I'm going to regret this, but...
I'm thinking of buying a bike.
I haven't ridden a bike since I was a kid basically, but I need to do some form of exercise and much as I like the walk to work it just takes too damn long to be practical most days. Fortunately my employer offers the cycle-to-work scheme which effectively means I get a nice fancy bike for half the cost spread over 12 months. I can get up to £1000 worth of bike-and-bits free of VAT, income tax and even NI as long as I stay with the company for those 12 months (which has recently been assured) and don't ask for a parking space (which I don't anyway). They also have shower and locker facilities such is their commitment to this.
My 3-mile-or-so journey to work will be mostly on a fairly pleasant cycle track, and a little bit of actual road, but does include a footbridge I'll have to lug the thing over and potentially three floors of stairs at one end so weight is important. I won't be going up or down any mountains, and I don't want some fancy thing that I'll look a tit riding, just a half decent bike that won't fall apart after six months.
So - knowing there are a few keen cyclists on here, any advice?
Cheers!
I haven't ridden a bike since I was a kid basically, but I need to do some form of exercise and much as I like the walk to work it just takes too damn long to be practical most days. Fortunately my employer offers the cycle-to-work scheme which effectively means I get a nice fancy bike for half the cost spread over 12 months. I can get up to £1000 worth of bike-and-bits free of VAT, income tax and even NI as long as I stay with the company for those 12 months (which has recently been assured) and don't ask for a parking space (which I don't anyway). They also have shower and locker facilities such is their commitment to this.
My 3-mile-or-so journey to work will be mostly on a fairly pleasant cycle track, and a little bit of actual road, but does include a footbridge I'll have to lug the thing over and potentially three floors of stairs at one end so weight is important. I won't be going up or down any mountains, and I don't want some fancy thing that I'll look a tit riding, just a half decent bike that won't fall apart after six months.
So - knowing there are a few keen cyclists on here, any advice?
Cheers!