Anyone commute on an expensive bike?

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 – Member

a £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 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.

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.

My commuter, probably close to £1600 new, paid £1000 S/H. ir_bandito got one very similar through cyclscheme. His is beautiful. 8)

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.

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.

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?

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 😮
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013 (2)[/url] by 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.

Commute on the Enigma. Has full set of Roadracer2 mudguards for current duties.

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.

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… 😯

Not with the Swapmthings on though!!