So..... cycling

[LeperousDust]

Yeah I mean Jonny is right, as i said reallllly in actual reality it doesnt matter! I have dual sided pedals, and i'll find myself using my north face hedgehogs (approach/walking shoes) more often than my clipless beasts on my bike. Purely because most of the cycling i'm doing involves much more than cycling at both ends! If i was to bash out a big ride purely recreationally and knew I wasn't really going to be stopping or getting off i'll throw on my clipless shoes.

Back in the day i used to ride my (rigid! ) Spec HardRock (and I still have the very same bike from 2003 just monumentally upgraded) over the pentlands with my asics' Although I will say that things are very different now days (and absolutely for the better of course really).

But its a big thing weighing up wasting money vs actual gain on all the stuff associated! Same with running, swimming, and really as I said any sport.

The biggest irony you see EVERY time riding round trail centres are guys with £million bikes, the best of the best to save weight and go faster/stronger/better whatever. Yet they themselves are fat. In reality they've spent a few £k shaving maybe a kg or two off the whole bike, where as it would be cheaper and way way more effective to lose the extra 10 they've got sitting around them

But fools will be fools in most sports, there aren't many sports now days that aren't money spinners or well sponsored!

[camerajuan]

Claud Butler Criterium. Good choice? I'm hovering over the checkout button now!

[Kitten]

I haz took the plunge and can haz new bike through the work scheme! Arrives next week. Tis a Carerra Vulcan.


Excited

[lostkat]

Cool Yeah we've got that scheme on now too. Typical... a couple of months after I get mine!! Ah well, I don't regret buying it. It's a cracking bike and I'm getting lots of use out of it. Took it off road for the first time this week and I was surprised at how good it is I expect being quite light helps.

I was thinking of giving it to Leon and buying an identical one through the bike through work scheme. The only thing we're worried about is that you're not guaranteed to get the bike at the end of it and it seems like a waste of time and rip off if that's going to happen.

Has anyone got any experience of what actually happens at the end of the hire period? I know you can extend it for 3 yrs, but after that it's up to the hire company what they do with it.

[Kitten]

Everyone at my company has been given option to buy at a low price(I think just the remainder). To be fair though, you can choose to pay as little as five pounds a month, which to lease a brand new bike isn't bad, even if you don't get to keep it at the end. If you do it though, you MUST insure it. My friend had his pinched & still has to pay for it.

[Jonny69]

Originally Posted by Kitten

Carrera Vulcan

Sensible choice. Too many people seem to think they have to spend £1,000,017.36 on a bike on the cycle to ride scheme, spending out way more than they should have done on a bike they needed.

And end up never riding it anyway

[leowyatt]

I'm going for a Voodoo Hoodoo if they end up using Halfords with work.

[Kitten]

Originally Posted by Jonny69

Sensible choice. Too many people seem to think they have to spend £1,000,017.36 on a bike on the cycle to ride scheme, spending out way more than they should have done on a bike they needed.

And end up never riding it anyway

Thanks It's more than capable for what I want it for, some trail work (lots of fields near us), but mostly road use. I looked at some cheaper models, but Matt did most of the research for me and came up with that one. Went and tried a few out, but that was by far the one I preferred. There was a few in that range but that had really good reviews too. Way I see it is that I might go out on it lots and cycling to/from work a lot, or I might end up mostly just using it at weekends/evenings in the summer to pootle about and take photographs...so didn't seem worth spending more than I'd consider if I had to pay in cold hard cash! Also, I wanted to be able to pay it off outright if anything happened workwise etc. You are right though, EVERYONE else I know on the scheme has gone for TOTR (for that price bracket) carbon fibre frame bikes for more than £900.

[leowyatt]

I imagine their thinking is if I'm getting it for half price I might as well get the best bike I can get out of the scheme

[lostkat]

Which is fair enough if you're a hardcore cyclist, but a bit of a waste if you only ever use it once in a blue moon. I'd love a proper road bike, but in all honesty I probably don't need it. My hybrid is brilliant on the roads. I just get a bit jealous when they go whizzing past me up hills

Is there any way to find out exactly how much you save? There are examples, but they're not massively helpful really. They could do with a calculator thingy. I'm just struggling to see how much money it saves, because you have the monthly payment for 12 months then another 3-7%ish for 3 yrs use THEN a final payment if the company gives you the option to keep it. Is it genuienly a saving after all that, or just paying for a bike over 4-5 years? The bike I want is only about £260. Not sure whether it's worth the hassle, or whether we should just buy it outright.