[gremlin]

Our company has just taken up the R2W scheme but we are restricted to one retailer (Evans cycles), so I've made a shortlist of the ones that appeal most. Anyone got any thoughts? 

Scott Scale:
http://www.evanscycles.com/products/scott/scale-60-2011-mountain-bike-ec025363


BMC:
http://www.evanscycles.com/products/bmc/teamelite-te03-2011-mountain-bike-ec025215


Cannondale:
http://www.evanscycles.com/products/cannondale/trail-sl-1-2011-mountain-bike-ec025258


Genesis Core:
http://www.evanscycles.com/products/genesis/core-40-2011-mountain-bike-ec024742


http://www.evanscycles.com/products/gt/zaskar-comp-2011-mountain-bike-ec024800


The BMC is my fave but it's £200 over budget! Anything over a grand and the difference has to be made up by the buyer.

[slackline]

Two thoughts...

1) Are you actually going to be using it to cycle to work?  If so I wouldn't get a mountain bike but a hybrid.

2) You're employers may be stubborn, but you're not restricted to a particular bike shop, the Cycle 2 Work scheme as run by the government does not place any such restrictions.  As long as the shop you're buying from is happy to participate it doesn't make any difference (but may do to your HR department who are the ones imposing the restriction).

[Palomides]

One thought...

They all look about the same, similar geometry, fork,  brakes, transmission, wheels (a bit better on the BMC, but you'd expect that for £200 more). The only slightly odd one out is the Genesis, as the others all have the air of XC bikes, and the genesis is a bit more all-round with a longer travel fork.

So buy the one you like the colour and look of best. Or buy the genesis if you're the kind of person who enjoys chucking themselves down things that you really shouldn't.

(More sensibly you should go to an Evans and at least ride them all around the carpark)

[richie0210]

I've got a scott scale (ok not a scale 60) but it's been spot on.

[ianv]

As above, pretty much of a muchness apart from the genesis that will take a bit more of a hammering.

personally I would go with the genesis

[SA Chris]

(More sensibly you should go to an Evans and at least ride them all around the carpark)

Agree. If possible at least sit on it, or take it for a ride. Some bikes have slight differences in geometry that just make them feel wrong.

[gremlin]

Hmm..the Genesis does look nice. They do a steel framed version too for the same price, slightly lower spec but you get that twangy steel frame feel:

[Iesu]

Two thoughts...

1) Are you actually going to be using it to cycle to work?  If so I wouldn't get a mountain bike but a hybrid.

2) You're employers may be stubborn, but you're not restricted to a particular bike shop, the Cycle 2 Work scheme as run by the government does not place any such restrictions.  As long as the shop you're buying from is happy to participate it doesn't make any difference (but may do to your HR department who are the ones imposing the restriction).

evans run their own scheme (some employers let you have your pick of several schemes on offer).

are you riding on road, off road or a combination (cycle path/towpath etc?). Slack-line makes a good point in that if the bicycle is exclusively for the commute do you really want to commit to the additional down-time maintenance associated with suspension forks (disclaimer: i know nothing of your riding history, preferences etc - maybe you want what you wnat for no other reason than you want it).

don't go for the cannondale.... not even built in the US any more, purely trading on their name to get a higher fee.

steel genesis looks nice, but how come steel frames come with lower spec at the same price these days?

[SA Chris]

If you are limited to Evan's have you looked in their sale section? Can get some good deals on last year's bikes

[gremlin]

I'm lucky in that I have several ways of getting to work - road, towpath, or singletrack! I have an old road bike for the tarmac so I'm looking for an MTB to ride along the canal or off-road and of course have a little fun on the weekends.

Can't see the point in a hybrid as they do neither road or off-road too well.

Will proably stump up the extra 99 quid and plump for the genesis 

[tomtom]

I'm lucky in that I have several ways of getting to work - road, towpath, or singletrack! I have an old road bike for the tarmac so I'm looking for an MTB to ride along the canal or off-road and of course have a little fun on the weekends.

Can't see the point in a hybrid as they do neither road or off-road too well.

