Hi Folks,
Just tapping into the collective Singletrack mind...
Where I work is interested in offering the Cycle To Work scheme but isn't interested in the paperwork - or having the up front cost of buying the bikes.
[url= http://www.cyclesolutions.co.uk ]www.cyclesolutions.co.uk[/url] appears to offer an excellent deal where they effectively setup a lease arrangement which means that there's no up front costs to the employer and everyone's a winner.
Bikes are on offer from [url= http://www.wheelies.co.uk ]www.wheelies.co.uk[/url] who seem to have a pretty decent range of bikes so no problems there.
So - has anyone tried this out and can comment on how well it works? All seems too good to be true but if it's a goer then I'm in for a CX bike to add to the collection 😉
Also if anyone knows of other companies offering a similar leasing deal I'd be interested to compare what they can do to.
Thanks in advance...
My employer does this scheme and uses Wheelies - convenient because we are based in Swansea as are Wheelies. Both myself and my wife got bikes through it last year, no really big problems to report.
My bike - Genesis Altitude - wasn't set up very well, but I could sort it myself and the shop shortened the brake hoses because I couldn't be bothered. I suppose it helps that I'm only about 2 or 3 miles from Tredz, Wheelies' bigger shop, used to work for the company and know plenty of their staff.....
Our scheme is finishing in December and I'm already wondering whether to get another bike, and if so which one.
My place use Wheelies to, understandable as they take the hassle out of the scheme but personally I think it's a mistake. You end up with genuine new C2W commuters buying unsuitable bikes and dealing with boxed bikes they need to sort themselves. If the scheme is intended to get new people cycling to work rather than just provide cheap bikes for experienced cyclists they shouldn't be using Internet retailers IMO. Or at least just give people special vouchers they can use at any registered C2W shop not one your company selects.
Ahh, thanks guys; good to know that it does work even if the setup is a bit of an issue.
Take your point FW about how it would be better to work with a local shop, I was looking for schemes that did the leasing thing while letting you have a choice of shop. [url= http://www.onyourbike-llp.co.uk/ ]OnYourBike[/url] appear to have a finance option but there's not much info on the site, so if anyone else knows of a scheme that does....?
Cheers.
[url] http://www.cyclescheme.co.uk/ [/url]is the most flexible. I know of some horror stories dealing with Wheelies, try and get your company to go with the above. You'll have the greatest choice.
The bike I was after was in the Lakes, I'm in Southampton. No problem!
yes my employer has been using them for the past two years.
Everytime I phoned i found them helpful and delivery was on time to a specified address.
So overall no complaints.
My place of work have used cyclesolutions/wheelies.co.uk for the lase 3 years, 2 of witch i have partaken.
I bought a bike on the first scheme, it arrived boxed but with clear instructions on how to straighten the handle bars and put pedles on. 18months later and a small final payment (£32 instead of the monthly £27) i was more than happy to hear that my employer would be running the scheme again. This brought up a dilemma, i already have enough bikes and i only really need kit, waterproofs, helmet, tyres etc. Phoned the guys at cyclesolutions who explained that [b]i don't have to buy a bike at all[/b] so i could buy anything upto a total of £1000 as long as the kit was in there list of cycle to work related products.
I got a new FF helmet, shorts (clothing has to have reflective strips) tyres/tubes and a hope vision 4 enduro! Well chuffed with there service who ever was on the phone was always enthusiastic and helpfull and not embaresed to say 'yes you can have that' or no that isn't covered under our plan'
Hope that helps.
Our place use them and I had no problems, the only comment is as one above that there was a bit of tweakign to do on the already built bike but that was nothing really.
Phoned the guys at cyclesolutions who explained that i don't have to buy a bike at all so i could buy anything upto a total of £1000 as long as the kit was in there list of cycle to work related products.
CycleSolutions on sticky ground there. HMRC don't like that approach....
My employer has used them for the last three years. We have campained & better campained for our employers to ditch these "box shifters" and use & support local bike shops in our area.
Also, don't think that you can get yourself a sweet XT groupset or a fancy new frame or forks with that £1000. Its a very limited range of accessories like pumps, gloves, helmets & jackets etc that you can get.
What I also don't like about wheelies is that their prices are top whack, often you can get just as good a deal shopping at the likes of CRC.
Thanks guys...
The chap I spoke to at [url= http://www.onyourbike-llp.co.uk/ ]OnYourBike[/url] mentioned that the Revenue were paying closer attention to people being err, 'elastic' with the definition of what you could buy under the scheme. Although his story of someone taking their voucher to Snow and Rock and coming out with a pair of skis rather than a bike is probably the best 🙂
Taking the finance option and including the end payment to 'buy' the bike off the employer at the end of the lease starts to make it look less attractive mind (for lower rate tax payers).
For a £1000 bike you could end up only saving around 22% rather than the best case '50%' which is normally mentioned in the same breath as the CTW Scheme...