tax breaks for bicycles

[Peter]

Hi all,
My employer is thinking of joining the tax breaks for bicycles scheme.
Do people know if there is much of a difference between the different
companies that run the scheme.
Booost seem to have a good choice of dealers.
Halfords make me shudder slightly...

I live in Leeds if that makes any difference.

Any comments from Universities which run the scheme would be especially
welcome.

TIA, Peter

 

[Richard]

Peter wrote:
> Any comments from Universities which run the scheme would be especially
> welcome.

Sheffield Uni is running their own scheme, and very good it is too; the
three suppliers are two LBSs and Decathlon, giving a good range of bikes
and avoiding Halfords. Their max price (bike + accessories) is UKP 750
quid, which gets Bromptons into the field (but therefore no Trice for me
though ;-)

R

 

[Al C-F]

Peter wrote:
> Hi all,
> My employer is thinking of joining the tax breaks for bicycles scheme.
> Do people know if there is much of a difference between the different
> companies that run the scheme.
> Booost seem to have a good choice of dealers.
> Halfords make me shudder slightly...

My employer used Halfrauds. They were ****. Liars too.

You shudder with good reason.

 

[Dennis Davis]

In the referenced article, "Peter" <[email protected]> writes:
>Hi all,
>My employer is thinking of joining the tax breaks for bicycles
>scheme. Do people know if there is much of a difference between
>the different companies that run the scheme. Booost seem to have a
>good choice of dealers. Halfords make me shudder slightly...
>
>I live in Leeds if that makes any difference.
>
>Any comments from Universities which run the scheme would be
>especially welcome.

The University of Bath runs this through Cyclescheme:

http://www.cyclescheme.co.uk/

no surprises there, Cyclescheme are based here in Bath as an
offshoot of Avon Valley Cycles.

A bicycle + kit etc can be purchased up to a value of 1000 pounds
from any dealer that's signed up with Cyclescheme. All of the
decent local bike shops in Bath -- Avon Valley, John's Bikes, Total
Fitness -- have signed up so there's certainly a choice here.

There may also be a good choice elsewhere. At their web site
I typed in the postcode of my parent's address and found five
bike shops within a ten mile radius that were associated with
Cyclescheme.

I got a Marin Novato through this scheme last summer. A colleage
has just got a six-speed Brompton and I've seem a variety of other
bikes here that have been purchased through this scheme.

Email me separately if you want to see a copy of the agreement (Word
document) I signed for the salary deduction etc.
--
Dennis Davis, BUCS, University of Bath, Bath, BA2 7AY, UK
[email protected]

 

[David E. Belcher]

Peter wrote:

> Hi all,
> My employer is thinking of joining the tax breaks for bicycles scheme.
> Do people know if there is much of a difference between the different
> companies that run the scheme.
> Booost seem to have a good choice of dealers.
> Halfords make me shudder slightly...
>
> I live in Leeds if that makes any difference.
>

I've noticed from recruitment ads in the local papers that a branch of
Edinburgh Bicycle Co-op is on the cards for Leeds (Chapel Allerton, I
think) - it might be worth consideration once up and running, as I
gather - from comments on u.r.c and C+ reviews - that EBC have a good
reputation for supplying no-nonsense, value-for-money machines under
their own brand name.

David Belcher

 

[Chris Gerhard]

Peter wrote:
> Hi all,
> My employer is thinking of joining the tax breaks for bicycles scheme.
> Do people know if there is much of a difference between the different
> companies that run the scheme.
> Booost seem to have a good choice of dealers.
> Halfords make me shudder slightly...
>
> I live in Leeds if that makes any difference.
>
> Any comments from Universities which run the scheme would be especially
> welcome.
>

My employer uses Halfords who were ****, said that they could not supply
a Brompton until after the deadline had passed and then changed there
minds (grr).

However one of my colleagues who was more interested in it than me this
year spoke to a LBS who were able to supply a bike on the Halfords
scheme. A nice bike to.

--chris

 

[Dave]

"Peter" <[email protected]> wrote in message
news:[email protected]...
> Hi all,
> My employer is thinking of joining the tax breaks for bicycles scheme.
> Do people know if there is much of a difference between the different
> companies that run the scheme.
> Booost seem to have a good choice of dealers.
> Halfords make me shudder slightly...
>
> I live in Leeds if that makes any difference.
>
> Any comments from Universities which run the scheme would be especially
> welcome.
>
> TIA, Peter
>
>
>

Don't know about Leeds but this company near me are involved:
http://www.airevalleycycles.com/ and have a link to the Cyclescheme website
if you haven't already seen that.

Dave

 

[druidh]

Al C-F wrote:
> Peter wrote:
>
>> Hi all,
>> My employer is thinking of joining the tax breaks for bicycles scheme.
>> Do people know if there is much of a difference between the different
>> companies that run the scheme.
>> Booost seem to have a good choice of dealers.
>> Halfords make me shudder slightly...
>
>
> My employer used Halfrauds. They were ****. Liars too.
>
> You shudder with good reason.

