Bike to work

Just read the post about buying zipp's with this scheme.

Wondered if anyone has done it with fixed stuff.
Only reason I ask is that my last bike was built from parts from friends and ebay.
Obviously lot's of bike shops don't sell the parts you want if they are old.

Is there a way to get frame/parts but not a whole bike with this?

Anyone done it? If so which shops in london have a good ss/fg section and are part of the scheme?

Cheers for any info.

Edit...
Just found out brick lane does and also london fields but any more info and personal exp would be sweet.

i tried blb some time ago but they said they couldn't do it - something to do with the fact that the bike has to be assembled by a shop or something.

we've got a bike scheme here at work, 1st time we're doing it, with some online firm, not going as well as I would like, think the organisers were a bit overwhelmed by how many people wanted bikes.

don't think there's anything in the small print where you can't just buy bits, I assume the scheme is designed for people to buy whole bikes, but you can also buy bits, (as long as it comes within the 1k maximum). might be a bit difficult to buy multiple bits from multiple suppliers.
I know mosquito is part of the scheme and they have a burgeoning fixed section.

speak to platini he seems to do it on a regular basis.

Brixton Cycles!

Putney Cycles!

[they sell bob jacksons]

I guess it helps if you've got a good relationship with the shop. Mine has said he is happy enough to do it, but maybe bigger outfits lose the flexibility to bend the rules, becoming bogged down in red tape....

Putney will sort you out, just picked up my Bob from there on Friday. They got me all the parts that I wanted, took them a while but that was down to their suppliers being shit. The only thing that will possibly frustrate is that you need to get it all from one shop. If I had of been paying cash up front I would have gone elsewhere as the delays were annoying, they will get you anything you want though. I've done the scheme 3 times now, it rocks!

condor does cyclescheme. im thinkin bout using my voucher on a new condor road bike. coz its custom build, they charge an extra 10%(?), which must be paid outside the value of the voucher. sounds like anything that needs building have this extra +% slapped on em. i imagine putney cycles does the same for the bob jackson builds. does that mean you can use the credit on just parts and build yourself!?!

You can build yourself if you want and they do not charge any extra for the scheme (Putney this is). To do so is wrong IMO. The shop benefits from people buying much better bikes with the scheme and therefore makes more profit despite having to pay the scheme organisers £%.

But they are still making their mark-up on the parts they sell, to people who go down the self-assembly route. I can't see it as a matter of right or wrong, especially if they are happy to oblige...

You will not be able to buy parts and cycles over a certain value and they have to be deemed suitable for the schemes purpose.(R2W)
The quote from which your voucher comes from will be scrutinized by both your firm and government bods as it is they who own and pay (respectively) for the cycle.
If you leave your employer within twelve months they are entitled to have you return the bike to them.

There are lots of ways to do the scheme. Basically, your company buys stuff for you to use for work (generally commuting) and they withhold the cost of the stuff from your salary over the course of a year. At the end of the year they often decide to sell the stuff to the employee at "fair market value" (normally 5% of original price), although there can be no obligation for them to do this.

As long as the company is buying the bike, how they choose to do it is their choice. In practise it is unlikely that they will be willing to faff around with something when they can go for vouchers. There are several companies that operate voucher schemes and I know that Mosquito accept the two main ones.

Don't forget that you get the best discount where your employer and the seller are registered for VAT, etc.

Also, contrary to what has been said above you can get as many bikes as you can justify from as many different suppliers as you want. You may be restricted, however, by the value of the vouchers (i.e. to the nearest £100). If you want to buy one bike to cycle from your house to the local train station and a second for the destination station to work, that is fine. If you want to buy a jacket or tools, that is fine too.

There are some good resourcesfrom the Department Of Transport available if you look on Google.

My point was about the vouchers only working in one selected shop. You couldn't get a voucher and use it to get wheels from Condor and a frame etc from elsewhere. All my vouchers have come for a specific amount from a specific shop. I guess you could get two bikes if you can justify it, that does make sense. If your employer buys it directly from their coffers with no vouchers or companies running it for them etc then they can buy it from where they want up to any value as long as the salary sacrafice doesn't take your net pay below minimum wage.

VAT point is true but the company is not obliged to give this back to you, many (inc mine) keep it to fund the scheme. Really pisses me off but they are entitled so they do.

As for suitable for purpose, you could buy a full suss, downhill MTB and commute on it, the only thing they want to see is that you are using it to get to and from work, but even that is never required to be proven.

Platini But they are still making their mark-up on the parts they sell, to people who go down the self-assembly route. I can't see it as a matter of right or wrong, especially if they are happy to oblige...

