Cyclescheme! Yay! Boooooooo!

[mark barker]

It does pretty much limit the participants to flat bar commuters though.

(Wracking my brains to think of a drop barred bike coming in under the price).

Those taking a train as well can't get the (currently) best tool for that job either.

Not sure I'd fancy a longish commute without my drops, but I may have been spoiled ;-)

I guess it all comes down to what you're expecting for the money... Theres plenty of bikes with dropped bars for much less than £500, they probably wouldn't meet the expectations of many members of the forum, but I get the feeling that the scheme is aimed more at first time riders rather than those that are already using bikes (regardless of whatever blurb you may find on the website!).
Just as an example (and I'm not suggesting this is a good bike, never seen one and probably wouldn't recognise a good bike if it hit me anyway)
http://www.argos.co.uk/static/Product/partNumber/3322259/Trail/searchtext>RALEIGH.htm

 

[taxing]

I just got the email today saying that my voucher has been issued. Been waiting very impatiently for nearly three weeks now, just two more days until I can go pick up my new bike.

I don't think that Cycle to Work is very fair really, the people who need help buying a bike the most are the ones on minimum wage, yet the scheme isn't available to people on minimum wage. And I'm not eligible because I do agency work, so even though I want to use the bike to commute to work and can't drive, I wouldn't be able to do it in my own name (that's what mums are for, she's getting the bike in her name). So I think bollocks to it, use the bike however you want. Until they start a scheme that would help the lowest earners and people on benefits to get bikes (even dolies have to get around you know) I don't think the government really cares about how the scheme is used, and neither should we.

 

[John the Monkey]

... Theres plenty of bikes with dropped bars for much less than £500, they probably wouldn't meet the expectations of many members of the forum, but I get the feeling that the scheme is aimed more at first time riders rather than those that are already using bikes (regardless of whatever blurb you may find on the website!)

The thing with cyclescheme though is that it goes through independent bicycle retailers.

There are good drop bar bikes available through some of the big chains, but they're not cyclescheme as I recall. (Evans, Halfords & EBC run through different, exclusive schemes iirc, and the big H and EBC both do a drop bar bike below £500 I think).

 

[John the Monkey]

Until they start a scheme that would help the lowest earners and people on benefits to get bikes (even dolies have to get around you know) I don't think the government really cares about how the scheme is used, and neither should we.

If the former points here are a concern, you could do worse than support your local bike recycling project - lots of them do good work rejuvenating skipped/donated bikes & passing them on for use by folk who'd struggle to afford a bike themselves.

On the scheme itself, I bought a commuter (my Brompton S6L) personally.

 

[Norm]

Don't jump too quick there Norm...The bike will be commuted on, (dry days only though as I have the paddy wagon for the wet/winter). Doing the 15 mile into work counts as training/commuting!

If I could buy one direct I would...that cash just isn't available...

Excellent but I don't think that was clear (or even implied) previously.

Until they start a scheme that would help the lowest earners and people on benefits to get bikes (even dolies have to get around you know) ...

I know, that's how I use mine every other Tuesday.

 

[Debian]

At least you can get cyclescheme OP! My place refuses to countenance it for various trumped up and irrelevant reasons.

Anyways, for a bike to commute on for most people £500 is a perfectly reasonable amount of money, if someone put £500 in my pocket and told me to find a replacement for my ageing GT I'd be overjoyed! Plenty of suitable bikes for that sort of cash - Carrera, GT, Boardman for example. I can understand the sentiments but for someone to complain that they can't get a specific make / model / type for £500, well that's a bit OTT. It's a bit like getting a Toyota Prius as a company car and then complaining that they won't give you a Jag.

 

[dellzeqq]

Of course, you're right, VB - you're not going to get anything like a TT bike for five hundred quid. But, if you were becoming a cycling commuter...

Decathlon B'Twin Sport 2 - £450. Double butted 6061 T6 aluminium frame with high-modulus carbon seat stays. Carbon fork with aluminium steerer and integrated head tube. Shimano SORA group with triple chainring (50X39X30) and 27 gears. Shimano 12x25 cassette, KMC chain. Aluminium double wall rims, Hutchinson tyres and inner tubes. Aluminium handlebars, stem and seatpost, Royal Viper saddle. Weight: 10.24kg (size 57 with pedals).

