I’m in bolton, any recommendations for surveyors would be great

It was like this when we moved in, although the alarm guy has put a hole in it on the 2nd pic

What speed limits do they observe? Car or van? That’ll determine what tax you should pay…

This is not part of the criteria, the judgment for BIK tax does not consider other agency’s rulings, so vans classified by the DVLA, VAT could be cars for BIK tax

I suppode the question should be do you need a big van to carry out your work (eg are you a builder or a solicitor).
If you can prove you actually need it to carry men/materials then it shouldn’t be a problem and they will (normally) accept this. If you want it because you think it looks great and want to be part of the cool brigade then you’re going to end up paying BIK.

i see your point although the HMRC does say the judgment is based on the vehicle design only not the use so builder or solicitor should not be a factor only that the vehicle is deigned to be primarily a load carrying vehicle.

on a side note if use was the case the yes we work in construction so it would be easy to fulfill that requirement.

Very frustrating that the HMRC do not provide definitions to their tests like VAT do

b r – Member
I suppose the key question, which is why you’ve raised the post is what is the actual cost to the ’employee’ of the two vehicles?

BIK Car £9,271 / Fuel £6,514

BIK Van £3090 / Fuel £581

I have spoken to the HMRC who directed me to this …..

They said this is the test they use to define whether a vehicle is classed as a car.

They advised that any decision should be recorded with clear reasoning noted against the clauses.

They also said use or intended use is not a factor and focus should be solely on the vehicle construction.

P-Jay – Member
Yes, they’re cars for BIK. Blame our forbearers a decade ago. A lot of people caught onto the fact you could have a pick-up as a company vehicle and pay a lot less tax, so a lot of people did – the manufactures caught on a brought out a lot of luxury ones, leather seats, metallic paint, air-con, sat-nav etc and they became very fashionable for a while.

HMRC caught onto the scam though and reclassified them, it’s a shame for people who genuinely use them for commercial purposes, but there was a lot of piss-taking with them in the early 00s.

But pick-ups are not reclassified they are still classed as commercial vehicles and the tax advantage is still in place, its the vans that are classed as cars

ninfan – yes that’s my view and common sense would point to the transit being a commercial vehicle

but this is the tax man we are talking about

This is how you conduct the test whether the construction of the vehicle is primarily suited for the conveyance of goods or burden LINK

The importance of the word primarily is that it:

recognises that a vehicle may be suited to fulfil more than one purpose and
makes it clear that a vehicle will only fall outside the definition of car in this context if it has a predominant purpose of carrying goods or burden.
Most estate cars (or indeed cars with some sort of boot) are suited to the dual purpose of carrying passengers and some cargo or luggage. But it is clear that what they are primarily suited for is the conveyance of passengers.

In contrast, a standard transit van is also capable of carrying a driver plus a passenger (occasionally two) as well as cargo, but it is clear that what it is primarily suited for is the conveyance of goods or burden.

A vehicle will not automatically satisfy this test simply because it has only one row of seats. There are certain sports cars and leisure vehicles that can only seat a driver and one passenger, but that are quite clearly not primarily suited for carrying goods or burden.

A vehicle will not automatically fail this test if it has two rows of seats. Vehicles of this type exist that have a sufficiently large payload, that is, gross vehicle weight (or design weight) less unoccupied kerb weight, to satisfy this condition:

For off-road vehicles see EIM23145.
For double-cab pick ups, see EIM23150.
If a vehicle has no predominant purpose, and is equally suited to carrying passengers and cargo, it will not satisfy this test.

Its certainly not conclusive but i would say

Vehicles of this type exist that have a sufficiently large payload =
Ford Transit custom 310 DCIV (Dual Cab) long wheelbase – 1106kg payload – 1000kg is stated as being acceptable for a pick up to be classed as commercial so it seems logical the same figure could be used for a crew cab

Predominant purpose of carrying goods or burden =
ford transit crew cab l2h1
Passenger area 2.4 cu.m
Load area – 4.4 cu.m
I would argue the larger load area shows Predominant purpose of carrying goods or burden

Many threads on the van forums about this, 1st one on google:

Volkswagen Kombi example

yes looked at that thread, it does not answer my question.

So we have a several dual cab pick ups in the company allocated to employees for personal use,
The bit in bold is why it is classified as a car, far too many companies using it as a tax dodge to give employees benefits. It is why they became so popular as “lifestyle” vehicles for a while.

