually get tidy reviews in the press

you certain there is a £500 limit? most orgs it is £1000 because after that you need a consumer credit license

 

[pickup1980]

yes emailed them said £500 was the limit
I asked for £1000 forr the boardman carbon pro but they said NO

I got the carrera tdf 2008 the last time just fancied something diffrent

 

[GrumpyGregry]

well in theory Halfords can get you any bike on earth..... that is what they claim anyway.

 

[pickup1980]

they sent me links to look at
http://www.raleigh.co.uk/b_details.aspx?brand=8&id=5125&pt=14

http://www.specialized.com/gb/en/bc/SBCBkModel.jsp?spid=45679&eid=4350&menuItemId=8096

http://www.halfords.com/webapp/wcs/...eId=10001&catalogId=10151&langId=-1&x=25&y=15

and 2x2 race bike

 

[shippers]

You could always order something for a few quid more and add to it yourself. Might be worth it if the bike of your dreams is £599.

I know this is a dangerous though as you'll soon by looking at huge bank loans and putting the last £500 of the cost on the CTW.

 

[cyberknight]

for that price the vanquish is certainly the higher specced of the bikes on offer as it has tiagra shifters rather than 2300 , meaning you have a lever under the brakes rather than a button on the side making it easier to shift gears when using the drops .
Also has mounting points for a rack if you want to use it to commute.I must say i had a look at one in the shop last time i was in there and i am tempted to get one if work run C2W again .

All the bikes are much of a muchness otherwise pity you cannot go and try a few for size as even though the bike may have the same "size " they may have different reach(top tube length ).My bike i use for commuting needed a smaller stem to reduce reach recently .

EDIT
The boardmans start at £699 , all depends if you are willing and able to add another £200 to the voucher, cracking bike by all accounts.

 

[kewb]

vanquish/virtuoso
practically same bike imho
but massive price difference ?

id go for virtuoso and some gear if a first bike you could upgrade parts later for pennies .

just my twa pennies worth .

check out giant defy btw op ,
http://www.tredz.co.uk/.Giant-Defy-4-2009-Road-Bike_20151.htm

im friendly with the guy in locals halfords and wrangled a test run on a virtuoso
round car park and its a good bike for the money imho and he says they shift a lot of them you could get shoes and jkt etc with that bike all within £500 budget ?

 

[BrumJim]

they sent me links to look at


http://www.specialized.com/gb/en/bc/SBCBkModel.jsp?spid=45679&eid=4350&menuItemId=8096

and 2x2 race bike

I chose this one, having the same budget. Like it a lot.

 

[bauldbairn]

I chose this one, having the same budget. Like it a lot.

Just had a look - that Specialized Allez is one nice bike, I like the Silver.

 

[Willo]

I too have an Allez (triple in silver) and bought it via Halfords through the Cycle 2 Work scheme. As with BrumJim, I'm really enjoying in. Only problem I've had is a few punctures so may upgrade the tyres at some point as those on the bike have torn quite easily.

As a slight aside, I sat on bikes with both tiagra and 2300. I actually preferred the 2300 as tend to be mostly riding on the hoods when changing gears.

 

[BilboSmeggins]

I'm a postie too, and came up against the exact same problem. I thought I could skip into Halford's and choose a Boardman bike and just pay the difference. Halford's wouldn't have any of it, so I ended up buying the Vanquish. Cracking bike for the money though...... Not seen a bad review for it.