This year's Cycle Scheme "n+1" purchase - Ideas?

Hardtail rather than FS, but the Voodoo Bizango Carbon looks like a budget rocketship from Halfords.

Well first thing is to check your company knows that the £1k limit no longer applies, so your budget may be bigger. My work has Halfords Cycle2work and a £3k limit, so pretty decent options. Yes, you can get anything on Tredz including wheels, tyres, clothing, drivetrain, brakes etc. But also, lots of independent shops if you check their website, and also any other online retailer that accepts C2W vouchers, like Alpkit/Sonder and Biketart to name two that I remember. This probably opens up choices!

Having this year done pretty much exactly the same thing, I'd say replace the Spesh with something more modern. Even a new hardtail will be very, very different to what you're used to.

One thing though, with their bigger forks/tyres/wheels etc, modern HTs are quite a chunk, well, chunkier than 'old' ones, I have really noticed the additional weight, so something to keep an eye one.

Whatever would be most suitable to use when you Cycle to Work....

LoLz @ MCTD

<lah di dah content>

seeing as you don't need the bike and are quite flush, is there any way you can use it to support a smaller, possibly more local bike company, instead of going for something from a US based megacorp?

</lah di dah content>

Thanks for all the replies, plenty to consider.

I could do with spending ~£2k so that Bizango Carbon Pro looks interesting (and at least is a 2023 model) but got two helmets, two pairs of shoes already so short of going to town on clothing it brings me up short on spend. Really not meant to be a crass comment in the middle of a cost of living crisis but as first post, it's just about maximising tax savings. I would consider myself archetypal Yorkshire rather than flush - we only have one income in the house but if you read up on things like HICBC, you'll see an imbalance where households with significantly higher income than ours, pay less in taxes.

The last time I tried a local shop, he was really uninterested in selling via CycleScheme. I suppose it was 2020/1 so he wasn't being particularly rude in saying he could sell the bike 5 times over without losing the 10% to CycleScheme, but it certainly felt like a deterrent. Unfortunately the online retailers open up the range for CycleScheme massively in comparison. Therefore, am I helping a LBS via a purchase, or hindering by eating into their margin?

IHN- From my limited rides out on the Liv, I found the geometry markedly different, and the handlebars must be nearly a foot wider overall. Not to mention the tyres - I swapped the Specialized out to some wider tyres afterwards and I'm noticing side-deflections against raised pavers/stones etc. more.

MCTD - It's an interesting point in a post-pandemic, hybrid-working world. Given the local (non London) part of the commute is comparatively short, and I need to train for another tri, frankly I'm not worried which of the three I do it on.

I'm amazed that none of the usual holier-than-thou suspects haven't been along to condemn you for tax evasion/immorality/etc...

FWIW i'm in the same position - currently paying off a new Gravel bike that won't be seeing the office very often.

The last time I tried a local shop, he was really uninterested in selling via CycleScheme. I suppose it was 2020/1 so he wasn’t being particularly rude in saying he could sell the bike 5 times over without losing the 10% to CycleScheme

There were massive supply issues during that period, so the shop was probably telling the truth at the time. There just weren't enough bikes coming into the country. However, the situation is now reversed, there is more stock than customers.

I’m amazed that none of the usual holier-than-thou suspects haven’t been along to condemn you for tax evasion/immorality/etc…

They got there 50 minutes before you. 😀

I’m amazed that none of the usual holier-than-thou suspects haven’t been along to condemn you for tax evasion/immorality/etc…

Don't worry, we're still here quietly judging 😉

Get a full Susser. 10 years after my last one I'm on a heavier bike with 50-60mm more travel and still faster in places around Thetford and still infinitely better off on actual mountains!

Don’t worry, we’re still here quietly judging

Sorry, I've been sat in a work presentation about reducing abuse of the tax system - what was the question?

So you going to buy a bike to replace a bike you don't use just to avoid paying tax? Whats wrong with putting it in your pension?

I bought a bike from cotic using cyclescheme*, so you don't have to stick to Halfords or Tredz. That Boardman is fugly though, I just couldn't bring myself to buy that.

*I do actually use it for commuting as well.

I've only mentioned CycleScheme for two reasons - one to give some better context to the question "If you had these bikes and £2k to spend, what would you do?", and secondly because it reduces where/what I can purchase. I asked about replacing the Specialized last year and only got two replies, so at least if nothing else, the title has courted more views, for better or worse.

I'm not going to get into the ins and outs of tax avoidance (legal) vs. evasion (illegal) when you see some of the corruption stories dominating the news this week. I've mentioned above that some people may view this as a crass thread, but the long and short is that if I take the £2k as pay, I will see £427 of it net.

