Usually photo's of hacks and cheaper bikes are shown. Show me your bling commuters.
If you ask the tax man a few million people 😆
This will be genuinely interesting 🙂
My SS Wonga? Hardly "bling" but if I told anyone at work how much it cost they'd all consider it to be an outrageously expensive bike. £1400 expensive enough?
I would use a £1500 Specialized Tarmac Comp in the summer (BTW scheme purchased) and during the worst of the winter last year, a £3500 Bionicon Ironwood (also BTW purchased) Normal winter weather bike was a £400 Langster though...
Genesis IOID with a few upgrades? And disguised with aticky tape
cost £1300 or so new
a £3500 Bionicon Ironwood (also BTW purchased)
How on earth did you manage that?
Onion rolls on a Van Nic Amazon with new Ultegra.
I use a Cross Check - it's basic and works well.
thebikechain - Membera £3500 Bionicon Ironwood (also BTW purchased)
How on earth did you manage that?
Either an employer allowing it or tax fraud. Either way, that's a part of the reason that BTW is doomed. There is no possible excuse for buying such a bike on a [i][u]cycle to work[/u][/i] scheme. Stop taking the piss, folks. Buy something that you'll use to ride to work, a nice, basic commuter will do it for (almost) everyone.
I commuted on my Soda a fair bit in the summer, so I could take the route with a bit of nice singletrack on it. I wouldn't have done if I wasn't confdent I was locking it up somewhere safe though.
My Hewitt tourer was £1500.
Having said that it's done a fair few miles and it's never let me down apart from the odd puncture.
I'm able to take it into a secure and dry Police Station though, so have the luxury of not having to worry about it getting stolen or damaged.
If I had to leave it outside, I'd be on a £150 bike.
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My commuter, probably close to £1600 new, paid £1000 S/H. ir_bandito got one very similar through cyclscheme. His is [i]beautiful[/i]. 8)
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could be faster, sure, but the emphasis is on year-round reliability.
My commuter over the summer was a Cervelo S1 with full Ultegra, Pro Vibe carbon and Shimano RS80 wheels. Full price on that lot approx £2500. And yes it really was just used for commuting.
Either an employer allowing it or tax fraud. Either way, that's a part of the reason that BTW is doomed. There is no possible excuse for buying such a bike on a cycle to work scheme. Stop taking the piss, folks. Buy something that you'll use to ride to work, a nice, basic commuter will do it for (almost) everyone.
Employer had a consumer credit thingamy so could go over the £1000 limit. And as I said, I commuted on it, and if you want to get all picky on the rules, I reckon I did manage at least half of its journeys to work that year. I had other mountain bikes to go around AND could find fun trails to commute on.
So nya! 🙂
Fair enough, a case of employer allowing it...! 😉
Still don't think that there should be any way of getting something like that on the scheme, though.
Depends what you mean by expensive... I've only got the one bike and it has to do me for everything - off-road frolics and on-road commuting. If I had my dream bike (one day..!) no way would I commute on it!
I'd agree with you Capn, but as the rules allowed it, AND I had just broken my previous fun bike I was going to take advantage of it.
I commute on this Cove Hummer except when the mud is getting going as it causes a lot of chain suck. During these times I have started commuting on my singlespeed.
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I commuted on a Rohloff'd Setavento for a couple of years. Probably approaching £1400 for parts new, altho I bought the Rohloff secondhand.
And I commuted a couple of times on my Soda - both times I've had a locked company car park to put it in though; I wanted to do it here, but it's just a bike rack outside the front door, and apparently bikes go missing all the time
Commuted on my Ventana once, towing the kids trailer. Worth probably close to £3k if bought new. Roadbike had a flat & we were late. 🙂
I can loop up into the Pentlands on my commute so have used all of my mountain bikes a few times, including my upgraded Epic which is perhaps £3K's worth. Normal commuter is a £1000 Roadrat Alfine bought on BTW though.
We have an inside store room at work so there is no risk of the bikes being nicked from there.
Not expensive compared to some of my MTB's, but better for commuting.
[img] http://images.fotopic.net/?iid=1fjg1r&outx=600&quality=70 [/img]
All my bikes are expensive.
Seriously though, I'm on my commute for up to 2 hrs pedal, often in busy traffic. I want my transport to be both comfortable and reliable, so why scrimp?
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Is a Merlin Magia with full Dura-Ace bling enough? TBH I only commute on it when its not raining, we have to store our bikes outside with zero weather protection...
£2000 fatbike last few weeks due to the freak weather 😮
[url= http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5285/5229005284_054c5eb74c.jp g" target="_blank">
[url= http://www.flickr.com/photos/coastkid71/5229005284/ ]013 (2)[/url] by [url= http://www.flickr.com/people/coastkid71/ ]coastkid71[/url], on Flickr
In the summer I was commuting on my Trek Madone, full Dura Ace, PowerTap wheel, carbon bits etc. Changed job, but the new one seems to have excellent bike storage, so will probably revert to that when it warms up. In the interim I'm on an Allez, but still with the PowerTap wheel, so still over £1500 worth.