The Pick up IS allocated for personal use and IS classified as commercial vehicle by the HMRC

Womp – My accoutant looked into it and advised me the double cab van would be classed as a car for BIK purposes. Are you looing at it to be used for carrying a crew to a worksite or as a tax dodge ?

It would be used for work and then personal use at weekends.
i can have a company pickup as well as the van but id rather not have 2 vehicles blocking the street.

womp – Member
Ohhhh me too, my daughter just bit her iPad in a rage and smashed the screen
If I would you I’d spend money on therapy for her before iPad screen repairs.

I dont think therapy will help she’s only 3 and ‘the rage’ is an incurable hereditary condition passed down from her mother (although it was a surprise that it’s manifested so soon, my wife’s condition lay dormant for many years, the symptoms only started after we got married)

Wysiwyg – will drop you an email shortly

Ohhhh me too, my daughter just bit her iPad in a rage and smashed the screen

The ‘Van’ will be on my P11D, to ensure its classed as a Van the 310 offers a payload over 1000KG and thus pay commercial van tax rather than car rates.

Cheers guys, ended up going for the 310, my thought process was that 310 has a payload of over 1000kg which will help should the tax man come around.

no price difference (its leased) both long wheelbase

my thought was also ‘may as well get the higher payload’ but someone said it would ride firm and springy if all im doing is carrying bikes and people.

Sounds like the Big bike is the answer, must admit the thought of going down rooley moor rd on the CX gives me cold sweats.

So if I take the big bike any obvious mods ?

What’s the deal with navigation?

Follow the blue acorns was the advice i was given on my first time and i got round fine, i never had a map but did ride past a turning once but soon noticed my mistake and turned back, most of the time other riders will be around

but if you are concerned you could always buy or borrow a GPS and download the route

Hi Electric Worry, i have just emailed you :D

Cheers peeps, just what i was after, i have both booked out on a test drive and ill do a load test (but in quietly confident after reading Cr500doms post).

Im not sure what engine ill go for but im on fuel card so fuel economy is not a concern.

spot on Harry, just a couple of points, the consumer credit lic no longer exists (though I thing you mean the hire agreement) which means as long as you meet the FCA conditions you can set your own limit , the old £1000 Group consumer credit licence limit is gone.

Also final settlement fee can be worked around by providing extended hire agreements at a nominal cost £1 per annum up to the 5 years at which point the final vaule fee is also nominal.

Cycle to Work Schemes – are they all the same?

No!!

Ok that’s oversimplified let me explain a little more, ‘the cycle to work Scheme’ is in reference to the tax break awarded by the HMRC

Company’s or administrators then set up ‘schemes’ based on this such at ‘Cyclescheme’ ‘bike to work scheme’ ‘[insert your own play on words]’ it’s an important to understand the difference.

Ok so as the company appointed cycling expert you have 3 options for applying the HMRC tax break (cycle to work scheme) You can use an administrator, do it yourself or a hybrid.

Before I cover each option I’ll just explain the common method of applying the cycle to work scheme, the scheme
allows employes to use a bike provided by the company (at no charge, no BIK) and if the company wishes to recover its cost then it can set up an agreement with the employee to recover from the gross salary (that’s your tax break), this is called salary sacrifice and is a whole different HMRC scheme. So as you can see these schemes provided by the administrators are a combination of HMRC schemes and a set of T&C that allow your company to take advantage of the HMRC cycle to work scheme.

Ok that’s a pretty breif explanation but should give you the jist

Right so option 1 is use an administrator, the advantage here is that they will take away the admin burden and should ensure you are on the right side of the tax law, most schemes opperate in a very similer ways but may have subtle differences such as the value they allow employees to apply for, shops they allow, charges at the end of agreement.
The disadvantage is that these companies are not doing it for free (although they say they are) the cost is usually charged to the cycle shop I’ve heard figures of 10-20% of RRP (any bike shop peeps wish to share charges?)

So you will find that on most administered schemes you can only buy a bike at RRP value, no sale items, no discounts (and we all know bike shops love to give discounts)

Whilst this is fine for most it’s not always the best option if your looking for a bargain or have a particular brand in mind.

So your next option is run the scheme yourself, it requires a little reading and understanding of the HMRC schemes, then set up your own T&C and agreement forms, you can always have your T&C checked by a solicitor.
The advantage here is that as far as any bike shop is concerned the deal is a cash buyer and you can shop anywhere the company allows and buy sale items or negotiate a deal.