I think we are agreeing here? Yeah they still make their mark up, as they should, I just disagree with making their standard profit and then charging more for being paid by cyclescheme. I know that they have to pay a percentage of the voucher price to the scheme to be part of it but I would not have spent as much as I did had it not been for the scheme, so they benefit from me paying like that in the end. OK they could have sold the stuff to someone else for more profit, if they paid cash, but that is not how the scheme is sold to the shops, it's all about bigger total spend per customer. Condor are charging 10% on top of the bike price to use the scheme with them, depsite the fact that the people using it would probably not be there if it weren't for the scheme. I guess they just don't need the custom.

To be clear, Putney just sold me the bits at the standard price, depsite paying using CS.

Anyway Viva La Scheme!

benanza You can build yourself if you want and they do not charge any extra for the scheme (Putney this is). To do so is wrong IMO.

I read your post wrongly, evidently we *are * in agreement. ;)

London Fields is presently putting hte finishing touches on mine.

I gathered a bunch of parts they didn't stock and I wanted from shops like condor and hubjub. I couldn't use cyclescheme for this. But then got london fields to get the frame, wheels, etc. and ran all of that through cyclescheme.

Worked otu well, as what London Fields puts together was basically half price due to the tax break. However, cyclescheme charge the shops a commission so bike shops won't give you a further discount... (but then you are already saving up to 50%).

So then your workplace owns half you bike?

JOL So then your workplace owns half you bike?

No, in fact your work owns ALL of the bike. But the general agreement is that at the end of the scheme (12 months) they will either give you the bike or sell it to you for a nominal 'market value' which is often quoted at 5% of the purchase price.

Here, I beleive, they just give you the bike.

Of course, if they are getting nerky you could say it was stolen, just before getting another one on the next year's scheme.

mashton

But the general agreement is that at the end of the scheme (12 months) they will either give you the bike or sell it to you for a nominal 'market value' which is often quoted at 5% of the purchase price.

Here, I beleive, they just give you the bike.

Of course, if they are getting nerky you could say it was stolen, just before getting another one on the next year's scheme.

If they give you the bike, it is a benefit in kind and would need to be reported on your P11D (assuming you are not a low paid employee for BIK purposes. I'm not sure of the legality of the claiming the bike was stolen thing (by which I mean the tax implications, not theft implications).

For those of you that are self-employed (or in a partnership) you are able to buy a bike through your business and claim capital allowances on it as you would any other plant & machinery.

As an aside, it sounds dodgy that an employer would reclaim the VAT on the bike, but not passing the saving on to you. Any amounts deducted from your gross salary in excess of the purchase price (net of VAT) would reduce the deduction that they could make from their profits in calculating the amount assessable to tax.

"For those of you that are self-employed (or in a partnership) you are able to buy a bike through your business "

Ooh that's just given me an idea...

"Any amounts deducted from your gross salary in excess of the purchase price (net of VAT) would reduce the deduction that they could make from their profits in calculating the amount assessable to tax."

and that sentence sums up (pun on!) why I wasn't an accountant! :)

"For those of you that are self-employed (or in a partnership) you are able to buy a bike through your business and claim capital allowances on it as you would any other plant & machinery."

that's what i did for my business. I claim the vat off and servicing tyres etc, but then i don't own a car so they can't argue it's not for business use.

hippy "For those of you that are self-employed (or in a partnership) you are able to buy a bike through your business "

Ooh that's just given me an idea...

Interestingly, you could also theoretically transfer a bike (or more than one, if you can justify it) into your business at current market value and then start claiming capital allowances on it in the normal way. Obviously you wouldn't be able to reclaim the VAT, but you'd still be able to get a tax saving for something you currently own. That said, it's a bit aggressive and I'm not sure how much HMRC would be laughing if they found out you'd done that with a high value bike.

Oh, the other good thing about buying a bike as a sole trader/member of a partnership is that you're not limited to £1,000. The £1,000 thing relates to the point at which someone needs a commercial credit license (I think that is the term); if you work for a company that has a commercial credit license (i.e. one of those companies that shops use for their interest free credit) then you could get a bike in excess of £1,000. Also, my gut feeling is that the actual limit for the scheme should be £1,175 (if the company passes the VAT saving on to you), as the amount that they would then be claiming CAs on/having reimbursed to them should be £1,000.

hippy
"Any amounts deducted from your gross salary in excess of the purchase price (net of VAT) would reduce the deduction that they could make from their profits in calculating the amount assessable to tax."

and that sentence sums up (pun on!) why I wasn't an accountant! :)

I'm not an accountant, I'm too cool. I'm a tax adviser. Any body wants more specific advise about this, whisper it to me.