The Cycling Chat Thread

[BigTom]

I was nagging a transport officer at my work about getting more washing and drying facilities, clothes/kit storage and secure bike parking in my places of work and they informed me that I can claim expenses from work for cycling to work.
Does anyone know about this? It’s twenty pence a mile. I cycle ten miles a day. If I can claim going back to when I started my job, I could get a couple of grand!

You need to look at your staff handbook or somewhere like that for an expenses policy, it'll be an internal thing that the council are doing to incentivise cycling to work. 20p/mile is the HMRC standard rate for expenses so if you were cycling for business reasons you could claim it back just the same as if you were using your own car, but that doesn't normally apply to commutes. In any case, it's always a company policy thing rather than any legal requirements, iirc the claim amounts come from what HMRC let self-employed people claim as expenses and companies apply it to their expenses policy.

 

[nick]

What Tom said + links

HMRC mileage rules

https://www.cyclinguk.org/article/campaigns-guide/tax-incentives

If the company pays it then you may need to declare tax on it (although you are still ahead) - depending on your normal place of work.

If the company doesn't pay anything, then you can still claim the 20p per mile cost of cycled business trips on your tax return. tax-relief-for-employees/vehicles-you-use-for-work

Depending on whenever you are an employee or working through your own Co as a consultant outwith IR35 could also impact your normal place of work

Fun fact:
If you even once had to wfh because covid, then you can potentially claim £6 per week for 52 weeks of the year against your tax tax-relief-for-employees/working-at-home. You can do it on your tax return or through your payslip - there is a how-to and questionairre on the link just given
Non govt links : /working-from-home-tax-relief/ :
Martin Lewis

Get £125 tax back to spend towards the N+1

 

[nick]

Keep on casting my eye over the Tailfin web site - any views on their pannier "solutions"?

It seems that I was mulling over this on these threads for a good 18 months at least.

Anyway - recently pulled the trigger on them .
Lovely bit of kit and very speedy to remove/attach both the panniers and the whole frame ( I went thru-axle mount, skewer fans).

Silly money of course, but cycling tax innit.
However, they ooze quality and I am sure the aerodynamic carbon rack will allow me to shave vital 10ths of that all important cycle commute on the mean streets of London - even if these days the commute is a rare occurrence

 

[nick]

And thanks to the 20p per mile tax break (my place of work is at home) - I only need to go to the office and back 308 times and voila - they have paid for themselves.

Sound economics I feel

 

[DJWrongspeed]

Have been thinking about a bike trip next year and stumbled across this epic complete with route.

Paris to India 1972

it's amazing how bikes and bits haven't changed really. Even their tent looks like something you could buy now. The main change is routing, they carried big maps and must've got lost loads but perhaps that was a better way because you relied on the good will of strangers.
Road quality meant they got a Black Sea ferry for about a third of Turkey because the roads were mostly gravel.

it's a route impossible now for obvious political reasons but the technology and logistics remain the same.

 

[Part 2]

Have been thinking about a bike trip next year and stumbled across this epic complete with route.

Paris to India 1972

it's amazing how bikes and bits haven't changed really. Even their tent looks like something you could buy now. The main change is routing, they carried big maps and must've got lost loads but perhaps that was a better way because you relied on the good will of strangers.
Road quality meant they got a Black Sea ferry for about a third of Turkey because the roads were mostly gravel.

it's a route impossible now for obvious political reasons but the technology and logistics remain the same.

Thanks, I'm enjoying reading this.

Any idea where you're planning to go?....I'm thinking of do something in 2023.

 

[DJWrongspeed]

Thanks, I'm enjoying reading this.

Any idea where you're planning to go?....I'm thinking of do something in 2023.

The outlook isn't that great Covidwise but I guess if being outside is OK then a cycle trip ought to be more feasible. Doing the Eurovelo15 looked a possibility. (Plenty of 'facilities' along the way !)

 

[Part 2]

The outlook isn't that great Covidwise but I guess if being outside is OK then a cycle trip ought to be more feasible. Doing the Eurovelo15 looked a possibility. (Plenty of 'facilities' along the way !)

Yea that's something I've looked at myself. I can get a 2 year sabbatical from work in 2023 so hopefully covid might be less of a problem by then. I've a mate in Rotterdam I need to visit and the 15 passes not far from my tattooist in Germany. Also seen videos of 6 year olds doing significant amounts of the route so I've assured myself it can't be that hard. I'd hope to continue either to Istanbul or to see mates in Portugal.

 

[Bahnhof Strasse]

Bear in mind Eurostar is currently not accepting bikes, due to Covid

 

[beesonthewhatnow]

Bear in mind Eurostar is currently not accepting bikes, due to Covid

Well, that makes total sense

 

[Bahnhof Strasse]

Yeah it's bollocks. In fact bikes on trains is an issue, nearly all TGVs won't take them, and no Spanish intercity trains will take bikes, nor do Thalys trains.

 

[Dogsauce]

I thought Eurostar never did bikes? Sure that was the case a few years ago when I looked into it.

 

[Bahnhof Strasse]

I thought Eurostar never did bikes? Sure that was the case a few years ago when I looked into it.

You sent them via Eurodispatch, round the back of St Pancras. They are not guaranteed to travel on the same train as you but to arrive within 24 hours. In my experience baggage sent that way always arrived on the same train. Needed to go in a bike bag/box.