I got mine from Halfords (note the correct spelling). Guys were very
friendly, very helpful and got the bike I was after although it wasn't
normal stock. Thoroughly recommend them.



druidh

 

[Richard]

druidh wrote:
>
> I got mine from Halfords (note the correct spelling). Guys were very
> friendly, very helpful and got the bike I was after although it wasn't
> normal stock. Thoroughly recommend them.

The reason I shun Halfords is nothing to do with their bike service,
it's to do with the fact that they sell (and actively promote) speed
camera detectors. It may be legal, but I find it abhorrent,
particularly as a cyclist, so they don't get my business.

R.

 

[Al C-F]

druidh wrote:
> Al C-F wrote:
>
>> Peter wrote:
>>
>>> Hi all,
>>> My employer is thinking of joining the tax breaks for bicycles scheme.
>>> Do people know if there is much of a difference between the different
>>> companies that run the scheme.
>>> Booost seem to have a good choice of dealers.
>>> Halfords make me shudder slightly...
>>
>>
>>
>> My employer used Halfrauds. They were ****. Liars too.
>>
>> You shudder with good reason.
>
>
> I got mine from Halfords (note the correct spelling). Guys were very
> friendly, very helpful and got the bike I was after although it wasn't
> normal stock. Thoroughly recommend them.
>

You didn't ask them for a Brompton then?

 

[ian henden]

"Richard" <[email protected]>
wrote in message news:[email protected]...
> druidh wrote:
>>
>> I got mine from Halfords (note the correct spelling). Guys were very
>> friendly, very helpful and got the bike I was after although it wasn't
>> normal stock. Thoroughly recommend them.
>
> The reason I shun Halfords is nothing to do with their bike service, it's
> to do with the fact that they sell (and actively promote) speed camera
> detectors. It may be legal, but I find it abhorrent, particularly as a
> cyclist, so they don't get my business.


On that basis, not many practising Roman Catholics would get their hair cut
at a barbers, because they sell French letters......

)
==
IanH

 

[Pyromancer]

Peter wrote:

> Hi all,
> My employer is thinking of joining the tax breaks for bicycles scheme.
> Do people know if there is much of a difference between the different
> companies that run the scheme.
> Booost seem to have a good choice of dealers.
> Halfords make me shudder slightly...
>
> I live in Leeds if that makes any difference.

I'm in Leeds, bought my Gazelle through cyclescheme.co.uk via Cycle
Heaven in York. Would strongly reccomend Cycle Heaven as a good LBS,
they checked properly on sizing, and just generally "got on with the
job" with no fuss or bother.

I'd also reccomend Gazelles, but that all depends on what kind of
riding you want to do.

AFAIK there isn't a top limit on cost of bike, however once you go over
1000 quid, the employer has to be registered for consumer credit deals,
while under that there's a waiver. This is per-bike, not total.

I got top of the range roadster plus reflective panniers plus bright
yellow cycling cape all for 630-odd. Lights, guards, etc are built in
on these bikes, so not much to spend on extras. Should probably have
got them to throw in a computer as well, on the basis that a
speedometer is a safety device, but didn't think of it in time.

 

[Tony Raven]

Pyromancer wrote:
>
> AFAIK there isn't a top limit on cost of bike, however once you go over
> 1000 quid, the employer has to be registered for consumer credit deals,
> while under that there's a waiver. This is per-bike, not total.
>

With ours you just paid the shop the extra over £1k. Didn't get that
bit tax free but in my case it was a small sum.

Like others I recommend Cyclescheme because it works through local shops
and avoid Halfrauds who we had and were not very good. My only
consolation is that the final arrangements between Halfrauds and
Brompton meant that Halfrauds had to hand over all the money to a
Brompton dealer who then supplied the bike.

--
Tony

"The best way I know of to win an argument is to start by being in the
right."
- Lord Hailsham

 

[Peter]

Thanks to everyone who has responded.
Peter

"Tony Raven" <[email protected]> wrote in message
news:[email protected]...
> Pyromancer wrote:
>>
>> AFAIK there isn't a top limit on cost of bike, however once you go over
>> 1000 quid, the employer has to be registered for consumer credit deals,
>> while under that there's a waiver. This is per-bike, not total.
>>
>
> With ours you just paid the shop the extra over £1k. Didn't get that bit
> tax free but in my case it was a small sum.
>
> Like others I recommend Cyclescheme because it works through local shops
> and avoid Halfrauds who we had and were not very good. My only
> consolation is that the final arrangements between Halfrauds and Brompton
> meant that Halfrauds had to hand over all the money to a Brompton dealer
> who then supplied the bike.
>
> --
> Tony
>
> "The best way I know of to win an argument is to start by being in the
> right."
> - Lord Hailsham