Cycle to work Schemes

[redste]

Hi all, another newbie here.
I'm thinking of upgrading to a road bike and am looking at taking advantage of the cycle to work scheme, however all is not as easy as it 1st seems.
The company I work for (NHS) use Bikes for the NHS scheme which has very few bike shops close by .
I have seen the reviews of the Triban 3 from Decathalon on here and it looked like it was ideal for me. However Decathalon use a different C2W scheme (cyclescheme.co.uk) therefore I can't use it. Also my LBS is on the cyclescheme too.
Has anyone had simmilar problems and any way round it?
Thanks
PS Hope it all makes sense

 

[Raging Squirrel]

I thought you could use any scheme as long as all.your details were correct and your employer confirmed it? Maybe not

 

[redste]

It seems like each organisation uses a particular scheme. I don't think a hospital will change schemes just for one employee!

 

[Braeiach]

As far as I know employers are free to decide how they implement the scheme, even implementing it themselves if they see fit. It makes sense though to work with a 3rd party who can deal with the administration side of things - someone such as cyclescheme.co.uk. The main downside is that you are sadly tied to those bike shops which work with those schemes.

I also work for the NHS and got my bike (Giant Defy) via cyclescheme and my LBS. Even if I wanted to I couldn't have gone to Halfords, for example. I still would thoroughly recommend it though - the tax break and money I got from selling my old bike meant that my out of pocket costs are approx £500 - £600 for a bike that was £1,000.

 

[lejogger]

I'm afraid you will be limited by which shops are affiliated with your particular scheme. Your best bet will be to visit one of the shops and if they don't have anything in that you like, find out what they may be able to get hold of for you. Or speak to Bikes for the NHS yourself and see if they can perhaps get your LBS onto their affiliation list?

 

[redste]

My problem is that I'm on a limited budget. The Triban 3 looked ideal, but Decathalon and my LBS are both on a different scheme to what they use at work.

 

[okeydokey79]

my company run the c2w scheme but we can only use halfords, but if you speak to the c2w scheme they can source other bikes( they use leisurelakebikes aswell) but if you see a bike on sale on i.e evans cycles they cant get it at that price, had the same issues last year, ring the c2w number/or e-mail them with a choice of bikes your looking at and see what they can get 4u?