happy thing

[juliet]

Hurrah. I have just discovered that the very lovely bike I wish to treat myself to[0] is covered by the cycle2work scheme, which I assumed it wouldn't be. Thus saving me approx 30% on the total cost, & meaning that the source of the funding (see below) should, if all goes well, easily cover the full whack, rather than me winding up even further into my overdraft.

[does happy dance]

Unfortunately I still can't get it till the end of the month, because I need to go up & be measured for it & the bloke's away till then. BUT STILL.

[0] This is being paid for by me selling my flute, which I haven't played in about a decade. Am v grateful to Mum & Dad for letting me do this / have the cash from it, since obv it was them & not me who paid for the thing in the first place.

Comments

[editor.livejournal.com]

It... is blue.

But I love the idea of a made-to-measure bike. Of course, if it were mine it'd just get jolted all out of kilter and nicked within a year, but hey.

[juliet]

I like blue! Anyway, in fact you can choose what colour they spray it :-)

I am a bit worried about the getting nicked thing :-( I shall be hanging onto the Trek, for use for commute on days when I might have to leave it places that are neither at work nor at home (e.g. outside pub). I shall also be actually applying the stuff I learnt last winter about bike maintenance...

[angelmine.livejournal.com]

Hurrah! Looks fantastic :-)

[ciphergoth.livejournal.com]

Weird the way posh bikes don't look different from cheap ones!

[juliet]

Butbutbut they do! (er, they do to me, anyway :-) )

In the flesh, they definitely look different. And feel different, which is more important.

[ciphergoth.livejournal.com]

OK, maybe what I mean is "to the eyes of one entirely ignorant about bikes..."

[mr-tom.livejournal.com]

Ooh! That's jolly nice. Every so often I look at touring frames with intent, but I'm not really doing enough distance to justify one.

The

Does this mean that you'll be doing the Furnace Creek 508 next year? :-)

[lnr]

Yeah, I'm looking at them with some intent too. But not a grand's worth of intent, just can't afford it. It does look like a lovely bike though.

That ride sounds terrifying!

[juliet]

I am getting the cheaper one, I should note!

[lnr]

:-)

If you really can get that with 40% off via work that's *fabulous*. I've been poking through cambridge's webpages and can't see that we've signed up to the scheme sadly.

[juliet]

Only 30% as am not a higher-rate taxpayer... but that's still pretty good!

You should try suggesting it to Cambridge - it's effectively government-funded (see the DFT page so the only costs are setup ones; and lots of cycle shops have schemes already established & will help. Ours is through Halfords, but (as in this case!) they allow you to source a bike elsewhere & organise it through them.

[(Anonymous)]

The impression I get from uk.rec.cycling is that using Halfords as a middleman isn't always entirely straightforward. There might be some magic tricks to be aware of, if your google ertia is up to looking.

HTFB

[juliet]

Have had a quick look, & it looks like the problems encountered have been when asking Halfords to order in X. I'm not doing that; the process for this is that Hewitt will invoice Halfords, & deliver the bike direct to me. It's on hold now until I've gone up for the fitting, though, since then I can talk to Hewitts about the situation. (I don't want to cause confusion by, e.g., the cycle2work people contacting Hewitt when the only record they have of me is a note in the appointment book. I'd rather accept a further week or two delay on the bike delivery while the finances are sorted out; it'll take a couple of weeks for Hewitt to construct & deliver it anyway).

[lnr]

Interestingly the latest newsletter at work has drawn our attention to a travel to work loan scheme¹, which can be used to borrow money to buy a bike. I've mailed the contact address with the DfT URL and Halfords info page².

[1] http://www.admin.cam.ac.uk/offices/personnel/staff/benefits/travel.html

[2] http://www.halfordsb2b.com/bikes4work-schemes.asp

[juliet]

I've been wanting a road bike (as alternative to the hybrid) for *ages*. Except that a 'proper' road bike wouldn't suit me because I want mudguards (I dislike having a wet/muddy arse! & is no good for commuting otherwise) & a rear rack (can't cycle with a rucksack, buggers my shoulders/back), so I need a tourer. But a light one.

I enjoyed Dunwich sufficiently that I want to start doing more long rides/Audaxes; this bike is kind of a promise to myself that I actually will :-) (& see above re lusting for ages - when Mum & Dad said I could sell the flute but should spend the money on a Thing, it was obviously a Sign!).

Furnace Creek: er, no.

[peshwengi.livejournal.com]

I used to commute on my road bike all the time, until I started working somewhere that I couldn't have a shower. I had to wear different clothes for cycling (although TBH it's not just because of the mudguards thing, it's because I'm a sweaty bastard ;o)

The fact that there's nowhere indoors to leave the bike also bothers me. Luckily I'm starting work next month at a new company, which provides an underground car park and showers :D

[silkyraven.livejournal.com]

Ooooh lovely :o) That'll ride sooooooo well!!

[skibbley.livejournal.com]

Ooh! My Dawes Horizon is getting to the point where I'll need a new bike when the headset dies so I'll consider one of those.

[juliet]

I was recommended it by folk on a cycling forum I'm on; it appealed partly because of the semi-custom-fit thing, as I've got a slightly odd body geometry & a slightly odd riding position (back problems). Plus it gets very very good reviews for its class.

[peshwengi.livejournal.com]

If you haven't already spoken to them, you could talk to the people at www.cyclefit.co.uk. They tend to mostly cater to "serious" racers (which I have never been) but their main job is measuring people up and looking at riding style, especially thinking about any injuries or problems that have occurred. They can then adjust the fitting of the bike to improve the riding position.

Having said that, getting a bike fitting done is kind of pricey.....

[juliet]

Hewitt do semi-custom-fit anyway; you go up there & get on a fitting jig & they sort your position etc out for you. It's one of the main reasons I wound up going for that bike.