[Closed] Cyclescheme - Still worth it?

as good as 10 years ago = No. You no longer get it VAT free thanks to a court ruling (actually aimed at pharma companies giving retail vouchers in salary compensation with the Cyclescheme as collateral damage).

You still get what is effectively an interest-free loan, and a discount value depending on your tax band. HMRC approved a loophole over final evaluation, so you can now pay a fee for "extended hire" (from the end of initial 18 months that you were making payments to 4 years IIRC) that takes the ownership period to the point where the bike is deemed to have zero value so you keep it; on a £1K bike it was 70 quid when I did it.

Whether it's worth it depends on personal circs (such as tax band) and what you want. Most schemes and vendors limit it to £1k, most vendors wont let you use it on a discounted bike as they've already discounted to the scheme manager, and you might be able to find a bike that is better value in real terms if you can afford it upfront (eg old stock at 40 - 50% off).

I did it for the first time this year - bought a Charge Cooker 4 at big discount from Evans

RRP around £1500 - discounted down to £899 and will pay that amount over the year before tax

As I see it I will pay around 500 for the bike over the year!

Evans and Wiggle (maybe others too) let you do cycle scheme on discounted bikes with no surcharge, so there are some good deals to be had still, especially if you're higher rate tax payer...

You might also end up paying the Admin fee which can be between 10 and 15%

You might also end up paying the Admin fee which can be between 10 and 15%

On my 5th C2W now, I've only ever paid the extended hire fee - if less than 500 = 4%, 500-1000 =7%.

You still get what is effectively an interest-free loan

It seems some employers, which for some reason excludes my very well known national employer (Royal Mail), allow you to extend the hire period for a few years after the initial 12 month salary sacrifice. This then means the legal transfer of ownership does not cost you 21% (for £500-1000) or 16% (for bikes under £500) via a change of tax code.

But for me, the tax code ownership fee negates a lot of the savings, it is cheaper for me to join British Cycling (like I finally did the other day) for 10% off Halfords and CRC (sadly no longer Evans) along with buying vouchers through our perks website at a discounted rate of 9%.

So I the moment, I could buy a Boardman CX Team for £720, paying for it with vouchers that cost me ~£650.

But that Boardman would cost you only £600 if a basic rate tax payer and even less if higher rate...

Royal Mail's scheme means i would have to pay ~£200 for transfer of ownership after 18 months of salary sacrifice. I would get 10% off the current sale price, same as BC, but it would overall cost me more than buying myself through BC and vouchers.

It seems some employers

semantics, but it's the scheme that your employer has signed up to not your employer (unless RM actually manage their own?). My employer (police) have signed up with Cyclescheme who offer the extended hire (and nobeer's 7% chimes with the £70 I remember paying for my £1k bike).

But that Boardman would cost you only £600 if a basic rate tax payer

have you included the 21% final valuation transfer fee in that? The reason the scheme companies sat down with HMRC and negotiated what is effectively an official loophole (extended hire) is because, on top of losing the VAT benefit, the high final valuation fee threatened to pretty much killed C2W. You ended up saving bugger all and at most all it offered was pay-by-instalments.

edit: or what he said in one sentence...

Some really helpful replies out there folks, thanks!

Ok so deals to be had on a road bike with 105 minimum for 1k? Or less....?

I actually wrote this at 4pm prior to another's posters but it didn't post but basically what they said.
Look at it as a 12 month interest free loan without any credit check and it's not too bad. You make some savings but no t as much at it would have been before the HRMC clarified that a one year bike still has some value. Depends
Also if your scheme is capped at £1k bear in mind what you will be able to get as prices have gone up. 10 years ago the road bike I got (boardman) had ultegra, this year it would be more likely to be sora though that is about equivalent to 10 year old ultegra anyway.

I'd do C2W again for 2 reasons - I'm a higher rate tax payer, so decent savings, and my company transfer the ownership as a BIK, so you only pay the tax on the value.
You can use C2W to buy parts/accessories - before Christmas I did a small order for a Exposure light and a new Helmet.
Might get some new wheels next year.

I've come to the end of mine and paid the extended hire agreement thing. Does that mean i can get another ctw bike for 3 years?

[url= https://www.evanscycles.com/pinnacle-dolomite-4-2017-road-bike-EV275636 ]Pinnacle dolamite[/url]
£1100 with tiagra, as an example of what new full rrp will get you.

My company any can't get their collective head around the final charge thing so it's never been applied 🙂

To quote freeagent

'You can use C2W to buy parts/accessories - before Christmas I did a small order for a Exposure light and a new Helmet.
Might get some new wheels next year.'

I thought you could only buy accessories alongside a bike and could not buy parts? If I can just buy parts I am on to a winner...!

Or is that just Cycle 2 work? My company is with cycle scheme.....

