Morning all

I am looking at a Nukeproof Mega 275 on Wiggle at the moment. Help me think it through.

1. My current, perfectly fine Orange short travel fs is 5 years old. Its fine, But its very upright without anything like a modern geometry. It was the last thing that Orange made before all of the new Stage 4,5,6 changed things for them. I hope something slacker will improve my downhill confidence a bit.
2. My son is now 16, 6ft and has outgrown his bike. If we are to ride any more together then I can partly justify having a new bike. I’d quite like to do this- though he might prefer not to!
3. The bike is c20% off in the sale. I can buy on Cycle to work, which feels like I can get a c£2500 bike for c£1000 which feels like a bargain- this C2W thing with no limit can’t last
4. The Mega is long and slack, in a size XL, on sale, and available on Cycle to Work.
5. This is likely to be my last, “do everything bike” I’m not really a big collector.

But

1. Its 27.5. I am 6ft 4 on a 29″ at the moment. Will I notice a big (and not good) difference?
2. Do I really need a new bike?
3. What else have I missed? I looked at a Bird AM9 which would be c£500 more.

I ride in the Pennines. Can ride from my front door. My normal ride is a 2-4 hours weekend circuit, but I’m home based so half hope a new bike might get me out for cheeky lunchtime hours this winter as well.

Thoughts?

Nothing to say about the bike but you’re misunderstanding something about cycle to work, you aren’t getting it for £1000!

You are right of course. I am getting it for £2000. But 47% of that is going to be paid for with money that I would have otherwise given to the government in tax.

is that wrong?

I misunderstood then, I read it as £2500 was the sale price. I think c2w savings are 42% max for higher rate tax payers? Still sounds like a good deal though.

Are you sure Wiggle let you top up a C2W voucher?

Their own T&Cs say “Employees can no longer add funds (or ‘top up’) – whilst previously allowable, this is now prohibited in all circumstances.”

The C2W limit increase should last on the basis it opens up e-bikes. I cannot see even a leftie government reducing incentives to get people mobile. Could see a levelling on discount for 40% tax-payers though as it used to be for childcare vouchers.

@Kelkoo you are right. Actual cash saving is £700 or 35% by the time you have paid the cyclescheme fees.

@boombang I think that the limits have gone now- https://www.cyclescheme.co.uk/cycle-to-work-scheme-any-price#1 or have i misunderstood?

So original price is £2599, minus £600 off for the sale price and another £700 for Cyclescheme. Effectively 50% off. It really makes no sense to buy second hand.

I understand limits have been raised under legislation but uptake from schemes and employers varies.

That looks like Cyclescheme are up and running on it but your employer needs to be too – so they need to actively apply for the new scheme and agree to set a higher limit.

I work at a global firm with 8k employees all over the globe – for me the chance of getting anything changed is near to nothing. I am stuck on the Halfords setup with a £1k limit and 2 entry points a year. Sucks.

Good advice @Boombang I will check thanks.

My son is now 16, 6ft and has outgrown his bike. If we are to ride any more together then I can partly justify having a new bike

Thats the exact reason I used to justify my new purchase yesterday 🙂
Although my son is 13, and 6ft :/

The issue with the £1k limit is because at that value you don’t need to be fca licenced – but over that you do. So my employer (a large global bank with circa 230,000 employees) have had a £2k limit for ages as they are approved etc.

Cycle scheme is getting round this issue by hiring you the bike directly rather than you hiring it from your employer. So it just depends on your employer signing up with that Cycle scheme and being ok with the higher limit.

If your employer is signed up for the higher limit and wiggle / cRC will sell you a sale bike within that limit then go for it! Some bike shops will charge you an extra premium on sale bikes as they often have to pass a fee to the Cycle scheme.

Excellent advice thanks @joebristol really helpful. thanks everyone

In response to specifics…

If I were 6’4 id want to stick with 29r. Or at least get the right bike rather than being driven by what is on sale.

No of course you don’t need a new bike, the one you have is fine. But thats pretty much the case everytime i get a new bike. If you want one, get one.

@blackflag “If I were 6’4 id want to stick with 29r” is interesting. I’d thought that 27.5 would be ok and something definitely different to what I have now. I’d thought it might be a bit lighter and different to throw about.

But you are right 6’4″ and 29″ seem more in sync