Archive for October, 2008

1000 euro Cycling incentive explained !

Posted: October 22, 2008 in cycling, ireland, irish cycling, tax breaks
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There has been a bit of confusion about how the new scheme will work . Todays’ Irish times explains it well -

 

How to claim and what it covers

How much is this new incentive going to cost the taxpayer?

The Department of Finance estimates it will only cost from €200,000-€400,000 annually depending on the take-up of the scheme.

And what’s the point?

The cycling initiative is the carrot the Government is using to get motorists out of their cars with plenty of stick to come. The Government wants 10 per cent of all journeys by 2020 to be undertaken by bicycle and to persuade 150,000 commuters to use the bicycle for short journeys. Currently just 4 per cent of Dublin commuters travel by bicycle to work, one of the lowest figures in Europe. The Minister for the Environment John Gormley has announced a €5 million initiative in his carbon budget to upgrade cycle paths in Dublin. Details of the scheme will be in the Finance Bill.

Who can apply for the tax exemption?

The scheme must be operated by an employer. The bicycle can be funded by either the employer or through salary sacrifice of the employee, but it must be purchased by the employer. If employers pay for the bicycle, they can claim it as a tax exempt benefit-in-kind. Where funded by salary sacrifice there will be savings on tax, PRSI and levies. The scheme means an effective saving of at least 41 per cent on the cost of a new bicycle for a top rate taxpayer.

How does it work?

The employee would choose a bicycle and any associated safety equipment (up to a maximum value of €1,000) and the employer would purchase same on behalf of the employee.

How will it be enforced?

It is not envisaged that there will be a notification process involved, but the purchase of bicycles and associated safety equipment by employers for employees will be subject to the normal Revenue audit procedure with the normal obligations on employers to maintain records.

What equipment is covered?

The list of equipment covered under the scheme is exhaustive. It includes cycle helmets, bells, horns, lights, mirrors, mud guards, reflective clothing panniers, luggage carriers and straps. Also covered are locks and chains, pumps, puncture repair kits and cycle toolkits.

When does the exemption begin?

The scheme is scheduled to come into operation with effect from January 1st, 2009, subject to the passing of the Finance Bill by the houses of the Oireachtas.

How many employees in a firm can be covered by it?

There is no limit on the amount of employees in a company that can avail of the scheme provided that the employer agrees to participate in the scheme. However, the tax exempt benefit in kind can only be provided to an employee once every five years.

© 2008 The Irish Times

This article by RONAN McGREEVY

How to beat the recession !

Posted: October 20, 2008 in cycling, david mcwilliams, george lee, ireland, recession, recession free zone, worldwidecycles
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They’re at it again this morning on the radio , recession , recession , recession , we’re all doomed . I know that Halloween is next week but they really are getting carried away with all of the ghost stories . There’ll be no medical care for the elderly , no teachers in the schools , no money left in our wages after we all pay taxes and levies , etc. , etc. , etc .

Well I’ve officially decided to opt out of this recession and your more than welcome to join me if you like !

There will be a few do’s and dont’s , but not too many .

Firstly , if you don’t already have a bike , buy a bike ! From January first there will be the opportunity for a huge saving on bikes and safety equipment ( helmets , reflective clothing , lights etc. ) purchased up to a total value of value of 1000 euro . The scheme is for people who intend to commute to work by bike and will have to be paid by the employer . There will be a saving of 415 euro for those on the high rate of tax and the employer will save on prsi contributions . Many employers should also offer to deduct the remainder from the employees wages weekly which would mean that you can have great bike and all of your safety equipment for just over a tenner per week .

Secondly , get some fresh air . It doesn’t matter if it’s raining , put on a jacket and get out for some fresh air . Cycling is of course the best way , but even going for a walk will help clear your head and make you feel a little lighter . And guess what George Lee – it’s free !

Thirdly , do not talk to Joe ( even if your name is Tosh ) , listen to Gerry , watch George , David or Eddie . They have all been temporarily put on the banned list of ‘ daily doses of depression ‘ and have joined the fully banned Eastenders , Coronation Street , Fair shitty ( oops I mean city ) , The Clinic and any other form of European version trailer trash real life escapism . These are all the equivalent of having your brakes rubbing for a full 160k cycle . Release your brakes and feel how much easier it becomes .

Fourthly , be realistic .  What is happening at present is just a natural correction which happens every now and then . The banks have gone back to just lending three and a half times salary for houses and only then at 80 or max 90 % loan to value ratios . This is as it should be and needed to be corrected . Allowing people to get 100 % mortgages at 10 times a multiple of there salary was always going to end in tears and it didn’t take a David McWilliams to see that . House prices will be at their realistic value and that is a good for everyone .