And the Ridgeback Flight 01 with straight bars is a brilliant commuting bike at £500

 

[Vikeonabike]

This is where the problem started...I became an occaisonal cyling commuter on my old bashed about raleigh (which is now sold grr to pay for a new tyre for the car). The came cycle scheme, so i got a Paddy Wagon, which turned me into a 30+mile a day commuter in all weathers. Now I really have the bug and want to join a club, do the Sunday Club Runs, mid week TT's and maybe some Sportives next year....Last year they had £1000 limit, sensibly I kept the price down just in case it was a flash in the pan and I cycled for a couple of months and gave it up. Now I want to spend £750 + they have put the limit at £500 because of the expected uptake........

 

[cygnet]

IIRC, the minimum amount of "bike" you can get through the scheme is a frameset, and so it doesn't have to be a whole bike. Could you get a quote for this, plus as many extras (e.g. wheels/bars) as comes under the limit, and buy the rest of the components up front?

Probably not quite as cost-effective as buying an entire bike, but given you're making savings on £500's worth of it, it might be worth it.

NB I haven't checked the rules recently, so the above might be rubbish. Best check it out yourself.

 

[Riverman]

Is this a universal change in the rules?

 

[Crankarm]

I think those employees using the Cycle to Work scheme should be required to actually ride that bike to work everyday. The tax man or C2W facilitator in the organisation should have the power to check. Also that employees only be allowed one opportunity to use the scheme in a 6 year period, so people for instance couldn't make multiple purchases of several bikes buying a new bike every year. This is just abusing the system.

 

[Fnaar]

I... so people for instance couldn't make multiple purchases of several bikes buying a new bike every year. This is just abusing the system.

I know someone who's kitted out the whole family!
(or so he said, might be a lying toerag)

 

[taxing]

I think those employees using the Cycle to Work scheme should be required to actually ride that bike to work everyday. The tax man or C2W facilitator in the organisation should have the power to check. Also that employees only be allowed one opportunity to use the scheme in a 6 year period, so people for instance couldn't make multiple purchases of several bikes buying a new bike every year. This is just abusing the system.

Everyday is a bit strong. I plan on commuting through the winter, but I hate walking on ice, and wouldn't cycle on it. So if that was a condition of the scheme you'd put at least one person off. And people may have reasons for driving on a Friday, say, they have to pick up the kids or whatever. Would it be fair to put someone off who would be cycling 4/5ths of the time? That's better than cycling 0/5ths of the time. I think that the scheme is aimed at people who haven't really biked to work before, so you have to give them a bit of leeway, give them chance to really pick up the bug. I'm sure the scheme has created some dedicated cyclists who would never have committed to cycling everyday until they had given it a go and realised how enjoyable it is.

Six years is a bit harsh as well, if people use the scheme to buy BSOs they won't last that long. And bikes get nicked.

 

[Crankarm]

Everyday is a bit strong. I plan on commuting through the winter, but I hate walking on ice, and wouldn't cycle on it. So if that was a condition of the scheme you'd put at least one person off. And people may have reasons for driving on a Friday, say, they have to pick up the kids or whatever. Would it be fair to put someone off who would be cycling 4/5ths of the time? That's better than cycling 0/5ths of the time. I think that the scheme is aimed at people who haven't really biked to work before, so you have to give them a bit of leeway, give them chance to really pick up the bug. I'm sure the scheme has created some dedicated cyclists who would never have committed to cycling everyday until they had given it a go and realised how enjoyable it is.

Six years is a bit harsh as well, if people use the scheme to buy BSOs they won't last that long. And bikes get nicked.

1) Maintenance
2) Insurance
3) A good Abus D-lock

 

[summerdays]

Mr Summerdays bought his Bike to Work bike only intending to commute occasionally on nice days over the summer ... but enjoyed it so decided to keep going until it got too cold and just kept going. Would he have bought the bike if he thought he had to ride it every day for work? I doubt it. Its now a couple of years down the line and he has commuted by bike 99% of that time - which certainly wasn't his intention and that's one less car on the road 2x a day.

What the government ought to do is to find some way of making it easier for everyone to get hold of a bike.