If you're gonna have nice bikes, you may as well use them!
Earlier in the year I was snow commuting on my Soul, that was a wee bit unsettling... OK it's locked up but almost every single part of it is worth more than my entire commuter 
So for the last couple of weeks it's been the carbonified Carrera, which... Hmm. Is still mostly made of parts worth more than my commuter.
Coastkid - that's pretty epic, where was the shot taken?! And what's the bike?
I once drove in in my car, off the top of my head it cost about 10x as much as my most expensive bike.
Airnimal Joey Explorer Elite - rohloff, maguras, Acids, hope bits, bling chain, upgraded rims (changed to ERTRO 520 from 507), royce front hub, campag skewers.
Oldish pic:
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Different tyres on it at the moment - Maxxis Locusts CX, much better in the wet and ice than the Schwalbes pictured. It will have done me for 10,000 miles in a month and a bit with my current commuting mileage.
It's about £2000 before the various upgrades...
Now has carbon bars, small block 8s and dead brakes.
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Commute on the Enigma. Has full set of Roadracer2 mudguards for current duties.
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Still don't think that there should be any way of getting something like that on the scheme, though
why not?
As Militant said:
I reckon I did manage at least half of its journeys to work that year.
At least he was within rules, the price\type of bike shouldn't come into it; I wouldn't be surprised if the majority of what you might call sensible sub £1000 commute bikes are used for less than half their journey's going to work.
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Under a grand, but still a fair whack.
Recently added Avid BB7 on the front and a charge spoon saddle.
Yes I agree; it's perfectly within the rules and spirit of the scheme and being used for what it was intended. Seriously, so what?
Currently riding a custom build carbon Hardtail
giant XTC Frame
Carbon ridged bladed forks
Hope Mavic wheel set
XT and Sram X9
Hope mono minis
Reckon around £2,500 - £3000
Have commuted on my BTW sponsored bike, epic Carbon Marathon + roval Wheel set £4,500 retail?
whichever of my bikes i get out depending on weather and how late i got up.
Ebay and classifieds special decade virsa or boardman pro carbon.
nicko74- East Lothian S.E Scotland 10am and only -6C 2 weeks ago, bike is a Surly pugsley, bought for the beach and ridden alot more last 2 winters!
My vote to Coastkid so far. Would love to turn up for work on that.
I've spent a lot on my commuter bike and it still looks shoot
it's a bit like triggers bike, new wheels, paintjob, cranks, forks, stem, headset..
A few years ago I used to go from Liverpool to Runcorn and back everyday on my 575. £3.5k worth of commuter... 😯
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Not with the Swapmthings on though!!
only reason I got it to commute...
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Just bought a new frame for the commuter, DirtyJo F-Creme for £85.
My colleagues said 'you could have bought a whole bike for that!'
XT/317 wheels
Magura HS33s
Maxlight rigid forks
RaceFace Deus headset
Ritchey WCS stem
MaxM MX-5 carbon riser bars
FSA Power-pro cranks
MRP 1.X chain device and Onza tensioner
XTR chain
Shimano 959 pedals
Hope Vision1 light
Various other bits.
Around £6-700ish as mostly ebay bits. Not as fancy as some here. My colleagues think that is a rediculous amount to spend. (9 mile commute the short way, they spend £30k on cars to do 2 miles 🙄
)
They don't know what my carbon Yeti cost. Wouldn't ride to work on that!
Got a CAAD10 Ultegra on order and I fully intend to use it for a bit of commuting once the weather improves. Should be able to clock up somewhere near 40miles a day 😯
Am I the first to admit to commuting on a bike with a Campag Record groupset (complete apart from a Chorus chainset)? That's on my best road bike which gets used for commuting duties in the summer (I only ride a bike if it's dry!) Admittedly it's still only a £2k bike as the Record is the bling highlight.
Blushes.... my blinged rat is almost gone, cant be doing with anymore mear road misses, so since August, my commute which is all off road is either this [img] 
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or this
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As others have said I guess it depends what you mean by expensive. I use a Kona Jake the snake which with upgrades would cost about £1500 to replace but my commute is 20 miles each way so I can kinda justify it.
Thus was taken on the way to work a fortnight ago.
It's only 5 miles each way so no need fir skinny wheels really and it's always nice to have the option to take the longer and dirtier route home!
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Why the resentment towards anyone getting an expensive bike on BTW ?
Does everyone who gets a company car pick the cheapest model they can find ?
Anyway, I'm commuting mostly by single speed now.
Before that I was using this.
[url= http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4130/5001272931_03794c7fbb.jp g" target="_blank">
[url= http://www.flickr.com/photos/8805115@N04/5001272931/ ]Lynskey[/url] by [url= http://www.flickr.com/people/8805115@N04/ ]Vegan Graham[/url], on Flickr
Lynskey Ridgeline 29er
Rohloff
Fox Talas
Truvativ Noir
Etc.
Over £3500 at new prices.
Luckily, I work in a bus depot with anything up to 50 000 litres of diesel and £5000 in cash on site. I've got a pretty secure bike storage area. 😉
I've driven past a guy on a Colnago mountain bike in Huddersfield a couple of times recently, that must be worth a few bob...I didn't even know Colnago did mountain bikes.