 

[DaphneM]

Yeah it's bollocks. In fact bikes on trains is an issue, nearly all TGVs won't take them, and no Spanish intercity trains will take bikes, nor do Thalys trains.

TGVs do take them but need to be booked - which is a massive phaff

 

[Bahnhof Strasse]

TGVs do take them but need to be booked - which is a massive phaff

And bagged/boxed on nearly all TGVs, which is rubbish as you then have to cart a bag/box around with you...

 

[DaphneM]

And bagged/boxed on nearly all TGVs, which is rubbish as you then have to cart a bag/box around with you...

they can be very flexible on the bag, but you still need to take the wheel off and all that crap

 

[Bahnhof Strasse]

British trains not much better, this is the bike storage on GWR's new trains, it's supposed to hold two bikes, the door is too narrow for my handlebars to fit through...

 

[beesonthewhatnow]

British trains not much better, this is the bike storage on GWR's new trains, it's supposed to hold two bikes, the door is too narrow for my handlebars to fit through...

It’s like someone looked at every single possible design and picked the absolute worst one.

 

[weepiper]

British trains not much better, this is the bike storage on GWR's new trains, it's supposed to hold two bikes, the door is too narrow for my handlebars to fit through...

I hate those ones. Literally nothing will fit in them except small old fashioned road bikes

 

[weepiper]

We've got dedicated bike carriages on the West Highland Line now that can take 20 bikes

ScotRail introduces the UK's first active travel carriages with 20 bike racks

Highland Explorer carriages will initially run on the West Highland Line from Glasgow to Oban with space for 20 bikes and 24 people

www.cyclist.co.uk

I believe the plan is to extend this service on other Highland lines soon.

 

[sleaterkinney]

British trains not much better, this is the bike storage on GWR's new trains, it's supposed to hold two bikes, the door is too narrow for my handlebars to fit through...

I actually damaged my bike trying it. The solution was to put one bike in then lock the other bike to it, two road bikes do not actually fit in. Forget about deep section wheels too. And you will have to argue with people using it to store luggage. The Azumas are hell for bikes.

 

[DJWrongspeed]

Generally on local trains in the UK bikes are fine and it's free. In Belgium & Germay you have to pay and often in France for long distance.
My get out option for Europe was going to be Flixbus as they carry bikes too but all is unconfirmed as you can imagine.

Eurostar are just using the pandemic to not take bikes. There'll need lobbying to reinstate I reckon. It was shit and overpriced even before 2020.
You can take bikes on TGV but I think it's on fairly limited routes.

 

[Bahnhof Strasse]

We've got dedicated bike carriages on the West Highland Line now that can take 20 bikes

ScotRail introduces the UK's first active travel carriages with 20 bike racks

Highland Explorer carriages will initially run on the West Highland Line from Glasgow to Oban with space for 20 bikes and 24 people

www.cyclist.co.uk

I believe the plan is to extend this service on other Highland lines soon.

We used to have guards vans, fit shitloads of bikes in there and have a nice smoke with the guard…

 

[Bahnhof Strasse]

Generally on local trains in the UK bikes are fine and it's free. In Belgium & Germay you have to pay and often in France for long distance.
My get out option for Europe was going to be Flixbus as they carry bikes too but all is unconfirmed as you can imagine.

Eurostar are just using the pandemic to not take bikes. There'll need lobbying to reinstate I reckon. It was shit and overpriced even before 2020.
You can take bikes on TGV but I think it's on fairly limited routes.

It is insane that the easiest ways by far to transport bikes around Europe is either car or plane.

 

[Leafster]

We used to have guards vans, fit shitloads of bikes in there and have a nice smoke with the guard…

I was thinking about guards vans after you posted the bike storage pic. When did they disappear? We used to have slam-door trains on the line up from East Grinstead and I think that was the last time I saw one.

They'd be useful for other things, not just bikes. In the before times when I actually used the train I'd often get on one heading to or from Gatwick and and the amount of passengers * with huge amounts of luggage make it almost impossible to move up and down the train (or get on or off).

* I've been one of those passengers and it's a pain to have to keep moving your luggage for other passengers too.

 

[Leafster]

I was also looking at Southern Rail's Map for its policy on bikes.



I have to say, I'm slightly confused.

 

[Dogsauce]

I was thinking about guards vans after you posted the bike storage pic. When did they disappear? We used to have slam-door trains on the line up from East Grinstead and I think that was the last time I saw one.

They'd be useful for other things, not just bikes. In the before times when I actually used the train I'd often get on one heading to or from Gatwick and and the amount of passengers * with huge amounts of luggage make it almost impossible to move up and down the train (or get on or off).

* I've been one of those passengers and it's a pain to have to keep moving your luggage for other passengers too.

They have them on the older east coast trains, some of which are still running but probably for not much longer. They have a series of Sheffield stands inside and it’s inaccessible from the rest of the train so fairly secure with tons of space. You’re not supposed to lock your bike as it can delay getting off the train but I usually did and it wasn’t a problem as I was always travelling between terminal stations.

I used to hate in when it turned out that they were running the old diesel HSTs on the service I’d booked instead, which have those high up hooks to hang your bike on, always a pain as my bike weighed a fraction under 25kg.

 

[Dogsauce]

A picture of the interior of the east coast DVT. There’s bike racks on both sides.

Driving Van Trailer - Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org

 

[klang]

Dad bike

 

[klang]

8 speed nexus and disc brakes.
Post bike on steroids.