Grateful for all replies, and that's good to know that LBS may be more accommodating now. The Specialized was from M Steel in Gosforth all those years ago (sadly no more), and I know Cycle Centre in Byker are highly regarded. The reason I'd looked at the Boardmans is that you seem to get a lot more for your money than a Giant (as an example).

I feel getting something new and shiny might get me back out on trails and the like - last year I was training across three sports for the tri (and a Tough Mudder) so it was roads/commuting or nothing. In the same way people buy a shiny new guitar. I know a full-suss is overkill for my needs and skill but with how tech has progressed, it doesn't seem as ludicrous a proposition as it might have been 10-15 years ago.

I've a spare 29"/700c disc wheelset for the Arkose, so while I know it's not much use on these newer bikes that don't use a 9mm QR, I'm aware of the comfort difference in riding on 40c knobblies vs. 28c road tyres, and I don't think I've got the skill, or resilience, to take the Arkose on trails.

I’m amazed that none of the usual holier-than-thou suspects haven’t been along to condemn you for tax evasion/immorality/etc…

They got there 50 minutes before you

Not so arsed about the tax stuff - just that if you're going to claim a large govt benefit for a toy you you don't need, it'd be nice to give the cash to someone more deserving than Mike Ashley. The 'flush' comment was just to acknowledge that some people really need to squeak every last bit of value from the C2W scheme, so it's understandable that they'll just want to get the best deal they possibly can.

I didn't think Mike Ashley owned Halfords/Boardman?

The Arkose came from Evans (when we used to have Jameso answering every question under the sun on these boards - the reason I originally signed up) previous to his ownership. Seems a lot of people slate the Pinnacle brand now, but I don't know if the bikes are still any good - he's overusing the brand name for all the usual SD clothing/drinks bottles etc.

TBH I'm not bothered about the tax thing either, if you bike to work on something does it really matter if it's not the bike you bought on C2W scheme. You're still doing the world a favour in my eyes.

Also if you're not bothered about what the Boardman looks like a bloody good spec for the money. And if it gets you out in the trails WGAS what I think!

Like a few of the others above, I'm in the "fair enough to avoid the tax to get a bike you want cheaper, but it seems you're just buying a bike you don't need or really want just to spend the money" camp

If you're OK with the avoidance side, why not just get a voucher and get 2k credit at a local shop to drawdown when you actually need stuff?

Procedurally, as faustus points out, the scheme has a limit of £3k now, and for most people that is massively overkill for a bike ostensibly used for commuting to work. Martin Lewis and others have guides as to legally reducing taxable income to prevent paying things like HICBC, I'm not talking investing in Cayman Islands schemes here. The HICBC threshold has not increased since its introduction in 2013, and PAYE personal allowances are set to be frozen for the next ~4 years, so this is going to impact more and more people.

In a week where a Tory peer has had to step aside due to claims of personally benefitting to the tune of £29m, I'm not going to stand here and defend myself any more, sorry, not interested.

AFAIK that's not the way CycleScheme operates, you have to name the bike/equipment you're "hiring". If your LBS is happy to operate in that way, fair enough, but it's a risky idea. If the shop ceases to trade, you'll be last in a long line of creditors.

Sorry if my comment came across as an attack, that's not what I intended.

No need to apologise, it seems from other replies it's a common debate around these parts.

---

It seems that (subject to "you don't look at the mantelpiece when you're poking the fire" thoughts on its appearance) the Boardman is probably the one to get specs-to-price wise. If anyone knows of something similar that's likely to be available locally via the CycleScheme network, more than happy to take a look if it'll help a LBS.

Pwersonally if I had 3k to spend on a trail bike at the moment, I think it'd be this:

https://www.chainreactioncycles.com/vitus-escarpe-29-crs-mountain-bike/rp-prod206181

Can use cyclescheme at CRC as well. Or if you don;t want that much travel, look at the Vitus Rapide.

I’m not saying don’t buy a bike… but mebbe check your sums?

I’ve mentioned above that some people may view this as a crass thread, but the long and short is that if I take the £2k as pay, I will see £427 of it net.

That’s an effective tax rate of 78/79%? That’s a chunk over the 60% band? What’s driving it?

I don’t really need a new bike, but I noticed hunt do cyclescheme now, I could definitely go for some carbon wheels at a 40% discount…

That’s an effective tax rate of 78/79%? That’s a chunk over the 60% band? What’s driving it?

A student loan (9%) plus a postgraduate loan (another 6%) could put you pretty close. Interest rates on type 2 loans average around 5%, so even someone on 100K would take about 12-13 years to pay off an average £50K loan.

Doris5000 is on the right lines. As I said I'm looking at what I'd take home extra, rather than classing it as full 'taxation', e.g. as a student loan is a repayment of a debt, and HICBC is a charge.

Just putting up facts for 2022/23 in case it helps anyone else in a similar position.

