It’s all headed upwards unfortunately. I consolidated our 2 x car insurance by adding on home insurance back in September.

At the time it looked like it’d give a healthy discount overall.

Car insurance renewal came in last week, my not very exciting Mk6 golf diesel has gone up from £180 to £260 and I cannot get it any cheaper shopping around. For the first time ever, got our Mini down below £250, which is daft as it’s a higher insurance group. Home insurance up £25 too but tend not to get excited by that as we don’t pay for accidental damage on contents so it’s usually a steady £12 ish a month

I quite like the Voodoo or the Cannondale. This XC stuff is new to me but similarly looking for something fun and lightweight for that kind of money

Judging by the replies I got the other day, await incoming C2W related posts

Just bookmarking thread as I think my soon to be 9 year old has outgrown her 20″ Kona. That had pretty slack geometry, I think the school has had them out on 24″ bikes for Bike4Health.

Do many retailers have a decent selection of 24/26 to try out for size? Was wondering about Decathlon, as it looks like I’m hoping to shop at the sub £300 level

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

Evol NX Eagle

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

Re: brakes, my first experience of their “for decorative purposes” was riding mine for the first time. Was also first time riding in London, was raining and dark

Got to the end of Southwark Bridge and has to go full Flintstones. I ended up taking it back into the shop after a few weeks (trying to give them time to properly bed in) and tell them it was trying to kill me. They removed a lot of slack from the cable (worrying as it’s unlikely it stretched that much in six weeks, must have been factory setup) and they’ve been “better” but still not great.

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.

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.

I’ve only had mine about 9 months but it’s a phenomenal piece of kit for commuting into London. Saved a bunch on what would otherwise be £2.50 zone 1 fares and I think it’s quicker door to door KGX <> The City than the tube (once you factor in walking through stations).

Also been great for times when I’ve had to drop the car off for its MOT or similar where you’d otherwise be walking 3 miles or looking for a lift.

Expensive but nothing else folds up that small to my knowledge

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

Thanks will do, I’ve got a torque wrench just slightly scared of causing an oval tube or breaking the frame. I’ll see how it gets on once cleaned again. I’d read about helicopter tape but hadn’t considered bog standard insulation

Re: three speed, the benefit of getting the six was getting the more expensive BWR rear hub if I ever made the jump in the future. Both my other bikes are 1×10 so I’m used to not having a left shifter. Appreciate it’s a different setup on the Brompton but watched brilliantbikes’ YouTube video on 6 to 3 and it’s an interesting prospect.

Thanks!

Thanks all, will get something ordered in the week, probably the lifeline one (just need to confirm size of her mobile phone).

Forgot to book-end this thread with the outcome.

Ended up getting a really good deal on a 2021 M6L from Evans. £1250 but included the cambium C17 saddle (went for £60 on eBay), a metro messenger medium bag (currently trying to sell on eBay) and obviously is 6 speed rather than 3, for the same money as the C-Line 3 speed.

Only had a couple of rides out due to lousy weather but was surprised on a few counts – the standard seatpost is spot on for me at full extension, though it does seem to gradually slip. I’ve also found all 6 gears quite a good range, though might still do the 44T downgrade. The Cateye Rapid Mini is a straight forward swap for the rear deflector upon purchase of a £4 Cateye bracket, and I’ve got an Ampp 500 on the front using a combination of the Brompton dynamo and Cateye fork brackets.

Used the savings (and money left on the C2W voucher) to re-kit a couple of other bikes round the house with new tyres, seats etc. I’ve also picked up a non-derailleur rear chain tensioner, in case I ever fancy the 6 speed to 3 speed ‘downgrade’.

Thanks stumpy, there’s a diagram with measurements on the site so will take a look later and compare against mobile phone size. Looks like it’s either that or the ones that mount towards the rear as per other posters’ suggestions.

Thanks both

Don’t suppose you remember the model name mate? Also, is the zip on the side (or at least, towards the top?)

Finally got around to having a look and a couple of test rides and sits in the Covent Garden store.