Will proably stump up the extra 99 quid and plump for the genesis 

Hmm, we were not allowed to spend any extra on our CTW scheme.. at the end of it your employer (or someone) technically owns the bike and you 'buy' it back of them for a nominal fee AFAIK.. might be worth checking..

[milksnake]

Steel framed genesis gets my vote. Steel hardtails just feel so much nicer to ride, they've got souls, dont ya know.

[Iesu]

Steel framed genesis gets my vote. Steel hardtails just feel so much nicer to ride, they've got souls, dont ya know.

I had a (very) old Orange C16R bought for my 16th birthday mid/late 1990's and I rode that exclusively until it was totalled a few years back in a bump with a car. I loved that bike like a brother.

Got a Cannondale as an insurance replacement and despite the headshok being a nightmare (see other thread...) I absolutely LOVE the aluminium frame (I had my doubts) - beautifully responsive and surprisingly compliant.

Not sure which way I would turn now if given the choice (obvisously with C'dales you typically pay over the odds for a quality frame with cheaper components - at least that WAS the case before they outsourced the framebuilding like every other tom dick and harry).

[galpinos]

......... and you 'buy' it back of them for a nominal fee AFAIK.. might be worth checking..

I believe it is no longer a nominal fee, the HMRC have published a table of acceptable amounts (linked here http://www.cyclescheme.co.uk/files/hmrc/endofhire_faqs.pdf) which has the "nominal fee" at 25% for the bikes looked at above after 12 months.

 

[galpinos]

Will proably stump up the extra 99 quid and plump for the genesis 

Gremlin, I have a Genesis Altitude 00 (what the Latitude was called before they changed the name).

Lovely bike imo though my experience is limited. I would say if you could get the 10 do, as you get 120mm of travel on the forks, which for my usage would be a bonus. The only thing I've changed are the wheels, but that was only due to generosity of Falling Down; I've turned the stock wheels into road wheels so I can commute on fast skinny tyres.

[slackline]

......... and you 'buy' it back of them for a nominal fee AFAIK.. might be worth checking..

I believe it is no longer a nominal fee, the HMRC have published a table of acceptable amounts (linked here http://www.cyclescheme.co.uk/files/hmrc/endofhire_faqs.pdf) which has the "nominal fee" at 25% for the bikes looked at above after 12 months.

 

That looks to be specific to Cyclescheme.co.uk as per the answer to question 7, other schemes may operate differently, but will be using the same HMRC guidance,.

That must be relatively new as 3 years ago when I got a bike under Cycle 2 work via NHS the final payment was an additional ~5% of the original value or some nominal amount.  Still I left that crap job after only paying back half of the bike and the fuck wits took six months to realise that their salary sacrafice team can't communicate with other sections of HR, so they started threatening to take me to court for not having paid it, when it was their own stupid fucking fault.  Paid it back at a rate which I saw fit, bunch of useless  :wank:ers

[galpinos]

That looks to be specific to Cyclescheme.co.uk as per the answer to question 7, other schemes may operate differently, but will be using the same HMRC guidance,.

The guidance is the same however it's set up, it was just the first link to the table I could find.

That must be relatively new as 3 years ago when I got a bike under Cycle 2 work via NHS the final payment was an additional ~5% of the original value or some nominal amount.

Yep, as of August last year - http://www.guardian.co.uk/money/2010/aug/13/cycle-to-work-scheme-tax

[slackline]

Its certainly less appealing now, could just turn around and tell them they can keep the bike, if everyone did that employers would be stuffed as they'd have tons of unwanted bikes that they'd have to find something to do with.  Doubt it would be economical to store or resell them.

[galpinos]

if everyone did that employers would be stuffed as they'd have tons of unwanted bikes that they'd have to find something to do with.  Doubt it would be economical to store or resell them.

You're not wrong. It seems to have sunk the scheme some what as you would now be better off buying a bike in the sale as the saving would be greater (assuming you had the capital).

It wasn't a great scheme to get people biking, it was mainly used by people to just upgrade whatever bike they had, but at least it was something.

Cyclescheme seem to have a method of avoiding the 25% (getting it down to 3% or 7%) but I've not got the time at work to read through their website.

