First proper road bike on cycle2work

[Mrs M]

You must test ride first.
I went to buy a new bikes a while back.
Had made up my mind what I wanted, chose colour, etc.
Soon as I sat on it I knew it wasn't "the one" and bought something else.
Ignore the colour schemes and choose what feels right.
Have fun, all lovely bikes

 

[the_exile]

I've ordered the Merida Ride 400. Had a quick shot on one, felt comfortable and everything although never had a road bike before so no frame of reference. It should arrive middle of the upcoming week, can't wait!!

 

[NortheastJasper]

How much cheaper was it on the cycle scheme ?

Awesome looking bike !

 

[vickster]

How much cheaper was it on the cycle scheme ?

Awesome looking bike !

The bikes are no cheaper (most retailers make you pay RRP where with cash you could haggle a reduction or buy an older reduced model), you get tax/NI savings from salary, that's where the saving is. How much depends on your company's scheme (these vary), your salary, the cost of the bike

 

[the_exile]

I'm sure I save around 32% over the course of the hire agreement so will end up costing around £680 all in, there may be a final payment if I want to keep the bike (obviously I will!) but this will apparently be a fairly small token amount. Still waiting on my phone call, it's absolutely freezing up here today though so they might be thinking of delaying to save me getting frostbite

 

[vickster]

Make sure insure the bike properly, including accidental damage. It's probably a condition of the contract and you'll still have to pay should something happen to it before the agreement ends

 

[NortheastJasper]

Surely you will be told the final payment before you sign up !

Thanks for pay £100 for the last 12 months and now the bike is yours for £200 if you want it !

Sounds like a pcp deal like you get with a car

 

[vickster]

Surely you will be told the final payment before you sign up !

Thanks for pay £100 for the last 12 months and now the bike is yours for £200 if you want it !

Sounds like a pcp deal like you get with a car

Except the payments are taken from pre-tax income. It's linked to your employment with a specific employer

 

[the_exile]

Yeah I'm sure the final payment is a measely £1 so no shocks will await me thankfully. Plan on getting insurance and have been pointed in the direction of British Cycling by a friend.

 

[annirak]

On the scheme at my work, the final payment is 25% if ownership is transferred immediately. If you continue the hire agreement for 3 years, the payment is a 7% non-refundable deposit for the three years.

 

[annirak]

Nowt wrong with the boardman/13 range as they consistently get top marks in th cycling press , take it home and build it yourself if you dont trust the local halfords .
You can get the carbon with tiagra for your grand .

This is terrible advice. Never build it yourself. This is not an issue of skill, but one of liability. If something goes wrong, Halfords will, quite reasonably, blame you. If you feel the need to take the bike boxed, then get a LBS to build it for you, which transfers the liability.

My suggestion would be to take the bike assembled, then get it checked over by a LBS, which should be the lowest cost option which keeps you non-liable for problems.

Link to relevant horror story: https://www.cyclechat.net/threads/halfords-bike-hell-advice-please.177775/

 

[cyberknight]

This is terrible advice. Never build it yourself. This is not an issue of skill, but one of liability. If something goes wrong, Halfords will, quite reasonably, blame you. If you feel the need to take the bike boxed, then get a LBS to build it for you, which transfers the liability.

My suggestion would be to take the bike assembled, then get it checked over by a LBS, which should be the lowest cost option which keeps you non-liable for problems.

Link to relevant horror story: https://www.cyclechat.net/threads/halfords-bike-hell-advice-please.177775/

Anyone half competent with a spanner and allen keys can put together a bike its not rocket science and that member never replied to any advic given and halfords offered a very reasonable refund even though they did not have too .

 

[Cyclist33]

I'm sure I save around 32% over the course of the hire agreement so will end up costing around £680 all in, there may be a final payment if I want to keep the bike (obviously I will!) but this will apparently be a fairly small token amount. Still waiting on my phone call, it's absolutely freezing up here today though so they might be thinking of delaying to save me getting frostbite

The final payment (to rent) will be 7% of the bike price so £70, total cost 680 + 70 = 750, total saving 25%. However, note that this option means you're still not owner of the bike until 36 further months have passed. This is what I have done in the past, so still saved money, but in the event of me leaving my work I'd have to legally return the bikes.

The option where you get to own the bike costs you 25% of the bike price, which would be, er, £250, total cost 680 + 250 = 930, total saving 7%. So when they say "get a bike on C2W and save up to 40%", the reality of that is it's almost impossible to do so.

Don't get me wrong I love the scheme and have used it more than once, but just by contrast, in February I took out an interest free loan and got a cheapish mountain bike, RRP of the bike £630, last year's model got it in sales for £395, total saving 37% and the bike is legally owned by me effective from the nanosecond I paid for it.

Stu

 

[annirak]

Anyone half competent with a spanner and allen keys can put together a bike its not rocket science and that member never replied to any advic given and halfords offered a very reasonable refund even though they did not have too .

It's not aptitude, it's liability. I thought I spelt that out.

 

[cyberknight]

It's not aptitude, it's liability. I thought I spelt that out.

Fair enough as long as you admit that halfords were very reasonable in offering a refund even though they were not liable which i cant see a LBS doing .
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