so, got a halfords C2W voucher coming (eventually, I think later in the month, 2 months after I chose it as part of my package), and during the selection process, I chose a grand, with an eye to buy a GT Aggressor Elite (£999 at halfords) – average frame but an excellent spec.

have a look thismorning and they've stopped selling the damn thing. anyone had any luck returning a halfords voucher? There doesn't appear to be much else they sell with similar spec at the same price..

H

What about the boardman?

I don't think there are many people here who would return a bike voucher for £1k even at halfords

the boardmans are very good for the cash better than the gt

I'll take it off your hands if you wanted to continue the monthly payments! 😉

as alexxx says the boardmans have had excellent reviews..

Boardman.

If you don't like the name you could always repaint the frame 😉

boardmans are too flimsey for me, I'll snap something designed for 100mm travel in seconds. I'd actually planned to build the GT onto another frame, as I'm fully aware the aggressor is a bit naff, but that's out the window now I guess.

boardmans are too flimsey for me, I'll snap something designed for 100mm travel in seconds. I'd actually planned to build the GT onto another frame, as I'm fully aware the aggressor is a bit naff, but that's out the window now I guess.

Really?

Well if you where going to change the gt frame change the boardman,

I would reccomend the Boardman, I got the carbon road bike and its great. You can get any bike though, just phone them up. Trek, Spesh etc etc. I got a spesh hard tail a few years back.

boardmans are too flimsey for me, I'll snap something designed for 100mm travel in seconds. I'd actually planned to build the GT onto another frame

So you weren't planning on riding it to work then?

There are also (or at least there used to be) other proper bikes shops which will take a Halfords voucher.

IIRC Alpine Bikes do.

What does the difference in the frame make if you weren't going to use it?

Can't Helfrauds get in other bikes for you anyway?

You should be able to phone the halfords cycle to work scheme and order pretty much any bike you want from they're list of suppliers.. its something I don't think they advertise enough. (I got a Merlin Rock lobster Team tig SL via halfords a few years ago, although I'm not sure if merlin accept the vouchers any more). Best give the halfords C2W team a call and find out what brands they can get hold of..

the frame doesn't make a difference but the rest of the componentry does – the boardmans are mostly high-end xc stuff – while the groupset isn't that crutial, the brakes, forks, stem, bars and wheels are. There's not much point using a bike as a component donor if the only thing you'll get off it is a drivetrain..

as for getting another bike in, yep, I can, but the spec will be way off what the gt offered – take the orange equivilent – the crush is £1400 for parts that are a full groupset down.

ps. would be riding it to work, occasionally. Was going to use a NS Bikes frame and build it into a street\dj\xc bike, most of which I can do on my commute

Your COMMUTE to WORK but be far more interesting than mine if 100mm of travel is not enough.

Could I recommend you look at their road bikes, or maybe their city or hybrid bikes which should be far more suitable for your intended use for this tax perk.

👿 With thousands and thousands set to loose their jobs in the coming months hopefully the government will pull the pull on this silly middle class toy fund ASAP.

the bike doesn't have to just be used for getting to work, it's majority use has to be that

if I ride to work and back (30 mins each way) 5 times a week, and go out for a 4 hour ride at the weekend, then i'm still well within the rules.

Majority isn't even classified, maybe its the majority of rides, in which case I can ride it to and from work once a week, and go for a ride once a weekend, and still be in.

Jealousy is a bitter mistress.

It's majority of trips IIRC.

A commute to work could easily be offroad, I know a few guys that commute over some rough stuff so a mtb is perfectly advisable.

As for 100mm not being enough, I suppose its personal opinion. But boardman's have reba's on them IIRC which are pretty decent forks. As for groupset, the boardman will cope with near enough any trail riding. nothing on the boardman is XC specific, brakes will be more than good enough. But again if its not what you want then its up to you.

As for pulling the C2W scheme – Why?

Its about the only perk most people get nowadys from the government. If its pulled taxes will still go up etc etc and you wont be able to get a good bike for a bit cheaper.

Thats only my opinion so dont want to start an arguement!!!

You aimed to buy a bike from Halfords???

How does "occasionally" (your word) in anyway constitute majority use? You know what the scheme is for, I know what the scheme is for, the shops knows what the scheme is for – and long travel radcore mtbs which might once in a blue moon be used to bimble to work if the weather is nice, is not it!

Go on, fill your boots, every other f*cker has! Just please don't bleat on about state of roads/NHS/ other government agencies when you've just robbed them of 500 squid that will be desperately needed in the coming years.

With thousands and thousands set to loose their jobs in the coming months hopefully the government will pull the pull on this silly middle class toy fund ASAP.

hope not – it is the abuse that is the issue not the scheme…

It's about the only perk most people get nowadys

Not a "perk" granted, but you didn't put any rubbish in the bin this morning, didn't go to work on a road? I presume you slept soundly knowing crime was being abated whilst you sleep & if heaven forbid your house caught fire, someone would pop along to put it out?

I'm just surprised anyone who "would snap anything designed for 100mm in seconds" would chose a GT from Halfords.

the Govt has traffic reduction targets to meet. Each bike sold via C2W (from a statical point of view) is treated as another car off the road. Therefore the scheme will likely remain.

OP, can Halfords not source you another GT Aggressor Elite? Have you asked them? They may have one knocking about another store. But due to the price and spec – they are probably a very popular bike on the C2W – bit like the Spez Pitch comp last year.

hope not – it is the abuse that is the issue not the scheme…

I agree, It would be very hard to police though. even if you said road bikes/hybrids only this would limit the people who commute ofroad or on bridleways.

Edit: mis read a post

brother in law got a Kona from halfords using this scheme

here are the faqs from our scheme..