Salsa Casseroll.
Not in any way trick, but I spend more time on this bike than any other, so I've spent money on it so it's as fun to ride as it can be while being reliable, cheap to run and versatile.
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My commuter was £999.99 new on CTW.
It's worth a bit more in this photo, because there's £2.5k of Ragley TD-1 in the box on the back.
Pfft. Sling the frame over your shoulder!
I vary between a Genesis Altitude 10 and a singlesped Rockhopper, which has been ideal in the snow. However, I have been known to take my Enduro along instead, just for the ride home.
I completely agree that you should commute on what you want, I spend more time on my commute than on proper offroad rides, so I might as well be comfortable and fast.
I regularly commute on my Intense 5.5. And why not. You never know when the urge might take you 🙂
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I think the handlebars alone are well over £100 (Edge/Enve Composites). Total bike would prehaps be £1500.
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[url= http://www.flickr.com/photos/50323605@N03/4619165405/ ]025[/url] by [url= http://www.flickr.com/people/50323605@N03/ ]donks73[/url], on Flickr
It this Kinesis decade, which has to serve my daly commute plus any other riding duties as its all I have but it seems to be ok despite having no tread left on the back wheel and and the odd bit of creaking (easily fixed with a good clean), I never bother with road gear ratios or slick tyres and leave the suspension alone as i just enjoy messing about on it and dont really go hammer and tongs on the 7 mile ride. I occasionally get passed by some freak with gears but have resigned my self to the knowledge that I will take 5 mins longer to get to work.
I use my either my Heckler for going off road to work which is 13 to however long I feel like each way. Guesstimate cost of £1800-2000.
When going on the road (13-15 miles) I use my Scandal with City Jet tyres, value around £8-900.
My RM Solo (on the 'recent purchases' thread) is far to bling for a commuter. Original RRP was £2500..
Up until now I've only ever used 2nd hand frames & bits from Freeads/Ebay for commuting, but thought it was about time I treated meself.
My pimpino is my current commuter.
Seen here with mudguards on for winter (I hate them but they're really good at their job)
[url= http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4085/5197902034_e81ff9b35f.jp g" target="_blank">
[url= http://www.flickr.com/photos/53067724@N00/5197902034/ ]pompino[/url] by [url= http://www.flickr.com/people/53067724@N00/ ]Jon Wyatt[/url], on Flickr
Not sure how much that cost me because I stopped counting after a while when the numbers got scary but it's more than a grand.
In April I'll be buy a bike on CTW if it's still going, probably a Roadrat, but I recently saw this and want one, a lot.
[url= http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2620/4135246225_719f46f47e.jp g" target="_blank">
[url= http://www.flickr.com/photos/singularcycles/4135246225/ ]Antti Finland Per S[/url] by [url= http://www.flickr.com/people/singularcycles/ ]Singular Cycles[/url], on Flickr
My Summer commuter is a Specialized Tarmac Expert which I did through cycle to work.
[url= http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4134/4799798240_846cba9af1.jp g" target="_blank">
[url= http://www.flickr.com/photos/simondbarnes/4799798240/ ]Needs a pink saddle[/url] by [url= http://www.flickr.com/people/simondbarnes/ ]simondbarnes[/url], on Flickr
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FRAME - On One Il Pompino XL (57cm)
FORK - On One Il Pompino
WHEELS - Mavic Open Pro 36h / Goldtec hubs (fixed) / DT Swiss spokes
TYRES - Vittoria Randonneur 700 x 28C
INNER TUBES - Continental Cross 28 - 25-35c 42mm
SPROCKET - Dura Ace 16t
LOCK RING - Dura Ace
CRANKSET - Sugino 75 - 170mm, 48t
BB - Sugino 75
PEDALS - Burgtec Penthouse Flats MKII
SADDLE - SDG Bel-Air RL Ti
SEATPOST - Thomson Elite 27.2 x 410mm
SEAT CLAMP - Salsa 30.0mm Lip-Lock
STEM - Thomson X2 100mm x 10deg x 31.8
BARS - Answer Pro Taper OS
GRIPS - ODI Ruffian
BRAKES - Avid Single Digit Titanium
BRAKE LEVERS - Avid Speed Dial Ultimate Ti
HEADSET - Chris King NoThreadSet Sotto Voce 1-1/8
CHAIN - KMC Kool
C/TENSIONER - Surly Tuggnut
QR SKEWERS - Shimano XTR M960 / Quando
Now has Deda Newton drop bars and Tektro V levers.
About £1800 new I think. I paid about £800 from mostly second-hand parts.
Our shower room at work. Lynskey Cooper and Pashley Dutch bike with shiny Brooks.
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That's better.
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Mine's on the left (Chorus carbon 11 speed, so a bit bling i suppose). 🙂
The bell on the Pashley is so big it looks like part of the shower!
£150 rigid gt aggressor - although I only now really commute to the shopping centre etc.Still use loads of locks though.
I commute on either a Maverick ML7 or a Felt singlespeed.