Cycle to work scheme - Im new

[Hugo Stiglitz]

OK the bike is £1599. Genuinely it will be ridden for everything including occasional commute.

I'm in the decent bracket and there'll be no 10% admin fee BUT apperently my work my charge an exit fee.

Ive always dodged the scheme but should I? Otherwise its 10% down and sadly no 0% finance option like on my cabon Trek Fuel EX-E.

[ChocolateFrog]

No one cares what you use it for. You could buy a MTB and use it exclusively at Bike park Wales and no one would question it.

Not sure what you mean about 0%. Price is agreed, you apply for a voucher, go pick it up and the amount is deducted from your gross pay over 12 months in a nut shell.

There's stuff in there about handing it back or paying a national fee at the end to own it but again I've never heard of anyone actually doing that, you just keep the bike and rinse and repeat if you want to.

[Gren]

It's been a while since I bought my first road bike this way. Never ever used it to commute. Nobody cares

At the end of year 1 I could pay a fee to own it. I think it was pitched as a 'fair value' to avoid tax implications. OR you can wait 3 more years (I think) and you get it for free as it's worth 'nothing'. I did the latter... but then again I sold it during that period anyway. Pretty much worked out that I had a free bike for 3 years

[Griffith4ever]

The "exit" fee will be paying the balance if you leave the job, or, a notional "£1" to buy it off the company.

Some companies charge a 10% admin fee!?!?!

As for use. My office is about 7 metres from my front door. I checked. No one cares, or checks. (I have my own company so did it through my books as "plant and equipment" - so it depreciates and isn't taxed, plus got the vat back. Made a £6300 bike end up costing me aroud £4000

[Xenoous]

Just got mine through the scheme. 12 monthly payments and a final payment if you agree to the 'own it later' scheme (which works out cheapest, at least with Cyclescheme).

The fee to my knowledge is only if you leave the job.

[jrb43]

Gren said:

It's been a while since I bought my first road bike this way. Never ever used it to commute. Nobody cares

I think the wording has changed now anyway to something "promoting cycling as a way of staying healthy in the workplace". Something like that. I had a cursory glance because I was thinking of using it to replace my track bike which obviously is quite a hard sell when it comes to commuting...

[Hugo Stiglitz]

Oh I'll use it for the commute if the rain isn't sideways

£590 saving on £1600!

[SoliD]

jrb43 said:

I think the wording has changed now anyway to something "promoting cycling as a way of staying healthy in the workplace". Something like that. I had a cursory glance because I was thinking of using it to replace my track bike which obviously is quite a hard sell when it comes to commuting...

Lot of single speed usage for commuting not so much fixed gear

[jamm13dodger]

I've always found it to be the cheapest way to buy a bike. Be wary of shops adding a fee if you are buying anything on sale and walk away of the deal isn't right for you. Optional final payment is a bit hit and miss - many years I haven't had to pay it but some years I have. Either way I save big on a new bike or equipment.

[Hugo Stiglitz]

Ah yes. Trek today on a sale Emonda 105.

'We'll add 10% on that as its on sale'. The sale price is for cash. Cyclescheme +10%...

[WPA]

Hugo Stiglitz said:

Ah yes. Trek today on a sale Emonda 105.

'We'll add 10% on that as its on sale'. The sale price is for cash. Cyclescheme +10%...

Sounds fair to me, all the cyclesheme providers charge retailers commission, why should they loose out even more so with how difficult things are in the industry.

[Hugo Stiglitz]

Its a difficult one really. I dont begrudge someone making a profit but the whole point of the scheme is a tax saving/getting people out on a bike. 10% of a big ticket item seems excessive though.

[Ashtray83]

I found it better to buy last year’s model of bike at a heavily discounted price instead.. worth looking around

[Mutts]

Ashtray83 said:

I found it better to buy last year s model of bike at a heavily discounted price instead.. worth looking around

Thats what i did. Bike was reduced from £2400 to £1799 then £1499. Bargain buy on Cycle2work.

[johnpsanderson]

I’ve always had to pay the ‘final fee’ but it still ends up worthwhile. I heard from my LBS that the schemes demand a cut from the retailer which leaves them with a tiny margin. This explains the small fee that some shops add on…

[ChocolateFrog]

jamm13dodger said:

I've always found it to be the cheapest way to buy a bike. Be wary of shops adding a fee if you are buying anything on sale and walk away of the deal isn't right for you. Optional final payment is a bit hit and miss - many years I haven't had to pay it but some years I have. Either way I save big on a new bike or equipment.

Yep, I wanted to use my Cycle2work voucher at a different shop other than Halfords but they said they'd add 10% to the advertised price so I didn't.

[ChocolateFrog]

WPA said:

Hugo Stiglitz said:

Ah yes. Trek today on a sale Emonda 105.

'We'll add 10% on that as its on sale'. The sale price is for cash. Cyclescheme +10%...

Sounds fair to me, all the cyclesheme providers charge retailers commission, why should they loose out even more so with how difficult things are in the industry.

I assume they must make nothing otherwise why would you turn down business in an industry that feels like it's on its arse.

If they pulled the C2W scheme it would decimate what's left of the cycling industry.

[ChocolateFrog]

johnpsanderson said:

I ve always had to pay the final fee but it still ends up worthwhile. I heard from my LBS that the schemes demand a cut from the retailer which leaves them with a tiny margin. This explains the small fee that some shops add on

It's not small, it's £500 on a mid range ebike for example.

[WPA]

ChocolateFrog said:

johnpsanderson said:

I ve always had to pay the final fee but it still ends up worthwhile. I heard from my LBS that the schemes demand a cut from the retailer which leaves them with a tiny margin. This explains the small fee that some shops add on

It's not small, it's £500 on a mid range ebike for example.

The commission charged is 10% to 15% so if the bike is in a sale, the bike shop could well be loosing out.

Some shops are already refusing to accept c2w or adding the commission on.

[Hugo Stiglitz]

Thats a shame as its a great way for someone to upgrade their new bike when they might not have been able to afford it.

That 2k bike might struggle to get a buyer on finance whereas on C2W its palatable.

It also shifts old stock...