This may interest some of the people on this forum, I know there are a few cyclists our there: Ride2Work Basically, you get a really awesome saving when buying a bike through this scheme. I worked mine out to be 42%, and I'll be paying £75ish a month out of my pay before tax! So, if you get £1k a month pay, and then you get taxed £100 normally, when your on this scheme you'll be paying for your bike using the money they would normally take as tax. At least I think that's how my Dad explained it to me. Here is a calculator that works out all the savings and %'s etc etc: Ride2Work calculator In my case I'm just going to buy a more expensive bike (we need a sport tag by the way.)
There are actually a number of sucky things to be aware of about this scheme - Firstly, the bike has to be primarily for getting to work on (so a kickass XC/AM/DH bike is likely to be declined. I recall the max being 1k or something?). Secondly the bike isn't yours until the payment period is over, and it isn't automatically yours even when the period is over. Technically, you hire the bike from your employer, and they can then either transfer the title of ownership over to you (involves paperwork and all sorts), or actually be required to sell it to you because otherwise it can be classed as a taxable benefit (or some mumbo-jumbo like that). There are a lot of MTB enthusiasts where I work (and indeed, we publish mbr) and none of those guys recommend it. Just buy the bike you really want and stomach the cost But if you're cool with all of the above and your employer is nice, go for it
Who does the declining? I've got the Specialized FSR Comp 2008 in mind, and my employers would be fine with it so if they were the ones doing the declining then there wouldn't be any problem. Would be nice getting the bike for £900 instead of £1700
As far as I know, it totally depends on your employer. If they are a large company, they may have a deal with a bike shop (E.g. Halfords) and you'd be limited to only bikes from there. However, I have a friend who works for a small company and he was able to spec a complete bike through Chain Reaction and pay around half as much. Ideal. About actually using it for work, again it's up to your employer. As long as you say you sometimes use it, I think you'll get away with it. I can't imagine many employers checking that you arrive at work on the correct bike anyway.
Depends completely on the company. Mine uses a specific retailer (evans cycles i think) and you have to use it for getting to work. Most people say they use it for the riding to the train. We all know they just walk to the train . There was no limit on cost though.....or for that matter number of bikes...basically you get voucher you can exchange as cash. He just got 2 bikes with it. As i understood it though you simply pay for the "bike loan" with your gross pay so effectively you just get ~33% off.
Enduro. Was doing a bit of the copying & pasting and somehow missed out the most important part http://www.evanscycles.com/product.jsp?style=86094 I'm heading out to Chamonix in August and my current bike (the 05 Enduro) was the only bike to survive out of our group the last 2 years and the new one has been getting good reviews. I'm going for a ride on one this weekend I think, so I'll be able to get a feel for it.
The Enduro is a nice bike, bloody lovely frame. I was || close to buying one about 6 months ago, but then they moved the shock on the Stumpy down to behind the seat tube (same place as the Enduro - where it should be), but the own brand forks ultimately put me off the Enduro - not enough tyre clearance.
I've had a play with the bike around the shop I was in at the weekend (They love bike shops in the lakes. There are about 10 in Keswick!) and the forks were nice and responsive. Never really noticed the tyre clearance... But would it really ever cause a problem? Perhaps when it's seriously muddy... I didn't realise the forks were own brand and I know that can often mean reliability is an issue. I'll look into them more. Thanks for the thoughts.
If you fancy a change from the Enduro, have you considered the Commencal Meta 5.5? I have one, I love it. It's a bit longer than the recent enduros, haven't compared it to an 05. But I love mine - ridiculously good rear sus, grips on everything.
Commencal are making some really nice gear, I got a meta 4.3 back in 05 and its the best value for money bike Ive had in years.
I think the Giant Reign Zero is worth a look too - looks stunning in the flesh. As does the 2008 Orange 5 which now has much nicer (smaller) top and down tubes - it's now less of a tank than it once was, and is designed with the UK/Europe in mind (mud not sand)
Orange 5s are nice but really expensive. Almost boutique prices from a company based in Halifax The Reigns are very nice, I have a friend who has a Reign X.0 (slightly more travel (6.7"!) than the Reign X) and it's lovely. Lighter than my Commencal too (though it was twice the price). It's a very nice 'all mountain' bike though, it's light as I mentioned but angles are quite slack so it's a beast going down Also, because it's Giant, they're great value because of economies of scale etc.
I've read a load of reviews on the Enduro now and nearly ever single one comments on the bad reliability of the front and rear shocks. Apparently though it was a problem with the first batch that was made and Specialized have been replacing them without question and more recent reviews don't mention any problems at all. The guy I'm going riding with at the weekend has had one for a while now so I'll be bugging him with questions.
I dunno about that particular issue but spesh are really good with warranties. A friend of mine is on his third Demo 9 frame after breaking two, all replaced free of charge. The most recent one is the only one in the UK, imported especially for him since they don't sell that model in the UK any more.
