Calling all cyclists.

[itz_baseline]

I'm going to take up a 'Cycle to work scheme' at work and start cycling every day. I know nothing about bikes, so I need help. I can contribute what I want so I'm going to opt for an £800 bike (which costs a lot less to the pocket due to the tax break). My ride will be a couple of miles on the road, followed by a couple of miles along the canal toe path which takes me straight to the office, so I'm thinking I want a hybrid.

The other thing is - I HAVE to get the bike from Halfords....but I don't really know what's good an what isn't. I've already started the ball rolling at it seems Halfords can do special orders and pretty much get hold of any type of bike I want.....but again I'm clueless.

So over to the cyclists....there's plenty of you on here....if you were spending £800 on a hybrid, what would it be (include links please)?

[Mutley]

You'd be better off in the cycle forum

[rhinochopig]

itz_baseline said:

I'm going to take up a 'Cycle to work scheme' at work and start cycling every day. I know nothing about bikes, so I need help. I can contribute what I want so I'm going to opt for an £800 bike (which costs a lot less to the pocket due to the tax break). My ride will be a couple of miles on the road, followed by a couple of miles along the canal toe path which takes me straight to the office, so I'm thinking I want a hybrid.

The other thing is - I HAVE to get the bike from Halfords....but I don't really know what's good an what isn't. I've already started the ball rolling at it seems Halfords can do special orders and pretty much get hold of any type of bike I want.....but again I'm clueless.

So over to the cyclists....there's plenty of you on here....if you were spending £800 on a hybrid, what would it be (include links please)?

Beware the camels on that path.

Out of interest, why a hybrid? Purely my view, but you'd be better off with a pure road bike or mtb as both would cope with the commute quite happily and would be far more fun if you used them as they were intended.

[CaptainSlow]

Carrera Subway for far less than £800. Better tax treatment re residual value for lower value bikes too.

eta

http://www.halfords.com/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/...

or

http://www.halfords.com/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/...

Edited by CaptainSlow on Thursday 29th November 13:56

[Steve_F]

Boardman CX bike. I do a lot of road biking and mountain biking and have bought one as a winter roadie/commuter/cross bike.

Spec on it is great as is the weight for the price.

Word of warning though, C2W is nowhere near as good as it used to be so do your maths on it. Unless you need to pay it up monthly there are far better deals, especially at this time of year, out there.

[itz_baseline]

rhinochopig said:

Beware the camels on that path.

Out of interest, why a hybrid? Purely my view, but you'd be better off with a pure road bike or mtb as both would cope with the commute quite happily and would be far more fun if you used them as they were intended.

I'll be honest - I don't know why a hybrid!! I know nothing about bikes. I thought best of both worlds....might want to go for a ride in the local woods and a road bike wouldn't be suitable for that?? And I assumed riding a MTB on the road would be a lot harder work than a hybrid because of bigger chunkier tyres and therefore increased effort....so just assumed a hybird would be more suitable, but I'm totally open to suggestions.

[rhinochopig]

itz_baseline said:

rhinochopig said:

Beware the camels on that path.

Out of interest, why a hybrid? Purely my view, but you'd be better off with a pure road bike or mtb as both would cope with the commute quite happily and would be far more fun if you used them as they were intended.

I'll be honest - I don't know why a hybrid!! I know nothing about bikes. I thought best of both worlds....might want to go for a ride in the local woods and a road bike wouldn't be suitable for that?? And I assumed riding a MTB on the road would be a lot harder work than a hybrid because of bigger chunkier tyres and therefore increased effort....so just assumed a hybird would be more suitable, but I'm totally open to suggestions.

An MTB fitted with slick tyres is fine for the sort of commute you mention and will be a laugh in the woods with the knobbly tyres back on. Conversely, a road bike will cope quite happily with a tow path, and will be a lot more fun should you wish to have a ride out on a weekend.

A CX bike - as suggested above - would also cover both bases - that's cyclo-cross (a racer with knobbly tyres).

Personally whenever I've used a hybrid I've found them to be the worst of both worlds TBH, but others love them so try one.

[itz_baseline]

Steve_F said:

Boardman CX bike. I do a lot of road biking and mountain biking and have bought one as a winter roadie/commuter/cross bike.

Spec on it is great as is the weight for the price.

Word of warning though, C2W is nowhere near as good as it used to be so do your maths on it. Unless you need to pay it up monthly there are far better deals, especially at this time of year, out there.

