With these new guidelines about the price of the bike at the end of the 12/18 months – is it worth getting a bike still? I opted into the scheme 2 years ago, got a charge plug and have paid it off although my company has not exchanged it over yet. They are waiting for another few years until the exchange price comes right down. thankfully.

And while I’m here – if it is worth it, what should I get?
I’ve got a marin 140, spesh demo, charge plug and a bmx.
current thoughts are:
hardcore hardtail – something like a ragley although needs to be from evans/halfrauds.
bmx – current one is a 2006 fit flow that comes in probably around 30lbs. buy a new one for £300 at 25lbs. don’t use it much at the moment though. maybe a new lighter one will get me back into it?

IMHO not worth it if your company insists on charging the full amount after a year (like my company is…). I wanted to spend £400 max on a work bike, so bought a £700 bike on C2W which would work out nearer £350, then a month after taking delivery HMRC clarified changed the rules… You’d be better off buying a bike in the sale using a 0% credit card or interest free credit if you don’t want to pay upfront for it as you should have more choice of what you can get and where you get it from (our C2W was only through H*******).

Depends entirely on the scheme, and if you’re restricted in where you can buy, do they have something you want at a good price?

How much of the bike’s value will be recovered through hire payments, and how does the company deal with the final payment? It sounds like they’re already prepared to delay transfer. Will they also transfer at less than fair market value and just tax you on the difference?

It’s still possible to set up a very good scheme, especially with the increase in VAT and the upcoming increases in NI, but there’s a huge variation in the benefits of the schemes.

And while I’m here – if it is worth it, what should I get?

Um, I’m going to go out on a limb here, but… how about a bike to ‘ride to work’? 😉

Um, I’m going to go out on a limb here, but… how about a bike to ‘ride to work’?

Nah, don’t do that. Get one over on the system (if you still can).
My first C2W bike was a road bike, ridden a few thousand miles but never commuted on. Also got £110 worth of accessories for nowt (all spent on mtb stuff), all for roughly 50% of the bike’s rrp (didn’t even get charged the nominal 5% at the end).

Second time I use the scheme exactly as intended…

I guess it was too good to last.

Depends- it’s not the no-brainer it was but it could still be worth it. I got a Roadrat on Cyclescheme a few months ago, I worked out that I’d still be ahead (by £50-£70 I think) and didn’t have to lay out the whole amount in one go. So the saving isn’t great but there was no real downside. In addition I think there are/will be options for Cyclescheme to take over the lease (or whatever it is) for longer when the year is up so the final value is less still further down the line.

OTOH if you weren’t so fussy then you could get something discounted in Evans on 0% finance and come out the same or better.

So it depends just what you want really- if it’s something particular that doesn’t really get discounted anywhere then you’ll still pay less than list on Cyclescheme I reckon. If not then it might not make so much sense.

What MrSalmon said – particularly the last paragraph.

Sounds like i might be better off taking £30 a month and sticking it into a savings account.