road bike and cycle to work scheme advice needed

[d8mok]

After many years of trials/dirt/ street bikes, i finally made the transition to a xc bike in 2007 when i bought myself a 2008 stumpy expert. However over the past few weeks ive really been fancying a road bike aswell. Main reason is im very keen on fitness nowadays and feel i could cover more ground on a road bike.

Now i've never rode a road bike, but plan to try a few to see what fits, but from intial searching i fancy a "bianchi c2c via nirone 7 alu xenon compact 2010" which is £725 in my local bike shop (je james). Any thoughts on this bike?

Next is about how to buy it. I intially thought i'd get some 0% finance and some goodies thrown in/ discount off the bike, but then my mum mentioned that her work does the cycle scheme. After a intial read it appears i can save 42% off the bike, and the final fee is only £35 to own it after the 12 months. So would it be too dodgy to do it this way? does anyone check? I know the bike shop quite well if it makes any difference.

[holloway_dave]

Technically it is dodgy/illegal. If your mum is buying it through her work's scheme then the bike should technically be primarily for her to travel to work on. According to the FAQ:

- - - -
Does the bike have to be used for commuting?

Employees should use the bike mainly for commuting to and, if relevant, between work places (at least 50% of the bike’s use should be for work purposes). However, the bike can also be used for non-work purposes and there is no need for employers to monitor individual usage or for employees to keep a mileage log. Please note that employees can not claim business mileage allowance with a bike obtained under the scheme as the bike belongs to the employer.
- - - -

If your mum rides it to work and then loans it to you on the weekends, that would be fine! As above though - there is no requirement to actually check.

[d8mok]

my master plan has failed. It seems its a cycle2work scheme which only can be used at halfords and there is a 500quid limit.


so if i do buy one , it'll be bought normally or on 0% finance.

any thoughts on the bike?

[dubbs]

Nothing wrong with it but if you want to take good advantage of the C2W scheme go and get a Boardman from Halfords... I'd say they're comparable in that segment (i.e low end Road bikes)

Try and test ride if you can...

[Dudd]

I bought a road bike on the scheme and a few hundred quid worth of upgrades for my XC bike. No one cared at all. even though it was fairly obvious the Forks MTB rear wheel etc weren't for the Road bike.