Paging the cyclisti: fixed-gear bikes and brakes

Oh go on, talk dirty to me again...

 

Christ, they were shit, weren't they? I actually have a set at home,
IIRC, which I think were the original fitment on the Dawes Galaxy[1] I
had some years ago. I changed them to something better - can't
remember what, TBH, but they'd come off one of the other two road
bikes I had at the time - which were better, although still not
brilliant.

[1] Which then went to Darsy - who has it now, I wonder?

 

Tbf, compared to cheap end side pulls, they weren't that bad. But
modern direct pulls are *so* much better. Even cheap names like Point
or Tektro will stop your front wheel as soon as look at it.

I have discs all round now, and am pretty ambivalent. Less maintenance,
don't wear rims, but don't have theraw stopping power of my old Tektros.

 

Have you ridden it to work yet?

 

Not quite. After one year you have to pay 7% inc VAT (£58) to continue
to have use of the bike or you have to hand it back to your employer
(from whom you are leasing it)

If you instead want to buy it outright after a year, you need to pay 25%
(£208). After 4 years it's considered to be worth that 7%, so that's the
point where you can cash in your 7% deposit in exchange for the bike and
start a new cycle to work scheme if you so wish.

 

WTF would anyone bother with so much fucking hassle!

 

Well, if you only want a new one every 5 years then you get to buy it
for about 1/2 price (or more if you're a standard rate tax payer which
seems rather perverse)

Actually, Champ might be OK if he bought his at the start of the year,
as the revised rules came in at the start of this tax year. Initially
folk were getting a new bike every year at approx 50% effective discount
which they could buy for a nominal fee (£5-£10) at the end of the year.
That was very appealing.

Now, it ain't so appealing. Especially if your employer doesn't claim
back the VAT and insists that the bike is used for the majority of trips
to work.

I bought my bike cash.

 

It's more of the insanity of taking away too much in tax then handing it
back in allowances/benefits with all the attendant costs involved.

 

Point of order: the £1000 limit is due to the group consumer credit
licence issued by the OFT to cover Cycle to Work schemes. The employer
can offer packages in excess of £1000, but will need to obtain their own
consumer credit licence.

I know, 'cos I set up the Cycle to Work scheme at my previous employer.

 

I

 

I was going to offer a loan of a Firestorm to get her started, but
first has suddenly got hard to engage, which is a bit of a pain. Will
have to investigate now ..

Paul.

Paul.

 

Now I've thought about, ISTR that even in the case where the employer
sticks to the £1000 limit, it's possible to purchase a cycle that costs
in excess of that amount, but you have to pay the excess yourself
immediately, without the benefit of any tax avoidance.

Any questions?

 

Heh.

Very kind, but I *really* don't think she'd be keen on that. The
Firestorm's probably about the same size as the Falco, and she never did
more than sit on that (the first one, that is) and declare that she
wasn't happy with the stretch to the bars.

Maybe when she's more confident she'd be OK with it, but at the moment
that's not the case.

I'm vaguely thinking about something like an early Hornet 600, but I'm
open to other suggestions.

 

KTM 640 Supermoto. I would recommend the Duke, in the traditional
fashion, but she'd probably prefer one that doesn't snap in a strong
breeze.

 

Ah well, only a thought. If she likes V Twins, then the standard VTR
thou is probably soft enough to get her back into the swing of things.

Last time I had gear selection problems an oil change solved it, but
this had new oil about 18 months ago, and I did 6 miles on it since
the MOT. Not sure how oil can go off sitting in the sump ..

Paul.

 

There's a slight clue in the name of the scheme. Which suggests that,
as you have no intention of riding it to work, you and your employer
are merely conspiring to unfairly take adv advantage of a state
benefit.

 

Tempting. Very tempting... probably not what she's got in mind, but
maybe I could convince her.

But what about the seat height? Isn't it quite tall?

 

Dunno. A consumer credit licence doesn't cost that much, and many
companies will have one already.

http://xkcd.com/386/

 

I'm not sure if she likes V-twins in particular, or whether she just
liked the look and size of the Ducati Monster.

What she'd like is a Monster S2R; she likes the single-sided swing arm
and side-stacked exhausts, and it's a bit less loony than the S4R. But
all she wants at the moment is something cheap-ish and easy to ride, to
get her confidence and NCB back.

 

I have no trouble getting both feet down on the Duke and I have a 31"
inside leg or thereabouts.

The 17" wheels knock an inch or two off the seat height. Makes a world
of difference.