GrumpyGregry
Here for rides.
re the position of the bars and hoods. Unlikely they will suit out of the shop anyway. I always have to untape the bars, move the brifters, and adjust the angle of the bars on a new bike to get them "just so".
Crickey; I don't know s**t about touring bikes...
- Thread starter PrettyboyTim
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PrettyboyTim
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I have a bad feeling that choosing a bike that's over the £1000 limit may cause a problem - I'll find out tomorrow... 
Dunno what I'll go for if denied a Panorama...
Dunno what I'll go for if denied a Panorama...
GrumpyGregry
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depends on the shop, some let you break the rules and pay 'cash' for the excess. could cause probs if you leave the scheme as the bike is not yours ....
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PrettyboyTim
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I'm not worried about the shop - they already suggested that I could top up - I'm worried about whether work will have a problem with it. I could understand why - it might make the details of the ownership of the bike unclear.
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So don't tell them?
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PrettyboyTim
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TheDoctor said:
I had to tell them what I was planning to buy; I don't consider lying to be an option for me.
GrumpyGregry
Here for rides.
It isn't going to happen but employers are risk averse so picture the scene:
you buy a bike on the scheme with a £1000 voucher and you pay £999 of your own dosh to the shop.
a few months later you get laid off at work, maybe in unhappy circumstances where your employer is not well disposed towards you, and you ask "what about my (sic) bike?" They reply
a) "the bike is ours not yours, we own it you are only hiring it we will sell it on the open market as Greg in IT, our resident cyclenut, says we could get over £1000 for it if we flog it on cyclechat. thanks, that will be all."
"the bike is ours not yours, we own it you are only hiring it we will sell it to you at the invoice price less n%"
c) "the bike is ours not yours, we own it you are only hiring it we will sell it you for the open market value"
How are you going to feel about your £999 quid?
Then a few months later someone asks to go on the scheme and gets told "we've scrapped it, we had a load of hassle with chummy last time, who broke the scheme rules, and we can't be arsed anymore"
Unlikely? yes. Has it happened? yes.
you buy a bike on the scheme with a £1000 voucher and you pay £999 of your own dosh to the shop.
a few months later you get laid off at work, maybe in unhappy circumstances where your employer is not well disposed towards you, and you ask "what about my (sic) bike?" They reply
a) "the bike is ours not yours, we own it you are only hiring it we will sell it on the open market as Greg in IT, our resident cyclenut, says we could get over £1000 for it if we flog it on cyclechat. thanks, that will be all."
"the bike is ours not yours, we own it you are only hiring it we will sell it to you at the invoice price less n%"c) "the bike is ours not yours, we own it you are only hiring it we will sell it you for the open market value"
How are you going to feel about your £999 quid?
Then a few months later someone asks to go on the scheme and gets told "we've scrapped it, we had a load of hassle with chummy last time, who broke the scheme rules, and we can't be arsed anymore"
Unlikely? yes. Has it happened? yes.
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PrettyboyTim
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Calamity!
It turns out I can't get a bike worth more than £1000 because the blanket license issued to employers by the Consumer Credit Act covers "only consumer hire business for the purpose of providing employees with bicycles or bicycle equipment up to the value of £1000 including VAT".
Therefore the credit license does not cover partially paying for equipment over the value of £1000.
Looks like I'll have to look in to a different bike. I doubt they'd discount the bike by 17% just so I could fit under the limit. I will ask, though.
It turns out I can't get a bike worth more than £1000 because the blanket license issued to employers by the Consumer Credit Act covers "only consumer hire business for the purpose of providing employees with bicycles or bicycle equipment up to the value of £1000 including VAT".
Therefore the credit license does not cover partially paying for equipment over the value of £1000.
Looks like I'll have to look in to a different bike. I doubt they'd discount the bike by 17% just so I could fit under the limit. I will ask, though.
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PrettyboyTim
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I've now been thinking about the Croix de Fer, but I'm wondering how easy it would be to convert it to a triple at the front.
GrumpyGregry
Here for rides.
new chainset, maybe chain and likely new rear mech maybe front one as well. chainset fitting takes all of 5 mins if you've the right tools, new chain and rear mech 10 mins to fit (again with tools) 30 minutes to set up. front mech, if needed, 5 mins to fit and the rest of your life to adjust.
Hour or two's research on the parts, hour of LBS labour plus cost of parts (which if you're savvy you'll buy on line from someone like merlin who 'box shift') My LBS charges a different labour rate if you buy your own bits elsewhere. some refuse outright to fit them.
Me, I'd ride it stock for a while and see how I'd get on, and then I'd change the cassette and rear mech for something wider. Fit young lad like you doesn't need ultra low gears anyway ;-)....
Hour or two's research on the parts, hour of LBS labour plus cost of parts (which if you're savvy you'll buy on line from someone like merlin who 'box shift') My LBS charges a different labour rate if you buy your own bits elsewhere. some refuse outright to fit them.
Me, I'd ride it stock for a while and see how I'd get on, and then I'd change the cassette and rear mech for something wider. Fit young lad like you doesn't need ultra low gears anyway ;-)....
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PrettyboyTim
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GregCollins said:
I do if I'm going up a hill towing the trailer ;-)
GrumpyGregry
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PrettyboyTim said:
A non-cycling mate of mine came into some money about six years ago and jacked in work and got the touring bug. Set his heart on Home (Lewes) - Canterbury - Paris - Le Puy - Roncevalles - Santiago - Bilbao - Plymouth - Home. My age he bought a bike (a posh one with a compact when such things were novel high end kit) and a trailer and set about his usual fitness training; eating pies and supping ale and smoking Castella's
His final words to me were "Don't worry mate I'll be fit by St John Pies and Port" (St Jean Pied de Porte). He quit smoking somewhere in Northern France, was fit as butchers dog by Le Puy, and never caught the ferry back to blighty as it happens. Last I heard he's lost nearly 50 lbs and was cycling round Crete with his new 22 year old girlfriend.
You'd be surprised how quickly your body adapts....
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PrettyboyTim
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Yes, but I don't drag the trailer behind me all the time. However the other day I was lugging a keyboard + keyboard stand back from Guitars, Amps and Keyboards in the North Laines up Upper Gloucester Road which is around a 1:10 gradient. I found myself needing the inner ring on my bike for the first time in ages. You could be right though - I guess I might just learn to manage, but I'd prefer not to have to.
However, my dream of the Panorama is not dead yet - on the Evans side I'm trying to see if they'll do something like sell me the wheels separately from the rest of the bike, so I'll use the scheme to buy the majority of the bike and my money to buy the wheels ;-).
Evans also gave me number of their dedicated Ride To Work team, and I managed (I think) to persuade our head of HR to give them a call to discuss the possibilities for topping up a C2W purchase.
So here's hoping ;-)
However, my dream of the Panorama is not dead yet - on the Evans side I'm trying to see if they'll do something like sell me the wheels separately from the rest of the bike, so I'll use the scheme to buy the majority of the bike and my money to buy the wheels ;-).
Evans also gave me number of their dedicated Ride To Work team, and I managed (I think) to persuade our head of HR to give them a call to discuss the possibilities for topping up a C2W purchase.
So here's hoping ;-)
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PrettyboyTim
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YAY! HR has relented and allowed me to top-up the cyclescheme! I can get the Panorama!
She will be mine; Oh yes - she will be mine!
She will be mine; Oh yes - she will be mine!
GrumpyGregry
Here for rides.
Shhhh! HMRC might be listening.
Great choice of bike and chapeau to your HR peeps
Great choice of bike and chapeau to your HR peeps