The 3rd option is a hybrid, this is where you effectively buy the paperwork and marketing material and run the scheme yourself, this offers the same advantages as doing it yourself but reduced the admin burden.

Hope that helps

I have an objective to update our management systems by oct, having the draft would mean i don’t have to do it again a few months later

I fitted a speed dongle to the Electric bike last night and took a run out over Rivi. it makes a nice improvement but certainly does not magically turn the bike into a MX bike.

I’ll come clean, although I bought the bike it’s mainly for the wife to use, I’ve taken it out a few times and It’s great, I was just as knackered as when I’m unassisted (if not more so as it urges you to really go for it on the climbs)

It’s no electric motorbike that’s for sure (They really are awsome!) but it really is hard to dislike and don’t blame anyone for using one (as long as they don’t upload it to strava !!! Grrrrrrrrrrr)

ebay

Why not just get a 30-40 depth wheel for the front where it matters? You could get a matching Reynolds wheel.

The Reynolds are a canyon specific model and not available as single items from Canyon or Reynolds

Doesn’t really look wrong to me

I must disagree, that pic has definitely put me off shallow wheels on an Aeroad

Not sure why Zipp 303’s or M40C’s aren’t already bought

The M40C’s don’t get great reviews recently -‘to narrow, old pointy shape is old fashioned and catches the wind’
Zipp 303’s are an option but…..

I have just picked up some farsports 38mm on Bitex hubs for £50, so not very sexy but I may give them a whirl and maybe see what 2016 wheels come out (updated Mavic’s would be nice)

So which machine have you bought to rip up the trails, and destroy cycling forever then?

Cube Stereo Race Nyon (satnav)

The pikes are awsome when I’m ripping up San Marino

Is this a good time to announce that ive just bought an ebike ?

Yes the Mavic R-Sys seem great but I’m just not sure they will look right on the Aeroad (any photoshop experts in the house ?)

DO you want carbon clinchers for braking on a wet fred?

Not really! i hate carbon rims in the wet but I must admit the Reynolds are a bit better than others I’ve had, that said I can’t wait for discs to become main stream, loving my Shimano Hydros on the commuter

I ride ENVE 65’s for everything – I’d just leave the Reynolds on

Are you actually struggling with them in the wind?

Yes, I used to ride 38mm and found them managble but with the 62mm I feel like the fronts going to take off as I pass every farmers gate, I guess it does not help that I’m 68kg

I was going match a lower profile Reynolds front (Attack 29mm, Assault 41mm) but can’t get them in the limited edition Canyon style :cry:

Cheers njee, do you think the low profile will look ok on the Aeroad ? I know it’s just cosmetics but I don’t want the wheels to look out of place

I’m a little confused, I have 2015 XTR shifters and brakes, am I right in assuming I just need an ispec 2 adaptor ?

The drive is not seen in the bios, it’s also not seen by windows explorer when docked, yes yes I should have done a back up no one to blame but myself, it’s just unfortunate to timing as my drive backs up when I conect to my network.

I shall try a few of the suggestions, (thanks) as for a recovery service its prob not worth it as I can likley reproduce the work cheaper and quicker, very frustrating though …bye bye bank holiday

Edit:
I’m not sure on the brand, it’s a MSATA solid state stick from a Sony vaio so it not mechanical failure

Thanks for the tips

I bought the bike in the knowledge the brakes where euro not UK fitment, it was an ex display so bar tape fitted

Cheers the One up 45 looks interesting but they are sold out, I shall keep my eye out for some reviews, it still looks as though the XX1 has the weight advantage in any case.

So what he verdict on the ultimate 1X11 setup?

XX1 cassette
XTR mech & Shifters
XTR crank or XX1

(Slow reply as I’ve just got back from holiday)

Just keeping an eye on this 8O

Before this thread dies here is another link to a Reynolds wheelset review

http://www.220triathlon.com/gear/gear-guides/best-race-wheels-review-2015/9843-2.html

afternoon in the garage, some nice beers and a good album on the stezza: relaxing.

pipedreams ….i have a 3year old and newborn twins

Does the Full Service part include suspension?

nope, but thats just been done

Cheers for your thoughts peeps, sounds like the price is fair (its a large shop not a back street so i do expect to pay a small premium)

Does the £692 include supplying the drivetrain or just fit?

yes that includes parts

Wiggle has it for £399 so it may be cheaper to buy and fit yourself.

I found the group for £299 at merlin and did consider fitting myself but time is an issue