HT choice

[WildCards]

£1000 Cycle Scheme budget and i'm willing to top it up by maybe £200. I've narrowed it down to these too so far:

1. On-One Scandal with XT and Reba SL's - £1200ish
2. Gary Fisher Big Sur with XT/LX and F100 RL's - £1000 (ON BUDGET!)

Thoughts?

[prand]

Oh goody another cycle to work thread!

As far as I have seen, you cannot top up your £1000 for various tax/hire puchase restrictions and the arrangement within individual schemes and your employer. Having spoken to Brant at On-One he also confirms he won't allow as he "hop-ups".

So you will be limited to your £1000.

My work scheme went through Halfords which in theory allowed you to purchase from any bike supplier. But in my experience, they made it very difficult (I tried to order and On-One bike, a Merida, and a Specialized, but various obstacles like delays in supply, arguments with the suppliers etc were put in my way). I ended up ordering a Boardman MTB Pro which I have been very happy with, and has some serious quality components.

[Nick_F]

CycleScheme is niche manufacturer and LBS-friendly, Cycle2Work is Halfords only. Halfords will supply bikes from the niche manufacturers who are prepared/able to meet their terms; not all of them are; On-One and Halfords are not on speaking terms. With Halfords you are also confined to list price - no special offer or sale bikes - unless you're buying one of their own brands off the shelf.

Topping-up to get a bike over the £1,000 limit requires the assistance of the supplying retailer - which means it's impossible on Cycle2Work. Your extra investment in the bike is at risk if your employer wants it back or cancels the scheme.

If you're on the Halfords scheme then the Boardman Pro is very well reviewed - but I went for a Merlin Rock Lobster because it gave the best - list price - spec for the money.

If it's CycleScheme then the choice is a bit wider, particularly if you can negotiate a nice deal with your LBS, but Merlin are still hard to beat for VFM...

[WildCards]

No no, i'm certainly not asking about the Schemes, just an equally annoying what bike for £ thread instead.

Funnily enough I spoke to Brant and he said I could top it up. Theres obviously a difference in the Ride2Work sheme which allows you to use Halfords etc and the CycleScheme which doesn't.

So, Anyone got any experience of the two bikes/frames i've mentioned? and would anyone like to throw any other options into the mix?

[EDIT] I was hoping for the Boardman Pro TBH, but the scheme won't allow it,and AFAIK Merlin don't do CycleScheme [Aye they do, i've just been fishing around on their website and found out they do. So thats more choices.

Edited by WildCards on Wednesday 2nd July 11:03

Edited by WildCards on Wednesday 2nd July 11:08

[prand]

If it was my choice I'd go for Merlin or On One. Best for the money IMO.

Do also have a look at Edinburgh Cycles - they have a scanduim Revolution Shadow Mountain HT for £999 which was very well recieved and light at 25lb. However, they have their own cycle to work scheme which might not work out for you.

http://www.edinburghbicycle.com/ebwPNLqrymode.a4p?...

[WildCards]

Yikes, my shortlist has expanded;

1. On-One Scandal with XT and Reba SL's - £1200ish
2. Gary Fisher Big Sur with XT/LX and F100 RL's - £1000
3. Merlin Malt 4 with XT and Reba SL's - £888
4. Merlin Malt 2 Fox Edition with XT and F100 RL's - £899
5. Rock Lobster 853 with XT and Reba SL's - £999
6. Revolution Shadow Mountain with LX/XT and Marz Corsa LT's - £999
7. Commencal Supernormal with X7/X9 and Reba SL's - £888

Whats the difference between the Merlin and Rock Lobster frames? (aluminium vs titanium?)
What are Reba SL's and Marzocchi Corsa LT's like? (I only have experience of Fox, Pace and Magura forks)

[Nick_F]

Last year On-One would do you a Scandal with full 07 XT and Rebas for £1,000 - this year, with 08 XT, it's quite a lot pricier.

The Rock Lobster is a fairly old design; mine is a 19" and is about 3/4" shorter in the tob tube with 1" more in the head tube than the equivalent 18" Scandal, the head tube length is exascerbated by the non-(or is it semi-) integrated headset, which pushes the stack height up still further and doesn't make for an especially racy position.

I've flipped the stem, which pulls the bars back down, but I suspect I'll want to ditch some spacers before long.

All the tubes are round and black, which is good if you like a bit of a retro look, but that's also true of the Scandal and the Revolution.

If it matters then the finishing kit is all Race Face Deus - stem, bars and seatpost - which adds up to a good few quids' worth, too.

I had a quick poke around a Revolution in the flesh the other day; it was briefly on my shortlist until I realised Cycle2Work wouldn't allow it, and whilst it looks like a very nice frame I wasn't a fan of the mix-'n-match components; ditto the Big Sur, which also wasn't helped by white forks.

[WildCards]

Functionally focused is more my thing rather than aesthetically pleasing.

[westy04]

As mentioned earlier.
Have a look at the Chris Boardman Pro. Its had some rave reviews.

[WildCards]

westy04 said:

As mentioned earlier.
Have a look at the Chris Boardman Pro. Its had some rave reviews.

CycleScheme don't do Halfords, otherwise, yes, it would be a good choice.

[Nick_F]

WildCards said:

Whats the difference between the Merlin and Rock Lobster frames? (aluminium vs titanium?)

Malt 4 = hydroformed aluminium, built by Kinesis, so flared & squared tubes
Rock Lobster Tig Team Sl = Easton aluminium, internally butted, all round
Rock Lobster 853 = steel

I could only ever find one set of geometry figures for the whole lot, so as far as I know they're all the same shape - ie a little old-fashioned for 100mm frames.