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@Greenbank
The irony on all of this is that it's not much different to the ways that companies try and avoid (not evade) paying certain taxes, or limiting their liabilities. It's just on a smaller/individual scale under the guises of "good intentions".
Think of it this way: You're taking a (smaller) temporary pay cut so that the company can buy a bike for you and then lend it to you for free. After a year they then lend it out to a third party company that also lets you borrow it for free (after giving them a 3% or 7% deposit). After 3 years you let this other company keep the deposit (so they can officially buy the bike off your employer) and you get to keep the bike. Everyone saves/makes some money, therefore the tax man is not getting as much.
The government could make this all so much easier by scrapping these schemes and just getting rid of VAT on all cycling related stuff (even top end bikes).