Q: What value of bike can I benefit from under the scheme?
A: The maximum value of the Cycle2Work benefit is £1,000 to include a bike and any accessories. The minimum value of the benefit is £150 and you can have any amount in-between in £1 increments.

Q: What if I don’t use it for my entire journey?
A: It is OK to use the bike for part of a journey to work e.g. to get to the station.

Q: Can I use my bike for any other purposes outside of Cycle2Work?
A: Yes you can as long as the primary use of the bike is to cycle to work. Providing the main purpose of the bike is to undertake qualifying journeys i.e. to carry out journeys to your workplace or other work related journeys, that is fine. There is no minimum number of qualifying journeys that you have to undertake to qualify for the benefit. For example if you only cycle to work 6 times in a year, if this represents the majority of the bike’s use, that is fine.

Q: Do I have to keep records of when I use the bike to get to work?
A: No. There is no requirement to keep records.

Q: How many bikes can I benefit from under the scheme?
A: 1 or 2. You might, for example, have a bike for the summer and a different one for the winter that you use to get to work. The cycle to work benefit could be used for both of these, subject to the maximum total amount of benefit of £1000.

Q: What type of bike is eligible?
A: Any sort of bike that you will use for cycling to work.

You could see it as me 'conning the government out of £400' but I guess as I'm paying VAT on the bike, they're getting £150 of that straight back. I'm equally conning the government out of thousands of pounds by dossing around on here all day, rather than working hard, which means I won't get as big a bonus as I would otherwise, which in turn means they can't get take as much tax.

re : try another shop – I will do that, thanks. I'd not actually had a go at this yet.

Do you know how the scheme works? seems to me, at least, that you don't.
Your employer stumps up the cash, not the government (local or otherwise). you get a tax break on the amount that you sacrifice off you salary.

Then to you to me, Highclimber, have very little understanding of the concept of a tax break!

A salary sacrifice means that a proportion of your wages that should have been taxable has been deemed free from taxation. That £1K of earnings should have been taxed (inc yours & your employers NI contribution). The purchase should also have been taxed with VAT. The government is not paying the remainder of the price of the bike, but is failing to collect the tax that is rightfully theirs, or ours if you will, if the claim is fraudulent, which certainly going by what you read on cycling forums constitutes a significant number of them.

5lab – oh in which case that's fine!

As you are only planning on riding it in "leisure mode" less that half a dozen times a year (maybe more, I guess it depends how "occasionally" you plan to ride to work on it) , I'm sure a nonsey boardman bike will stand up to that little abuse 😉

A salary sacrifice means that a proportion of your wages that should have been taxable has been deemed free from taxation.

actually salary sacrifice is just that – you agree to sacrifice a portion of your salary and thus you get paid less thus you pay less tax and NI.

In exchange for the sacrifice you can make use of a tax situation at the same value (bike hire,or other benefit) which is not taxed.

the abuse is rife – 6" travel bike – live in surrey and work in london – bikes are not allowed on trains and don't see many people doing the 60mile round trip… that is not on..

did you know you can get cycle trailers on there own via the scheme..

ps OP sorry for the Thread Highjack – think Condor cycles take the vouchers

worth noting, you don't have to use a bike for the whole commute, only for part of it.

So if i want to get on my bike, stored in the kitchen, and ride it to my car, parked round the corner, I'm within the rule of the scheme

So if i want to get on my bike, stored in the kitchen, and ride it to my car, parked round the corner, I'm within the rule of the scheme

but not the spirit… 😉

Voodoo? Might have tougher components. Still only 100mm forks, but you could always sell them?

Also when did we start hating the C2W scheme?! Damn those people buying bikes for slightly less money and then paying in instalments! By gosh, they don't even always use them! Grrr! etc.

You can also get bikes from leisure lakes if there are any close to you? I did, and it was with the Halfords scheme. Only thing is, you lose your 10% accesories voucher to spend at Halfords.

Just to go briefly almost back on topic, I ride an '08 (I think) Boardman Pro which gets serious abuse and still appears to be in one piece. It has neither "snapped", nor is it particularly "nonsey (sic)".

It gets ragged in only very slightly mincy fashion round 4X tracks, big BMX jumps and very, very rocky trails at high speed. I've swapped the stem, pedals, saddle, tyres and a few other non-crucial parts – so it's a bit beefier and heavier.

Bought a Halfords bike because my insurance made me do it but I'm very glad now that they did!

I have just read the title of this.

Is it correct that you seem to be very upset by Halfords discontinuing a particular model? Halfords seem to just get a bashing for anything, even wiggle pull some products from time to time and you don't hear folk moaning about Wiggle.

I think a thread full of people recommending Boardmans isn't exactly "halfords bashing"

5Lab – just phone Halfords up and ask them to source the Aggressor Elite for your – its highly unlikely that they won't have any surpless stock in any of their branches. When I was looking last year, they had loads of 08 models still in stock that were no longer listed on the website.

How does "occasionally" (your word) in anyway constitute majority use? You know what the scheme is for, I know what the scheme is for, the shops knows what the scheme is for – and long travel radcore mtbs which might once in a blue moon be used to bimble to work if the weather is nice, is not it!

Go on, fill your boots, every other f*cker has! Just please don't bleat on about state of roads/NHS/ other government agencies when you've just robbed them of 500 squid that will be desperately needed in the coming years.

Wow, massive loss of perspective.

So long as people buy bikes and use them that's cool. There's benefits in them doing so whether it's commuting or just riding around. It's not like they're using the vouchers to score drugs, transfat laden burgers or midgets with trays on their heads.

Oh, and I got a call saying my little purchase on the scheme should be ready to pick up next week. Schwweeet!