Hi all,

Just wondering if anyone has bought a bike via Cyclescheme recently and had any experience they could share?

My only bike is a hardtail and I was looking at getting a longer travel full sus 29er on the Cyclescheme. My employer has a £3k limit, but probably looking closer to spending £2k if I can. I can only sign up to the scheme within the next couple of weeks or otherwise wait another year.

The only issue is, I understand there is quite a shortage of bikes/components at the moment and prices are quite high. So, if I bought the voucher on the scheme, but then the retailer didn’t have any stock would I be left paying the monthly payments but without any bike?!

Also, if I got the voucher for amount X, but in the interim the price went up/down to amount Y, what is the situation then?

In terms of the actual bike, I am not really sure where to start. I was looking to get something UK-based to save on likely Brexit-related charges I have seen.

An aquaintence of mine recommends the Bird Aeris AM9 and I have heard the customer service is very good. I would really have liked to have demo’ed one before committing, but obviously not possible any time soon given the current restrictions. Has anyone got any experience on the AM9? As I have never bought a bike new, I am a bit overwhelmed by the number of configuration options – i.e. coil shock, air shock etc. and not sure what would work best for me as I have only ever ridden on my hardtail. Again, available stock seems to be the main issue.

If anyone has got any thoughts, it would be appreciated. Cheers.

Give the guys at Bird a call, they will tell you about the options with cyclescheme. I am also sure demo’s will be back up and running before too long with the restrictions starting to lift.

Bird are great if you give them a ring.

What riding do you do? The AM9 is an enduro 29er – 150mm rear travel and 150-170mm front of the v3 AM9 frame. It’s long and slack and very fast downhill – yet pedals ok. If you’re jumping / doing steep tech / going fast a lot it’s perfect.

If your riding sounds more mellow than that I’d look at the Bird Aether 9 (not the 9C as that will probably be over budget as it has a carbon frame) – it’s still robust but has slightly less aggro geometry. The chainstays will be shorter, the angles slightly less enduro etc. In essence it’ll be a bit more playful and easier to lift the front wheel.

I bought my zero TR on the scheme but it was quite a few years ago now. There’s was a £1k li.it so they sent me a link to pay the remainder. As mentioned the guys at bird really are on the ball and will have your questions answered in no time.

I thought the AM9 felt remarkably nimble for the numbers. A friend bought one in the autumn after a demo in the summer and had high praise for bird in the process . He’s been out with injury though so I think the bike has only been around the block!

Also, if I got the voucher for amount X, but in the interim the price went up/down to amount Y, what is the situation then?

I’m pretty sure that, as they are now, the rules would mean you need to go back and re-do the voucher for the correct amount. This is because the bike’s ownership during the lease period isn’t as clean cut as it should be if you top up the voucher money yourself. @scruffythefirst may be able to give first hand evidence of this.

I enquired about this a while back – short answer was yes, no problem buying through a Scheme but they’d lump the 10% admin fee onto the total price.

Still worked out way cheaper than buying outright.

I wanted a Sentier on cycle scheme, so had to go through wiggle/crc. I got the voucher amount wrong by 99p and had to go back through the whole process which took ages for our finance department to chase up the original refund and then pay the new voucher. If it had been slightly over I could have lost the 99p and got the bike. I’m sure dealing with a shop would be much easier to add cash under the radar but its no longer officially allowed.

I think you only start paying once the voucher is cashed by the shop but if you can pre order I’d do that and accept the early payments. Not much difference to putting down a deposit really.

I’ve just ordered a bike from Bird on Cyclescheme – they were extremely helpful in explaining the process if you’re unsure (like I was).

I also recently bought a bike from Bird using cyclescheme. The admin fee you will pay on top of the bike varies depending on the scheme, I think for cyclescheme it’s 8% capped at something like £250.

Because your employer essentially buys the voucher and then charges you for it I think you start paying as soon as they approve the voucher.

When you order the bike that should fix the price as far as I’m aware – that’s when you hand over the voucher and pay the admin fee.

You get a quote from Bird, including their admin fee (10% for Cyclescheme i believe) and then provide this to your scheme provider, they will then issue you the voucher, but i believe won’t initiate the payments until Bird have actually claimed the voucher payment, so if you wait 3 months for the build you won’t start paying until it arrives, as Bird cannot take the voucher from you until goods have been released.

Thanks everyone for the replies – I will give Bird a call. Some really helpful advice for a novice like myself…

Good stuff, i thought about going the Bird route for C2W but with our company using Halfords, it means 15% added on, so taking away a good lump of any saving.

Might get one later to try 29, probably through my own means, wish Bird would do some basic builds though, as using their build a bike thing is a nightmare, and always one item short of being able to build, so no price!