I was really surprised but the H is (IMO) too upright and as a result, more skittish. I preferred the flat bars but they’re too low for me so M it will be.

The staff put me off going for the lowered gearing, admittedly I’ve only been on the flat road outside but it was useful to see how easy the 1st gear was on a 6 speed. Appreciate the standard 3 is further up as a starting point tho

@Saccades interesting, I’d not thought to actually use the roof box for storage. For some reason there’s a bloody window (blocked but still there) between the current garage and what was previously the garage. So because of the way it juts out, I’m somewhat prevented from spinning the roof box round by 90 degrees.

Certainly seems the right way to go a) if we’ve still got it b) when the kids need full size bikes in a few years. I can’t have bikes going too far along though as the process of taking them off the wall means you’re risking damaging the car. I’ve fixed my issues for now though and can get the bike trailer out without having to manouvre anything else out the way first.

Nice one, looks good mate

My Steadyrack arrived today, was expensive for what it is, but it’s fixed the third bike issue for me. Moved a few other bits around and need to do some more tidying but now have pick of the bikes and can get the kiddie trailer out too

I’ve not got the head-height unfortunately mate. The original garage was converted into a fourth bedroom (or prison for his mother in law, I’m not sure which). So the pentagonal one was created (also by previous owner) to fill the void.

The ceiling is covered in some form of foil insulation and there are non-structural wooden battons visible – I assume there are joists behind there but can’t see them.

I’d also be petrified of the roofbox faling out and crushing the soft-top car that lives in there. I think this Steadyrack will solve the issue, unless I ever get the n+1 itch :)

Sorry can’t seem to edit the post above, I’ve ordered one of the Steadyrack MTB holders. I reckon that’ll get me around the handlebar height/roofbox issue.

Thanks for suggestions, the roof box unfortunately can’t go any higher due to the roof and that weird remaining window.

I did contemplate moving it beneath the units but it would be a Herculean task to manoeuvre it past the car to the other car outside.

Think we’ll run with it on that little stand for now and see how it goes – to your point it means the bairn’s bike can slot between them on the floor.

I did a quick test with my Cycleops riser block which would mean sufficient height clearance but the width of the nobbly tyres lift the block up lol

Hope the purchase/fitting goes well Rich, interested to see the results

It’d take a braver man than me to risk it falling either side or onto the car! :)

I’ve done a bit of rejigging and moved the Clugs up onto the wall, and shunted the roof box along by half a metre. Unfortunately the new 29er’s handlebars are a perfect match for the height of my 26″ Rockhopper, and so I’d be blocking one of the bikes in if I get a third Clug.

I guess a ‘normal’ wall hook and hanging the bike from the rear wheel might work, bit of a big ask to get my partner to pop her bike on the wall that way though :/ Either way seems it’s freed up a bit of manoeuvre room

Good thread, I really like the look of those racks, particularly that Amazon £59.99 one. I’m now in a similar problematic situation.

I have a pentagonal garage (strange I know) which is great for working on cars and with just the two bikes, everything fitted in fine.

My partner now has a 29’er and I guess because it’s women’s geometry, it’s longer than either of mine. Both of mine were secured to the far wall using Clugs, but the MTB one will not fit the 2.4″ tyre on her 29’er, despite what the website says.

I’ve considered shifting some stuff around, either turning the bikes by 90 degrees or trying to put the clug high up the wall where the roofbox currently is, so that the bikes are then vertical to the wall. But as far as I can see, I don’t gain much usable space.

Is the best option one of those metal multi bike floor stands and just alternate the bikes (front first, rear first, front first)? I can’t put a third clug on the wall next to the other two, as I won’t be able to open the passenger door on the car.

Hate to leave a thread unresolved, so just to say, finally picked up the bike today.

If I overheard the member of staff taking to another customer correctly, they (main franchised Giant dealer) only have a further three (3) bikes allocated to them for the remainder of 2021, that aren’t already spoken for. With no option to request anything further.