Thanks for the info....so rough maths are you save 40%+ as you pay before tax and NI (although you pay 'nominal' amount which is only the tax against the value of a used bike....so probably an additional £40 at the end of 12 months though no one I know has been asked to ever pay the nominal amount). Also you get 15% accessories for free - so £120 for helmet, lights, maybe a jacket.

I'm totally happy to buy elsewhere, but £920 of 'stuff' for £500 struck me as a good deal. Please do link me if you know of better deals - I don't need to pay monthly.

[Sarkmeister]

itz_baseline said:

Thanks for the info....so rough maths are you save 40%+ as you pay before tax and NI (although you pay 'nominal' amount which is only the tax against the value of a used bike....so probably an additional £40 at the end of 12 months though no one I know has been asked to ever pay the nominal amount). Also you get 15% accessories for free - so £120 for helmet, lights, maybe a jacket.

I'm totally happy to buy elsewhere, but £920 of 'stuff' for £500 struck me as a good deal. Please do link me if you know of better deals - I don't need to pay monthly.

As far as I know the "nominal" amount at the end of the 12 months can be around 25% of the cost of the bike (as currently recommended by the government). I did the Halford C2W 2 years ago and paid 5%. My friends this year were made to pay 25%.

[Martyn-123]

Cycle to work scheme is not exclusive to Halfords.

I wanted a Specialized which halfords do not do, so i went to my local Specialized shop to get measured up and phoned the cycle to work office, told them the size and model and it arrived a few days later from another retailer in a box, all i had to do was put on the pedals, adjust the seat and turn the handlebars straight and i was away.

So many people think it's just a Halfords scheme because their logo is all over the adverts

[itz_baseline]

Martyn-123 said:

Cycle to work scheme is not exclusive to Halfords.

I wanted a Specialized which halfords do not do, so i went to my local Specialized shop to get measured up and phoned the cycle to work office, told them the size and model and it arrived a few days later from another retailer in a box, all i had to do was put on the pedals, adjust the seat and turn the handlebars straight and i was away.

So many people think it's just a Halfords scheme because their logo is all over the adverts

I guess it depends on company. This is the blurb for our scheme....it sounds pretty much Halford to me....like I say, they will try and source another bike, but it's still only from Halfords.

•You have access to 29 Halfords bike brands available in store, including the exclusive to Halfords, Carrera, Voodoo, Apollo and the industry acclaimed Boardman brands
•If you want a bike which is not in the Halfords range, you can call the Cycle2Work helpline on 0845 XXX XXXX and Halfords will do their best to find it for you
•Halfords offer 15% worth of free accessories with every bike sourced from Halfords store-sourced ranges*
•Halfords will also offer a free Halfords Bike Care Plan providing free servicing and labour for your bike for a year*

[Watchman]

There you go. Redefines "hybrid" or at least gives you a broader sense of that category:

http://www.whytebikes.com/2013/product.php?xProd=5...

[roadman]

itz_baseline said:

I guess it depends on company. This is the blurb for our scheme....it sounds pretty much Halford to me....like I say, they will try and source another bike, but it's still only from Halfords.

•You have access to 29 Halfords bike brands available in store, including the exclusive to Halfords, Carrera, Voodoo, Apollo and the industry acclaimed Boardman brands
•If you want a bike which is not in the Halfords range, you can call the Cycle2Work helpline on 0845 XXX XXXX and Halfords will do their best to find it for you
•Halfords offer 15% worth of free accessories with every bike sourced from Halfords store-sourced ranges*
•Halfords will also offer a free Halfords Bike Care Plan providing free servicing and labour for your bike for a year*

Looks like its Halfords then although i would triple check, might just be because they are a partner they try and force you to go there, its not the greatest cycle store there has ever been.

Id recommend a MTB with slicks as said above, gives you the benefit of MTB tyres in the winter or if you want to have a bit more fun off road. From the halfords rang, try the Boardmans, they are probably your best bet for a good bike. but remember

itz_baseline said:

If you want a bike which is not in the Halfords range, you can call the Cycle2Work helpline on 0845 XXX XXXX and Halfords will do their best to find it for you

[Gizmoish]

There are lots of CTW schemes: Evans and Halfords run individual ones where you have to get the bike from them, Cyclescheme and others you can get the bike from a choice of places. The one thing all CTW schemes have in common is that everyone talks a lot of sh!t about them.

If you're tied to the Halfords one that's fine, plenty of choice of decent bikes. I'd suggest the Boardman HT Team R - it's a mountain bike that has no suspension, just a carbon front fork, and because of that it's really light.

