United Kingdom - Question about cycle to work scheme

Ride 2 Work, Cycle to work, keep cars off the road scheme — I'm not sure what it's officially called; it's the one where you do a pay sacrifice for 12 months and don't pay taxes on the bike and end up in the neighbourhood of a 40% savings. Anyway, my company participates but cyclists at work seems to think that I need to go to the bike shop next door to utilise this scheme.

Without naming names, the bike shop next door is in Covent Garden and one of the pricier ones. If I know what bike and gear I want to buy, is there any reason I can't go to my LBS in East London with lower prices to fill the order?

You can always try. How the C2W scheme is implemented seems to vary between companies.

All I can really suggest is search/ask on some UK specific forums too:

http://www.bikeforall.net/linkcat.php?cid=112

bikeradar - http://www.bikeradar.com/forums/viewforum.php?f=40012
ctc forum - http://forum.ctc.org.uk/
cyclechat - http://www.cyclechat.co.uk/forums/

Hi El, welcome aboard. I'm just wondering, the cycle shop you refer to in Covent Gardens, is that Evans? I've been meaning to visit there but haven't got round to it yet.

Also which cycle shop do you use in East London?

To answer your original question, only certain bike shops participate in the scheme. I would *think* most bike shops would like to participate. All the ones I visited around London are participants of one of the schemes you mentioned above.

Ride 2 Work, Cycle to work, keep cars off the road scheme — I'm not sure what it's officially called; it's the one where you do a pay sacrifice for 12 months and don't pay taxes on the bike and end up in the neighbourhood of a 40% savings.

Curious. Any more details on teh scheme.. Sounds like they knock off the VAT?. Pay sacrifice. = ?.. Pay on credit.?. Hope the city of London, will enhance cycling infrastructure in preparation for the added number of cyclists. ?.

http://www.cyclescheme.co.uk/employee,intro.htm

The shop is Evans but I've got an E1 Cycles and Cycle Surgery near my flat in E. London that seem to have cheaper prices. I'll see about asking at those shops this weekend.

The shop is Evans but I've got an E1 Cycles and Cycle Surgery near my flat in E. London that seem to have cheaper prices. I'll see about asking at those shops this weekend.

I'm pretty sure markhr will back me up here: choose E1 and Cycle Surgery well before Evans. Evans are ok for an emergency part when nowhere else is open. Otherwise, their service is very hit and miss. My girlfriend had to get her bike from Evans for the C2W scheme and she had a decent experience. I find that they push certain things according to what needs to be sold rather than what you need and the mechanics are average at best.

Without naming names, the bike shop next door is in Covent Garden and one of the pricier ones. If I know what bike and gear I want to buy, is there any reason I can't go to my LBS in East London with lower prices to fill the order?

It may depend on your employer. Mine only does the deal with a mail order company, which is a shame as we have a couple of very good independent bike shops in the city.

Definitely depends on the employer - my scheme operates by issuing a letter/voucher which can only be redeemed at Halfords or Bikehut (part of the Halfords chain). Again, fairly limiting.

But even if Evans is pricier, you're still only paying 50-60% of the full price...

Thanks for the info, everyone. It appears my agency is rather wedded to Evans so while I would prefer Cycle Surgery it's not an option. With the discount I really shouldn't complain.

My company uses 'Cyclescheme'. This means I can use any shop on the list which is hundreds of shops local and national. You need to clarify with your employer exactly which scheme they are using as they have different rules for each scheme. Good luck. My experience with Cyclescheme has been good and I am now on my second bike from this scheme.

Unless the scheme is specifically operated by a retailer then you can usually find that any LBS will take it - some might pass on premium (as it costs your LBS 10% of margin to do the dirty with this in the first place)

You'll find that even alot of the 'halfords' etc cycle schemes can be accepted by most places. (well, it was certainly easy enough to set it up at the last place i worked, so i'd imagine folk will have coined on by now)

Hi

Is this cycle scheme really worth it i'm debating over it over 0% finance i work for NHS and a lot of people havent bothered as they earn under 25k and say its a con?.

Hi

Is this cycle scheme really worth it i'm debating over it over 0% finance i work for NHS and a lot of people havent bothered as they earn under 25k and say its a con?.

No, its absolutely not a con. Much as it pains me to say it I think its a genuine attempt by the government to get people out of their cars.

You pay for the bike over 12 months and pay in monthly instalments. There is no interest to pay. The money is taken direct from your pay, but before tax and national insurance,so you save whatever % you pay in income tax and national insurance.

It's true that if you earn loads of money and pay tax in the 40% tax band you would save more, which seems a bit perverse, however I am very much an advocate for the scheme and I think as many people as possible should take advantage whilst its still available.

I'd encourage you to check it out!

i have had a b ike on this scheme the first one was done by halfords but if you try www.cyclescheme.co.uk (http://www.cyclescheme.co.uk) they use a network of smaller independant stockists, you go in get a quote on the bike give that to your work they do all their biz with it and hey presto

Curious. Any more details on teh scheme.. Sounds like they knock off the VAT?. Pay sacrifice. = ?.. Pay on credit.?. Hope the city of London, will enhance cycling infrastructure in preparation for the added number of cyclists. ?.
The cost of the bike is deducted from your gross pay, bfore the income tax is calculated. You therefore dont pay income tax on your bike payments - savings depends on your tax bracket but is usually between 35 and 40%.