Its taken me 4 emails and a 30 minute call to get my certificate changed. They’ve ignored 3 emails, and the 30 minute phone call was painful.

Have they gone a bit rubbish? They were good last year. Thinking of trying someone else

Can you just ‘try somewhere else’? Doesn’t it depend who your employer is using to administer the scheme?

What tthew said – given the choice none of us would use these rent-seeking middlemen, but they exist to simplify the process for large companies, so often there’s no choice.

I’ve used cyclescheme several times with no problems, but there was nothing to have a problem about. I can easily see a more complex purchase or something you need to change with them causing problems.

Rent seeking middlemen is a good description. I don’t really see what value they are adding to the process.

Cyclescheme? That just connects to whatever retailer you want, sure it isn’t Cycle Solutions AKA Tredz AKA Wheelies AKA whatever shitty bike company from Swansea you choose. Now that I find believable.

Don’t say that squirrelking 🙁

They use CycleSolutions at my place, and I’m currently looking at buying something stuff via that.

That just connects to whatever retailer you want, sure it isn’t Cycle Solutions AKA Tredz AKA Wheelies AKA whatever shitty bike company from Swansea you choose. Now that I find believable.

Cycle Solutions are independent. Nothing to do with Tredz/PCL/Halfords, although they are near each other and were both born in the same original company. (Halfords bought Tredz but not Cycle Solutions.)

They use CycleSolutions at my place, and I’m currently looking at buying something stuff via that.

You can use CycleSolutions vouchers in independent bike shops.

cyclescheme were great when i had issues with my Ribble road bike (it went back 3 times in 6 months for the same fault and i had to involve the Ombudsman as Ribble were being awkward telling me you cant cancel a cyclescheme bike even if its faulty)

As soon as Ribble received the bike back for the 3rd and final time i contacted the Cyclescheme who then checked with Ribble and they issued me a refund of the payments id already made and cancelled all the future payments, took one phone call and two days to all be sorted

You can use CycleSolutions vouchers in independent bike shops.

Aye, that’s what I’m planning to do 🙂

Guess then any issues are with the LBS, rather than the scheme, it’s basically a credit note isn’t it?

What’s the cycle scheme voucher thing about 10% LBS charge I’ve read about?

What’s the cycle scheme voucher thing about 10% LBS charge I’ve read about?

Cyclescheme charge 10%, so some shops have to add this to the bill to make it worthwhile, others suck it up, others only charge it on sale bikes (i.e. ones with little or no margin to absorb it into), and some just refuse to deal with the schemes. Most don’t charge, I guess they know most ~£999 bikes are going to go through the scheme and it’s priced into it.

Cyclescheme charge 10%

On bikes. Think it’s 15% on parts and accessories now. Rate varies between suppliers but most are taking the piss given diminishing margins in the bike trade.

Cycle Solutions is 12%

Halfords is 15%

Green Cycle Initiative is 5%

Bike2Workscheme is 10%

Vivup is 15%

Cycle Solutions are independent.

So they are, my mistake.

You can use CycleSolutions vouchers in independent bike shops.

Cycle Solutions don’t issue vouchers, it’s order only, Cycle Scheme is the LBS option:

Decide which cycle meets your needs from the packages available in the Options leaflet. If none of these take your fancy then you can choose from 100’s of alternative models available in our online shop.

Add any additional safety or cycle equipment packages required, remembering you must not exceed the monthly gross salary sacrifice and the total value of goods must not exceed your designated scheme limit.

You can order your bike and cycle equipment on-line, call our help line on 0330 100 2480, or send the order form attached to your options brochure to:

Cycle Solutions (Cycle to Work) Limited
Unit 6 Europa Way,
Fforestfach,
Swansea
SA5 4AJ

You will then be sent a hire agreement with an explanatory covering letter giving the next steps.

Once you have signed and returned the hire agreement your order will be confirmed with the Cycle Solutions team and you will be contacted by them to arrange delivery of the bicycle and check your size/colour requirements.

Delivery will normally be within four weeks of the closing date of the scheme.

Cycle Solutions don’t issue vouchers, it’s order only, Cycle Scheme is the LBS option:

Cycle Solutions use both an internet shop (and their own shop in Swansea) and you can use local shops, as per Cyclescheme.

Rate varies between suppliers but most are taking the piss given diminishing margins in the bike trade.

It can take 12-18 months of meetings, phone calls, tenders, legal documents, etc, before your employer sets up a scheme with a provider. The provider, if they are any good, will then provide print or electronic marketing, B2B support, B2C support, process the admin (hire agreements, etc), provide a suitable end of scheme process, and so on. They may provide road shows or other local support. This all costs money and time and needs staff.

An average order is £6-700, so they make maybe £100 per order if it goes through a local shop.

The staff of that local shop get a customer walking in who wants to spend money and is easily persuaded to upgrade, hopefully returning to spend more money. Not many LBSs complain about that.

Cycle Solutions don’t issue vouchers, it’s order only,

This is completely incorrect

I’ve got cycle solutions at our work, can’t remember vouchers, but you can use their network of ‘partners’, which includes quite a few LBS’s across the country, you just don’t get the ‘additional’ savings that cycle solutions offer going via their shop.

Cycle Solutions don’t issue vouchers, it’s order only,

This is completely incorrect

No it’s correct. Solutions do not issue vouchers – you order exactly what you need either from them or through a LBS.

You get an additional 10% off with CycleSolutions if you use their own shop to order.

But they also have a list of partner shops who you can get a quote from, submit the quote, the agreement gets written up and you send the details to the partner shop, who’ll then provide you the goods, they get their money off the scheme.

There’s nothing under £1k on the CycleSolutions sites that I fancy, and my employer scheme lets me use it for parts/frames if I want to build a suitable commuter bike.

And Stanton are one of the partners..

So guess what..

Bah, were still stuck at £1000 on cyclesolutions.

Bah, were still stuck at £1000 on cyclesolutions.

Yeah us too, but I also have a large pile of parts to make a bike from :), so a frame only option is useful.

Talk to the CycleSolutions live chat about your scheme and see if there’s a “complete bike only” limitation, if there is, I think at a grand cap, you actually get £1100 if you buy a complete via CycleSolutions, if not, then your options are a bit better if you decide you want a frame only.

And apologise to Beal from me, because it’s him that’ll end up with the headache if you end up buying on the scheme :D.

What I will say though, is both Dan and Beal have been excellent so far at answering my questions about which frame would suit me the most, how the scheme will work, how the sizes will fit my oddly proportioned body, and so on.

So I could potentially get a £2k frame? 🙂

So I could potentially get a £2k frame? 🙂

if your HR department sign up to the higher level scheme you can get whatever the scheme allows, I think HMRC do allow frames as part of the deal right now, but chat to Stanton if you’re considering going that route; honestly, they couldn’t have been more helpful.

If you’re limited a grand, then you can still potentially get a grands worth of frame; in either scenario from one of their approved partners.

Just check with CycleSolutions what your company scheme limit is currently set to, and if there’s a limitation on what you can buy, if you for example need frame only, or a bespoke frame because of an awkward body shape.

Your company should have a website; there’s be a link to local shop orders on that site.