However, I'd strongly suggest >not< doing CTW and just looking at 'last year's models' - if you shop around there are plenty of discounts on new 2012 bikes at the moment at places like Tredz, JEJames, Pauls Cycles, Triton Cycles... You'll save at least as much as the tax break and you'll actually own the bike.

BTW - don't try and ride in EVERY day to begin with. 2-3 days a week until you get used to it, then four and five once you've got organised.

Edited by Gizmoish on Thursday 29th November 15:51

[itz_baseline]

roadman said:

Looks like its Halfords then although i would triple check, might just be because they are a partner they try and force you to go there, its not the greatest cycle store there has ever been.

I took your advice....after talking to them and giving them a bit of a squeeze it turns out many local indy cycle shops do accept 'Halford' vouchers. After a quick google and ring round there's quick a few close to me and I think I can probably get a better deal from an indy because of the below.....so best of both worlds, a 'last year' model bike going cheap with the added advantage of saving tax....watch this space...

Gizmoish said:

However, I'd strongly suggest >not< doing CTW and just looking at 'last year's models' - if you shop around there are plenty of discounts on new 2012 bikes at the moment at places like Tredz, JEJames, Pauls Cycles, Triton Cycles... You'll save at least as much as the tax break and you'll actually own the bike.

.....thanks, so now I know I can spend the Halford vouchers at many local indy shops I should be about to have a double discount!!!

Just need to pick a bike.

[big_boz]

I don't understand why you are being forced to get something from halfords, your employer should provide you with a certificate that you can take to any cycle scheme bike shop.

How long is your commute? £800 is a lot for a commuter Hybrid unless you are doing lots of miles. IMO from £500 to £800 you wont see a massive difference, ie you are not going to be getting into serious specs for £800.

For my commute i run a 2011 GT Transeo 3:-

http://www.tredz.co.uk/.GT-Transeo-3-0-Disc-2011-H...

this was £499.99 so it only has the 3% buy out fee at the end being <£500. its a bit heavy but its not noticeable and its very strong, remote fork lock out would have been nice due to the changes between surface on my commute, but other than that it suits me fine. covered about 2000 miles on it with no issues.

I couldn't find any bike shops that would sell me a bike that wasn't current season on CTW so that limits you to current list price bikes

A friend of mine has just bought subway on CTW:

http://www.halfords.com/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/...

Very impressive for the money and much lighter than mine at not much more than half the price, but no suspension so best for road and good path use.

I also know someone with a 2010 model (i think) boardman team hybrid which again is very nice and very light but no suspension and very much a road biased hybrid. current model is £750

http://www.halfords.com/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/...

If you new to cycling i would suggest that you wont really see much benefit in the boardman over the Subway, and the latter will cost you feck all, at least then if you don't find you get on with cycling you don't have a noticeable amount of money paying for something that collect dust in your shed!

To me a hybrid should be the jack of all trades master of none, so when i was looking i wanted a bike that i could commute on and go out at the weekends on, I have a Decthlon road bike (carbon forks, unrated wheels) which i now hardly ever use as the GT gets out most of the time.

My advice is don't spend loads for the sake of it, actually go in the shop and see which one you like best from a geometry perspective, also are you going to want to fit pannier racks...if so you need to make sure the mounting points are there? you wont know these sorts of things until you actually go and have a look.

[Gizmoish]

big_boz said:

I don't understand why you are being forced to get something from halfords, your employer should provide you with a certificate that you can take to any cycle scheme bike shop.

His employer is not in any way obliged to operate a cycle-to-work scheme >at all<, so saying he's forced to shop at Halfords is 100% pure bks.

[anonymous-user]

Get a Boardman from Halfords. Best bike you will get for the money. Road bikes are rubbish on trails, Mtb 's are rubbish on road. Hybrid or maybe cx sound best. I doubt that an independent shop can offer anything better for the money. Don't believe the Halfirds knockers, bikes need minimal assembley, Halfords can prepare as well as anyone else in my experience . Enjoy!!

[Gizmoish]

The Boardman CX does look awesome. The thing that annoys me is that most of them come with 48/38 or 36 chainrings - that's fine for already-good cyclists or for actual CX where if it gets too steep/muddy you hop off and run up the hill. But for novices and the unaware (who lets face it are often not going to check what their bottom gear is), 38/27 is still a pretty testing ratio.

[BadgerBenji]

You would be surprised what you can tackle with 36/26 as a bottom ratio. Cyclocross bikes are the swiss army of bikes, they do everything and without shouting about it. If I had to keep just one bike from my collection it would be the cx bike.