- Personal allowance is 1257L - likely frozen until 2028 now.
- Bandwidth between 20% and 40% taxation is £37,700, therefore you pay 40% on anything over £50,270
- NICs beyond £50,268 annually / £4198 in a month (but remembering NICs aren't cumulative) @ 2%
- Student loan repayment (plan 1) is 9% of anything north of £20,195
- You lose entitlement to using 10% of your partner's tax code (if they're in a low-paid/low-hours job), if you go beyond £50,270 (worth £252)
- In a single income household, if one of you earns over £50,099, you lose 1% of your child benefit per £100 earned, tapering up to £60k where you would lose the lot (this threshold has not changed since the introduction of HICBC in 2013, meaning you now have base rate tax payers who are repaying some child benefit)

What does that mean in practice? Well (believe my maths to be correct):

- A) If your taxable pay is £50k, you keep all the child benefit, you retain the full marriage allowance tax entitlement, you don't hit 40% tax.
- B) If your taxable pay is £51k, you lose the marriage allowance tax entitlement (£252), you start to pay some of the extra at 40% PAYE (£346, as £270 is taxed at 20%), and you repay 10% of your child benefit. Also NIC and student loan payments. At this point, your net/take home increase over scenario A, is £117
- C) If your taxable pay is £52k, you lose the marriage allowance tax entitlement, you start to pay some of the extra at 40% PAYE, and you repay 10% of your child benefit. At this point, your net/take home increase over scenario A, is £427

Continuing that trend, for you to take home an extra £5k net, you would have to be earning £64,500.

A side note, but if you have a family where two people earn £49k each, so a household income of £98k, they will retain their full child benefit entitlement and likely not be subject to 40% tax.

I stress again that a student loan is not a tax, and the more you earn, the quicker you will pay it off, and that 9% 'loss' will stop being an issue in time. But, it has to be viewed in the context that many people will never pay it back in full, and it is the cheapest 'loan' you will ever likely have.

What can you do about it all?

- Salary sacrifice schemes such as purchasing extra holiday or Cycle Scheme, will reduce your taxable pay
- Give As You Earn (GAYE) charity schemes should (I think) reduce your taxable pay, though you'll still pay NICs on your donations
- Put extra into your pension to help save for the future
- Or just suck it up. But when there's a cost of living crisis, and people are hoping for double-digit pay rises, it'll affect more and more people over the coming years.

That’s a bit of a nasty spike in allowance changes. Our tax system does have some rather perverse incentives in it.

Can see your logic. I’d be finding what makes me want to ride it when I look at it….

Don't be blinkered by HAlfords/Tredz. My work uses Cycle Scheme and I got a very nice Ti Gravel bike from Dolan using the scheme.

Yup. Typo in the above sorry, 52k would mean 20% of child benefit has to be repaid.

Thanks for further suggestions.

I saw a Vitus model (VRS?) mentioned on Hotukdeals but I guess there's no means of finding one to look at in the flesh?

Looks like the other brand mentioned is road/gravel/tri, but I get your point about broadening the search for retailers.

Think I'll go for a wander round Start Fitness and Newcastle Cycle Centre, I like your idea of doing some window shopping.

The last time I tried a local shop, he was really uninterested in selling via CycleScheme. I suppose it was 2020/1 so he wasn’t being particularly rude in saying he could sell the bike 5 times over without losing the 10% to CycleScheme, but it certainly felt like a deterrent. Unfortunately the online retailers open up the range for CycleScheme massively in comparison. Therefore, am I helping a LBS via a purchase, or hindering by eating into their margin?

I suspect in the current economic climate, you'll find independent retailers a lot keener to sell a bike on C2W and lose their 10-15% margin again than they were... Market is quite oversupplied and lacking customers right now! Shops going pop cos of big bills they can't afford to pay once again!

As for your "needs"... Well it's up to you what your priorities are, but for a man posting and asking the question on an MTBing forum, strikes me that you're significantly lacking in the modern useable MTB front!

Get out there and start drawing a short list of suitable MTB's I'd say... Then find one in stock with a shop who's happy to sell it to you on C2W...

My work uses the Halfords Scheme as well and here's a few shops/outlets that accept their voucher if that helps ....

Dales cycles
Wheelbase
Bike and Spanner Edinburgh
Sonder

I know there's more but I've only got a few written down. Some of the Sonder stuff is really nice and decently priced. We have a £2k limit and I could get a Transmitter Deore Spec with upgraded wheels, fork and dropper post for around £1808 I think.

Thanks Haggis, a quick Google suggests there's an Alpkit shop at the MetroCentre, and there's a couple of Sonder full-sussers advertised on their website. Will take a look

https://alpkit.com/products/evol-29-nx-eagle

Looks like the NX is a better front fork but not sure of other differences?