Still haven’t got the bike six months+ after reserving :/

Have to say I’ve tried to stay calm throughout but the shop has made zero outbound effort to contact me.

Anyone know of something similar ~£700, 1×10, lady’s dimensions for geometry, retailer/manufacturer available on ‘Cyclescheme’ (so Halfords is out of the question)?

Thanks that’s all really useful.

I’m 6’ 2” but all my height is in my torso (I’m barely a 32” leg in trousers). So I thought the H bars would probably be best?

If it’s any help for guidance, my old 26” Specialized hard tail is a 21” frame and my Pinnacle Arkose 2 (cx/gravel) is an XL.

I figured the three speed with reduced gearing was probably the safest bet, both of the bikes above are running 1×10 and I only spin out on the mtb at nigh-on 30mph. I’ve only tried changing a sturmey archer rear wheel once and couldn’t figure it out so need to read up on that.

Thanks for the info on the saddle, I loved the contrast of the Brooks against the racing green so I’ll give it some thought.

Again with the telescopic, it was more with an eye on reducing the overall folded size? Though if it’s money better spent towards a bag, can do that instead.

Cheers, reckon that’s worth wrangling on Cyclescheme or try one of those bolt on frames for your own bag on etsy?

Right, think I’m done researching.

Brompton aren’t currently taking custom orders, there’s a shop vaguely local that has some in stock but obviously I can’t do anything beyond put a deposit down as I can’t get another voucher until December.

It looks like £1300 will get me an H3L (racing green) with the addition of a telescopic seat post, Brooks saddle, and taking the gearing down 12% to a 44t.

Hopefully I can get a test ride nearer the time/the whole covid situation will have subsided.

Is there anything else obvious I’m missing?

Looks like the boot opening is 34cm max, obviously have something of an angle to contend with too, but at least it’s more than the 30cm mentioned I suppose

Have found some more threads on here to pour over with regards seatpost size, handlebar type, gearing and poor brakes lol

Thanks all. It’s a cabrio Golf so the rear boot is more akin to a saloon car, I’ll measure up the opening though.

Take it there’s not much else on the market that folds up as small? The Rad Mini 4 looks much more bike for the money but I doubt I’d find one of those on cyclescheme.

Great stuff, thanks both. Will see about trying some out then.

I had given some consideration to just occasionally hopping on a ‘Boris bike’ but with the high income child benefit charge, the married couple’s tax allowance and the 40% tax point all being in or around the £50k mark, the actual cost to me is going to be minimal in comparison to losing out to various forms of taxation.

Pushed out another 3 weeks and they’re getting no info from Giant. Guess I might see it this summer.

Still haven’t got the bike :/

Supposedly within the next 3 weeks, no point cancelling now but it’ll have worked out as a 4 month wait and a 12% price increase.

Just lost my post, dunno if it’s the adverts but how annoying.

I’m a massive cheapskate – think OEM forks being bunged through online merchants like CRC or Bike24, sticking with 10 speed and so on.

I can sympathise with that, I upgraded my old 2011 Hardrock Disc Sport back in 2016 and getting various bits either discounted or from the likes of CRC as a pull from brand new bikes meant it cost very little to go to a better 1×10 setup. (I started out messing about on the bike and have since progressed to doing the maintenance on the car, so I’m reasonably confident doing my own spannering)

Shimano Zee derailleur: £30
HG81 cassette: £22
One-up single chainring: £25
Shimano M355 front & rear hydraulic brakes: £35 (CRC pull)
KMC chain: £13
Rockshox XC28 TK26: £56 (+£20 to fit by the LBS that originally supplied the bike).

Think the bike was originally about £450 back in 2011.

Point being, I’ve toyed with replacing it but I don’t think I’d get something comparable without spending £600+. This current shortage means that new ‘mid’ priced bikes are dropping back to old 3×8 setups, mechanical disc brakes etc :/

Delivery date has gone back a further fortnight so looks like we’re stuck paying the increase. Never mind