Accessories should standard via any scheme but the HRMC rules are a bit woolly on what is allowed. Lights, locks and safety releated kit fine, GPS I think is specifically mentioned as not allowed.
One of my lbs would have been happy for me to buy a frame and parts to build a bike to my spec and put it through as a bike
From the HRMC guidance

Cyclists' safety equipment is not similarly defined in the legislation and a common sense approach should be taken to the equipment provided. This could include:
? Cycle helmets which conform to European standard EN 1078
? Bells and bulb horns
? Lights, including dynamo packs
? Mirrors and mudguards to ensure riders visibility is not impaired
? Cycle clips and dress guards
? Panniers, luggage carriers and straps to allow luggage to be safely carried
? Child safety seats
? Locks and chains to ensure cycle can be safely secured
? Pumps, puncture repair kits, cycle tool kits and tyre sealant to allow for minor
repairs
? Reflective clothing along with white front reflectors and spoke reflectors
It is the employer's choice what safety equipment is offered, but you may wish to confirm with your local tax inspector whether the equipment you provide falls within the tax exemption.

I just looked at buying an £899 road bike (in sale)

For salary sacrifice they wanted to add 10% fees from the cyclescheme co. So in essence a £1k bike.

£1k bike for a year worked out about £60 per month net out of my pay = £720

+ £70 for 4 years rental = £790

So on a £900 bike I would save £110.

I ended up getting a better deal on a more expensive bike and put it on the credit card

That's what I am thinking Funky. Or just buying the bits I need for my current frame. You don't seem to get as much for your £1k as you once did, understandably.

Cheers

Yes it's definitely worth it.
Higher rate tax payer;

1k bike costs you £651.15 (Inc the £70 ownership fee).
Percentage saving over RRP = 34.9%

Just this minute taken directly off cyclescheme website. You can also have an accessories only package. Yes you can also have another bike the following year, you don't have to wait for the 3 year extended hire agreement (which you pay your £70 for) to end. I've used it 3 times up to now.

How on earth people are saying it isn't worth it still? Even if you went for a sale bike and had to pay the 10% fee on top. Some bike shops don't charge this fee at all and some less eg j.e.james at 5%

🙂

in terms of residual value if you don't choose the extended lease at zero value option, I thought that the schemes were set up so you don't buy the bike off the employer at the residual value rate, 25% on a 12 month old £1k bike. what the employer does is gives you the bike and you pay the tax on the residual value as it is a benefit in kind. Which is probably less than cycle scheme charge to extend the loan?

Accessories should standard via any scheme but the HRMC rules are a bit woolly on what is allowed. Lights, locks and safety releated kit fine, GPS I think is specifically mentioned as not allowed.
One of my lbs would have been happy for me to buy a frame and parts to build a bike to my spec and put it through as a bike
From the HRMC guidance

Cyclists' safety equipment is not similarly defined in the legislation and a common sense approach should be taken to the equipment provided. This could include:
? Cycle helmets which conform to European standard EN 1078
? Bells and bulb horns
? Lights, including dynamo packs
? Mirrors and mudguards to ensure riders visibility is not impaired
? Cycle clips and dress guards
? Panniers, luggage carriers and straps to allow luggage to be safely carried
? Child safety seats
? Locks and chains to ensure cycle can be safely secured
? Pumps, puncture repair kits, cycle tool kits and tyre sealant to allow for minor
repairs
? Reflective clothing along with white front reflectors and spoke reflectors
It is the employer's choice what safety equipment is offered, but you may wish to confirm with your local tax inspector whether the equipment you provide falls within the tax exemption.

Evans wouldn't let me have a Garmin on C2W, but did let me buy an Exposure Strada 1200.
Apparently Oakleys are OK as they are classed as safety equipment.

To be fair it was evans that told me about the GPS but are happy for me to buy a wheelset.
One way round the GPS rule might be to buy the garmin lights and then you need an edge to control them.:-)

It can be good but you should shop around for better deals. Ours was previously Cycle to Work and could be used anywhere. We now have Cyclescheme which is Halfords based. It will allow you to shop elsewhere to buy things they can’t get but excludes Evans so you can’t buy a Pinnacle. If you buy from Halfords or Cycle Republic, you can use it on discounted bikes which can give you stunning value when they have their frequent price reduction. They were also giving an extra voucher worth 20% to spend on accessories though I’m not sure if they are still doing that. If you use Halfords C2Wvouchers at other stores you can’t buy discounted bikes.

Another alternative is to use a discount card scheme. Some employers do them but you can access others online. This allows you to buy gift cards at a discount. Ours is currently 10% at Evans and Halfords though it has gone as high as 15%. On top of this you can use a British Cycling discount to get 10% off the price. This ends up as a discount of 24% without the hassle of a C2W scheme. As an example: I recently thought about getting the Boardman FS Pr0 when it was reduced from £1500 to £1200. The BC discount took it down to £1080 and the discounted gift card would have made it £918. The disadvantage of this is that you have to pay in one lump sum rather than interest free.

I have a few C2W on the go - some excellent advice above, I'd add that you should try and get something that you're unlikely to tire of (in as much as you can predict these things). 4 years is a decent stretch, and would be a total non-starter for some of the bike-buyers on here. For bike riders, though, it should be OK if you choose something solid.
Sounds straightforward with a road bike, but don't give some bogus new standard a whirl just because you like the colour!

The parts and accessories bit interests me. Has anyone brought a nice new set of road wheels via the scheme? Who's 'flexible' with this sort of purchase?

Evans claims you can but I'm waiting on my voucher to try it.
There was another thread on here suggesting you could get hunt wheels if your LBS could order them in.