Cycle to work bike options

[Nick_F]

Gooby said:

pablo said:

and finally, the source ref the cannondale issue is talking utter bks, cannondale have made some of the best hardtail mountain bikes for the last twenty years and the aftermarket components are completely inter changeable

Erm.. I think you have missed the point. Lets start with an example. A regular ride buddy with a cannondale had an issue with a lefty. He took the fork (and bike) to the LBS where he purchased. The LBS were not able to get a new set of seals for the fork as the importer did not have them and they had to be delivered from the manufacturer. He really didnt want to buy a new set of forks circa £800 for the sake of a seal costing a few quid.

Interchangeable is not the issue. He was without the bike for approx 10 days.

The same can be argued for my Orange because my LBS (the local dealer) does not keep a full set of spares but from experience, anything is available from the halifax manufacturer overnight at very reasonable prices. The rest of the components are stocked by every decent bike shop.

Most forks / shocks spares are not held by your LBS because there are so many different parts required but there is a large network of companies set up to service and maintain these parts. The parts and skills to repair common brands like Fox and Rock Shocks are easy to get. The rarity of cannondale forks means that very few of these companies hold the parts.

Speaking of which...wasn't the point that lefties and headshocks were, erm, beside the point?

[timbo48]

The bike illustrated has a RST fork. I don't think Cannondale manufacture these so I suppose the question about this bike is about availability of spares and servicing for the fork, not the bike itself. Spares and servicing may be difficult to get from the dealer if you have a lefty, etc, but I'd imagine they're not impossible to obtain. And do dealers that stock Rockshok and Fox equiped bikes stock complete repair kits for them? I'd imagine that most of them get sent straight to Mojo or Tim Flooks for work to be done.

[Bonefish Blues]

Anyone else strangely attracted, like me, by a top spec Boardman hybrid?

[anonymous-user]

swerni said:

Bonefish Blues said:

Anyone else strangely attracted, like me, by a top spec Boardman hybrid?

I think they look great.

Which one, The Pro, The Pro LTD or the Limited Edition?

Agreed though.

[Bonefish Blues]

el stovey said:

swerni said:

Bonefish Blues said:

Anyone else strangely attracted, like me, by a top spec Boardman hybrid?

I think they look great.

Which one, The Pro, The Pro LTD or the Limited Edition?

Agreed though.

Want that one!

[anonymous-user]

My work just signed up for a Halfords scheme limited to £1,000. Everyone's kicking off about it but I think I'm going to get a Team Carbon road bike.

BTW, Can you add to the price limits on these schemes?

[Bonefish Blues]

el stovey said:

My work just signed up for a Halfords scheme limited to £1,000. Everyone's kicking off about it but I think I'm going to get a Team Carbon road bike.

BTW, Can you add to the price limits on these schemes?

I'm in HR, running Payroll amongst other things and we haven't managed to sort one out yet - oh the irony, who do I complain about FFS!

[CooperS]

After much pondering, I’ve decided to get a Genesis Equilibrium.

Bang on 999.99, steel frame with eyelets so will be good for the commute and I save 400 quid + so not bad at all!

I was tempted by going down the shared ownership route however you need to add another 600 – 800 onto the price tag to get anything significantly better and actually not really suitable for a commuter. (Cannondale Synapsis)

[GreatGranny]

swerni said:

el stovey said:

My work just signed up for a Halfords scheme limited to £1,000. Everyone's kicking off about it but I think I'm going to get a Team Carbon road bike.

BTW, Can you add to the price limits on these schemes?

Yes you can.
The whole scheme is limited to £1000 and one bike every five years (in theory)

Edited by swerni on Tuesday 2nd March 06:02

I've heard nothing to say its limited to 1 bike every 5 years.

There doesn't seem to be anything to stop you buying a new bike every year.

Maybe it dependent on which scheme you are a member of.

[Dibby]

Is the scheme valid for last years models? You can save a whole whack of money and all they generally do is change the colour scheme and a few minor tweaks year to year.

New new bikes are rip-off for what you get, 1-2 year old unused stock is a much better option.

Brand wise, test ride as many as you can yourself, I like Kona's elbows-out, short frame, chuckable style, you might prefer Trek's stretched out, efficient, race style but it's very much down to the individual so I couldn't recommend a brand.

[anonymous-user]

My scheme is with Halfords and is one bike per year, certainly not one every 5 years.

I'm surprised Evans are any different.

[anonymous-user]

JDMFanYo said:

el stovey said:

My scheme is with Halfords and is one bike per year, certainly not one every 5 years.

I'm surprised Evans are any different.

Makes no sense to me as Evans don't exactly lose out?

Evans scheme is ride2work

I can't find the relevant part stating purchase limitations in there though.

ETA Just phoned up Evans and the guy there said you can buy a new bike every year under the ride2work scheme.

Edited by el stovey on Tuesday 2nd March 16:03

[westtra]

Ok have been out and tried a few and have narrowed it down to the ones below. Basically looking for opinions on what's best spec etc as I'm still learning in that respect.

http://www.evanscycles.com/products-comparison?pro...

and I know its different to the 2 ally ones above so ride wise will not be as harsh but liked this one for feel when I had a shot on it. Felt comfortable to sit on etc.

http://www.highlandbikes.com/products.php?plid=m1b...

[baxb]

swerni said:

How many bikes does one person need?

Easy formula to work this out, N + 1 (where N is the number of bikes currently owned)

[Bonefish Blues]

swerni said:

baxb said:

swerni said:

How many bikes does one person need?

Easy formula to work this out, N + 1 (where N is the number of bikes currently owned)

can never be too careful N+2 is safest

On that theme, wonder if anyone's ever used the scheme to buy a tandem (sort of the equivalent of car sharing...)

[dave_s13]

westtra said:

Ok have been out and tried a few and have narrowed it down to the ones below. Basically looking for opinions on what's best spec etc as I'm still learning in that respect.

http://www.evanscycles.com/products-comparison?pro...

and I know its different to the 2 ally ones above so ride wise will not be as harsh but liked this one for feel when I had a shot on it. Felt comfortable to sit on etc.

http://www.highlandbikes.com/products.php?plid=m1b...

For what it's worth I got a spesh Rockhopper comp disc approx 3 years ago. It rides just like it did when new, had a real hammering too. They are a brilliant handling frame.

Only issue was my considerable heft popping rear spokes, a new wheel sorted that. Crap for an on road commute on those tyres though. It would be a good idea to get a set of skinny slicks for that.

I got mine on c2w and I have yet to "c2w" on it!! Was never asked for any cash at the end of term either!

Gonna dust her off this weekend, getting warm/dry enough for a trip to dalby forest I reckon.

[mackie1]

There was discussion a while back about getting the tax free bike without going via a middleman scheme. Does anyone know about this? I've just paid off my first bike so I'm looking to get another but it'd be nice to have a bit more flexibility and maybe for for a 2nd hand one as 2010 bikes are so expensive now. Ideally I'm after a Trek EX8 or EX9 but don't really want to pay over £2k when you can get nearly new ones on ebay for a lot less.

[mackie1]

I just found this:

http://www.dft.gov.uk/pgr/sustainable/cycling/cycl...

It looks like the only benefit of these schemes is that companies don't have to worry about paying individual bike shops but just the scheme (who take 10% for doing not much more than handling the payment).