Ride 2 Work with a difference....

[andy ted]

Hi

I was after a bit of advice if anyone can help me?

I have an old mountain bike that I use for commuting at the moment. I have also entered my first Triathlon this summer and need a new bike (road bike doesn't have to be Tri specific) for this along with Tribars, SPDs a new helmet etc.

I qualify for the ride2work scheme where I work however they only really want people having £500 vouchers max.

I have about £500-£600 of cash put aside for this as well.

So my question is what do you think is the best option?

Take the £500 voucher and add on my £500-£600 - buy an reasonable new bike for about £800 and all the bits and pieces in one go on the scheme?

or

Buy a decent secondhand bike for the £500-£600 mark AND use my £500 voucher for a cheap (£250)single speed/training/commuting bike and (£250) on all the bits (SPD, helmet, etc)

Basically I suppose would a £600 second hand road bike be 'better' than an £800ish pound New bike?

and is my budget of £200-250 too low for tri bars, helmet and SPD's?

Any other options greatly appreciated!

Cheers

Andy

[Parrot of Doom]

I wouldn't want a £250 bike. It'll be ste tbh.

Get the best bike you can, you won't regret it.

[andy ted]

So do you think I would be able to get a 'better' bike for £800-£900 brand new as supposed to £500-£600 second hand?

I realise that is a very vague question!

[delusional]

Unfortunately I think you'll find option one may not be possible as technically the bikes bought through the ride 2 work scheme are the property of the company and leased back to the employee with the option to buy at the end of the lease period. Would make things more than a little murky if you had paid half for the bike!

[fergus]

delusional said:

Unfortunately I think you'll find option one may not be possible as technically the bikes bought through the ride 2 work scheme are the property of the company and leased back to the employee with the option to buy at the end of the lease period. Would make things more than a little murky if you had paid half for the bike!

This is the actual standpoint, although in reality, most smaller, perhaps independent bike shops don't mind you using your voucher as part payment (although this completely flouts the C2W rules).

£250 should be ample to get a decent helmet (check the fit and comfort - you don't need a full aero helmet at this stage(!)), SPD pedals (& cleats if necessary) and clip on tri bars (try as many as you can, as the forearm padding and level of adjustability can make a HUGE difference to your comfort on the bike!

[andy ted]

delusional said:

Unfortunately I think you'll find option one may not be possible as technically the bikes bought through the ride 2 work scheme are the property of the company and leased back to the employee with the option to buy at the end of the lease period. Would make things more than a little murky if you had paid half for the bike!

I wasn't sure if this would be possible but ours is done through Evans and it says in their FAQ's that 'you can buy bikes and accessories that cost more than the voucher price if you top up the difference on collection'

So I think I could go with this option?

[mk1fan]

Still consider though that your company still owns the bike for the period of payback and the final agreed payment made.