Do I live in a different world?

[mcshroom]

This is a strange thread, people keep using words I'm not familiar with like tax, NI ( are the the Knights who say NI?) and VAT. what are these things and what do they have to with cycling?

VAT is what you pay on the cake and tea in the cafe on your ride

 

[EltonFrog]

VAT is what you pay on the cake and tea in the cafe on your ride

GAH! Spoil my day why don't you!

 

[Saluki]

Most of my stuff is Lidl/Aldi etc. My bib shorts are the bargain ones from Wiggle but my gloves are Sealskinz as they were on offer at £24.99 from Go Outdoors (with card). I did have some Aldi winter gloves but they fell apart after about a fortnight last year so this year I have gone bonkers and spent 'proper' money. While I was at it, I got a couple of baselayer tops from them too at a massive £4.99 as I can use them for cycling and for my dog walking business (plus I can put them through my books).

A lot of the time, you get what you pay for although my Spesh MBT cost me £150 and I don't think its any worse than the OHs Giant MTB at well over £300. I do think that my Defy is much better to ride than the OHs Carrera Vanquish (with upgrades) though. Although I would like to have Tiagras rather than Soras. I might well cough up the money for the Tiagra gearset if I can find what I want at the right price (and when I have the money).

OH has had a couple of snarky remarks about his road bike but he told them to rack off and mind their own business. He has also had remarks about letting 'the wife' aka me, ride the Giant when surely the man should have the 'better' bike .

 

[slowmotion]

totally agree... 'gear' is over priced and much of the claptrap that comes with it to justify the cost is little more than made-up science.... saying that, my £7 gloves bought from aldi a couple of months ago have started to fall apart.

Paying more doesn't always work either. My Endura gloves started decommissioning themselves within three weeks of purchase.

 

[ColinJ]

VAT is what you pay on the cake and tea in the cafe on your ride

Cake is zero-rated for VAT!

 

[Norm]

Money doesnt always mean quality... But cheap doesn't often mean cheerful, either.

My cycling tops are mostly from Tenn Outdoors and cost around £13-£15, my windproof from the same source and not much more, and they are, IMO, unlikely to be significantly beaten by the stuff that I've looked at costing five times as much.

My gloves, on the other hand (baddum tish) cost £45 because I haven't found anything which is of sufficient quality to keep me warm and protected at less than that.

And it's not just cycling gear. I'm typing this on an iPad 3 which cost most of £600, but I prefer my Nexus 7 which cost 1/3 the price.

We're looking at new cars at the moment, and one which I quite like is the VW Up! The model we're considering costs around £8k, but then the sun roof costs £600. I can't see that a piece of glass for the roof should be valued at 8% of the price of the complete car, nor how metallic paint can add £450 to the price, but that's how these things are charged.

Bottom lines that we all have an idea of what we can afford for something, which isn't a problem. It's based on earnings, commitments, perceived value / worth etc. The error, IMO, is in thinking that something is necessarily bad just because we can afford to pay more, or to feign horror or inverted snobbery because someone else pays more than we can afford.

Most people wouldn't want someone else to take away their choices in life but many, it appears, are perfectly happy to wish away the choices of others.

 

[CopperCyclist]

Captain Vimes Boots theory at work to some degree.

 

[mcshroom]

Cake is zero-rated for VAT!

Not if you buy it and eat it in the cafe.

You must always charge VAT at the standard rate if you make a supply of food and drink for consumption on the premises on which it is supplied

http://customs.hmrc.gov.uk/channels...ntent&id=HMCE_CL_000160&propertyType=document

 

[Bradz72]

I have some top notch gear sprinkled with a little bit of lidl and aldi, but have never paid top notch prices . The key is to search and search and buy all the decent stuff when it's reduced or " last years stock"
Even my madone was 2 and half year old new stock when I bought it saving me nearly £1000.
It's all about the sales I have spent hours and hours searching the net for a good bargain :-)



Www.neilbradleylejog2013.wordpress.com

 

[ColinJ]

Not if you buy it and eat it in the cafe.

http://customs.hmrc.gov.uk/channels...ntent&id=HMCE_CL_000160&propertyType=document

Ha ha - how ridiculous is VAT! I had a quick look through the tables of charges and the arbitrary nature of the rules is mind-boggling.

 

[mcshroom]

Ha ha - how ridiculous is VAT! I had a quick look through the tables of charges and the arbitrary nature of the rules is mind-boggling.

Oh it's ridiculous. Why are cakes VAT exempt and biscuits not for example? Or at what temperature does a takeaway sausage roll become VAT exempt (and if you eat it before leaving Gregs is that now VATable?)

 

[ColinJ]

Oh it's ridiculous. Why are cakes VAT exempt and biscuits not for example?

Hence the stupid argument over Jaffa cakes - cake or biscuit?

 

[mickle]

I consider myself fortunate to work in the industry. My £3000 cruiser cost me £300, my £2000 bakfiets cost me £400. My Africa bike was free. And my £1400 Ti Brommie cost me £500. Jammy bastard huh? Luckily i dont earn very much else id be unbearably smug.

I cant bring myself to shop for bikes accessories at Aldlids. It just feels wrong.

 

[number3]

It's the same as running and a lot of other sports, most of the time you are just paying for fashion accessories like shiny new shoes etc. While I do believe that having the right equipment can make a difference to performance and enjoyment etc. A lot of the time you can pick up cut price gear that does a pretty good job. I've noticed that a cycling gear tends to be more expensive than running gear (someone might correct me) and a lot of the time the running equivalents do the same job. I was looking at the price of hi-viz cycling jackets and they seemed really expensive compared to the price of hi-viz running jackets and both do a similar job.

 

[400bhp]

I usually go for mid-range stuff like Lusso or BBB in terms of winter or training kit. All my team kit comes from Germany, so I have no say in that. Performance of the Lusso stuff is as good (or better in some cases) as the premium brands, while the quality & fit is significantly better than cheap stuff. So, you do generally get what you pay for - but by the same token, there is no need to pay double the price when you don't need the kit to perform twice as well - especially when it probably isn't twice as good. A couple of years ago, I spent £160 on a Giordana winter jacket which I ended up not wearing because I hated the fit and the performance. Most of my winter rides now are done in Lusso jackets and bibs which cost three times less, but (in my opinion) do the job far better.

Contact points like shoes, shorts and gloves are worth spending on, if necessary, for obvious reasons. As long as the rest of the kit fits, lasts and performs, then that's all that matters.

I bobbed down to Harry Halls last week to have a nosey - it surprised me that the Lusso stuff is apparently made in Manchester.

That is all.