My dad is looking to buy a mainly XC machine , He is looking at a Giant Trance x4 or lappiere 900 .
He wants to do some XC races but also have the ability to descend well.
Budget is around 1300 and he want to use the cycle to work scheme for that price ( would knock 65% off).
Bike to work will only cover the first €1000, and max tax band is worth 51%. so on a €1300 bike, he will only get about €500 off. so more like 40% off.
I just went through pretty much the same process as you to get my first bike a couple of months ago. What I found was that the UK shops are substantially better bang for your buck than Cycle Superstore and even Chain reaction. The cheapest UK shop I found was www.paulscycles.co.uk. That being said now, I was looking at XC bikes for around the â¬1k mark.
The UK shops are all set up to handle Irish Bike2work by the way, but just remember when you're working out the price to convert uk VAT of 17.5% to Irish 21%
The best selection of bikes I could find where on these sites:
Uk shops are a bit cheaper at face value but bear in mind any hassles you may have down the road with the bike. Most of the decent local bike shops here are open to a little bit of haggling so their price may come closer to the uk prices. In my opinion you cant beat the service of a local bike shop. If you do have a warranty issue it is very easily sorted in your local bike shop not quite so easy if it involves posting your bike back to the uk.
If you are getting a very substantial discount then absolutely go ahead but if you are only looking at 10 or 15% its probably not worth the bother.
First of all BUY IRISH - there are too many jobs being lost in this country so at least support your own. Do your research and find the best deal in this country. I bought an Anthem X3 from Cycle Inn Tallagh a couple of months ago, best bike I've ever owned and great service from Mick Jordan!
Its all well and good to say buy irish, but to get an equivalent bike in Ireland to my kikapu in terms of spec I would have paid 30% more at least here.
Having said that though, I have only had it 2 months and its already been to the bike shop for a small repair job. A repair job which would have been a simple 5 min fix under warranty if I bought it locally.
I have a Connondale Rush. single pivot frame, so easy to maintain. sweet bike, but you won't get a new one for that money.
It's for sale on this forum somewhere.....