[gremlin]

You can still have the bike transfered thusly:

“Alternatively the employer can transfer ownership of the bike at any time after the initial 12 month period for a nominal fee and declare the full fair market valuation amount as a taxable benefit.

Were an employer to transfer ownership of a £1000 cycle at the end of 12 months with no fair market payment, the employee would be liable to pay tax on the value of the benefit; for example there would be tax payable on £250 (25% fair market value percentage) and not actually £250 payable.
 
This example is based on transfer of ownership after 12 months however it can be used for any length of hire agreement:”
 
      Not via P11D    Via P11D (basic rate tax payer @ 20%)    Via P11D (higher rate tax payer 40%)
Certificate Value    £1000    £1000    £1000
Cost to employee of transfer    £250 (25% of value)    £50 (25% of value x 20%)    £100 (25% of value x 40%)

This is on the Evans website and HR have agreed we can do this!

[Davey_C]

The rule changes to the cycle to work scheme aren't a massive issue, at the end of 12 months, you have an option to extend the scheme by another 4 years, by just paying an ~£70 fee. No other payment is normally needed as the residual fair market value at the end of the 4th year is taken from that £70 extension.

As regards for a hardtail mtb, I've recently got myself a Specialized Rockhopper a few months back and can highly recommend. I've had it out around Kielder and Hamsterley several times in the last few months and it hasn't let me down. It came top in an MTB magazine review of hardtails for under a grand, earlier this year.

[gremlin]

Cube LTD Race; Anyone had any experience wih these. Looks like a cracking deal but a work collegue reckon's the frames must be sh*t to bring a bike with this spec in at £1099!

Technology:
• Alu Superlite: Extremely high tensile strength 7005 aluminium alloy requires heat treatment. Its developed for the highest requirements, very stiff and fatigue resistant, corrosion resistant, nonshearing; double butted which makes it suitable for very light tube-sets with a high level of stiffness.
• RFR Geometry: Our bicycles with RFR-geometry stand out by their sports character. The riding characteristics, rider comfort and rider safety in particular are taken in account for each individual bike category.
• FSS Frame Save System: To protect our high-end aluminium frames, they are built with the CUBE Frame Save System replaceable derailleur hanger. The thread is in the hanger and not in the frame as usual. In case of a crash, this hanger can be easily and quickly replaced by a new one.
• One Piece Design: Joints in high-quality aluminium frames are specially finished via this method and so create the impression of seamless tube design. This generates the visual effect of molding and ensures high load-bearing capacity.

Specification:
• Frame: Alu Superlite AMF 7005 Double Butted, RFR-Geometry
• Fork: Fox 32 F100 RL ALPS OB, 100mm, Lockout
• Headset: FSA NO. 10 semi-integrated
• Stem: Easton EA30, Oversized
• Handlebar: Easton EA30 Lowriser Oversized
• Grips: CUBE Double Duometer
• Rear Derailleur: Shimano Deore XT RD-M773 Shadow 10-speed
• Front derailleur: Shimano SLX FD-M660-10, Top Swing, 34.9mm, 10-speed
• Shifters: Shimano SLX SL-M660-10 Rapidfire-Plus, 10-speed
• Brakes: Formula RX hydr. discbrake (180/160mm)
• Cranks: Shimano FC-M552 2-Piece 42x32x24T, 175mm, integrated BB 3x10 speed
• Cassette: Shimano CS-HG81 11-36T, 10-speed
• Chain: Shimano CN-HG74 10-speed, 108 links
• Tires: Schwalbe Rapid Rob Performance 2.25
• Rims: Sunringlé Ryde XMB wheelset
• Front hub: Sunringlé Ryde XMB wheelset
• Rear hub: Sunringlé Ryde XMB wheelset
• Spokes: Sunringlé Ryde XMB wheelset
• Inner Tube: Impac AV14
• Rim Tape: Schwalbe 22-559
• Pedals: Fasten Alu
• Seat: RFR Natural Shape 0.2 M
• Seatpost: RFR Complight 31,6mm
• Seatclamp: Scape Varioclose 34.9mm
• Weight: 11.9kg

Big picture eh? :-)