One day last year a customer was in dropping a bike off for repair . This particular guy has never worked a day and lives at age 26 with his parents and older brothers in a Local Authority house . He always pays a fiver per week on repairs and often prices the job in cans ie. a new tyre and tube would cost ten cans of Scrumpy Jack . We were chatting and he was telling me about the new houses going up near him which were ‘some bargain’ at 229,000 euro .

I immediately thought of JFK’s father Joe Kennedy . In 1929 a month before the Wall Street Crash he was getting his shoes shined . The shoe shine boy was very talkative in the hope of getting a good tip and began telling Joe about a certain stock which was going to go through the roof in its value . Joe thanked the boy for his advice and gave him a reasonable tip . He then walked down the street to his Stockbrokers office and told him to sell every single share on his portfolio . A month later the Wall Street crash occured and millions of people lost their life savings and more . Joe waited it out and almost a year later he began buying back into the market . He bought many of the same companies that he had already owned but for a fraction of what they had been worth . Many of these were solid companies and were very soon back on the way to profitability and their share prices soared with them and Joe Kennedy went from being a wealthy man to a super rich one .

Many millionaires were created in the aftermath of ‘The great depression’ and many more will be created over the next few years so if making money is one of your goals you should be excited , not depressed .

Finally , save AND spend . Money was made round to go around . At times like these many people will sit down and take a look at their finances. This is a great thing and most people will be happily surprised when they see that their situation isn’t half as bad as they had predicted . It is very important to save a percentage of what you have left over after general living expenses but there should also be a little ‘treat ‘ money in the budget . Fear is what creates a recession because people stop spending and shops stop carrying as much stock . Here is a practical example ;

If for instance we decided that due to the recession we were going to carry less stock of Winter Jackets . Then when a customer comes in we may not have one to suit and they go elsewhere or just make do with what they have . They would have bought one but we didn’t have one for them . Then at the end of the year we sit down with our accountant and he says ‘lads , ye’re turnover is down ‘ and we all blame the recession , when in actual fact the problem would have been a lack of stock . Then we don’t go over to Fitzgerald’s and buy a new pair of jeans which in turn may mean that the guy in Fitzgerald’s doesn’t go up to change his car etc.

So rest assured , our stock level is better than ever and you are more than welcome to join us in our very own Recession free zone !

Barry

www.worldwidecycles.com

London Cycle show 2008 !

Posted: October 13, 2008 in cycle 2008 show, pinarello, viner, worldwidecycles
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Once again we were on the road at 5.00 am last Thursday morning . The new motorway to Cork is speeding the journey up every time I’m on that road . Very soon Fitzy will not be the only person capable of making it to Cork airport in under an hour . Fog in Heathrow meant that we were sitting on the Cork tarmac for 40 mins but at least it wasn’t the 90 mins that the pilot had anticipated .

Within twenty minutes of touching down in Heathrow we were on the Piccadilly line heading directly towards Earls court . I am always fascinated whenever I travel by tube , metro , subway or whatever form of metropolitan mass transport it may be . Looking around there will always be dust covered construction workers reading a tabloid newspaper , tailored suited executives tapping blackberries , shuffling and refolding their F.T. or Wall street journal , students nodding slowly to the beat of their Ipod nano and at least twenty people of all ages texting or playing games on their mobiles . I often think of how great a leveller that is , just like a group of cyclists training together . At that moment it does not matter how much or how little you have , everybody is the same . In a parenting article recently the author said that they always told their kids that they were no better than anybody else but just as good as everyone . Life is much easier if you don’t look up or down , just beside you . Then you might just spark up a conversation and learn something that you might never have known otherwise .

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We arrived at the Earls court tube station and exited just across the road from the venue . As we walked in to the exhibition our immediate impression was that we would need at least two days to see everything .

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Our first port of call was the Viner stand . For some time now we have been looking for something extra special for the shop . We had read Marcel Wust’s review stating that the Viner Maxima was the best bike that he had ever tested , and I had come across a further bit of insider info about some of the Worlds top riders this year who were riding Viner custom framesets which were re-branded in their bike sponsors colours and decals . Viner offer a full custom build on all of their top end framesets at no extra charge . The guy who does all of the bike fitting for the Italian National team was there and set Ray and I up using a special bikefitting machine which measures absolutely everything including left leg , right leg power output . There is a handheld remote control which allows the settings to be altered as you are pedalling and Australian designer was also there . There is also a more basic version of this just for bike position which we should have in the shop within the next few weeks . We moved on from that stand well impressed and looking forward to having what is probably the ultimate in bike technology available in our shop before next season .

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Next stop was Madison’s stand where both new Dura ace groupsets were on display . Whenever a new version of a tried and trusted product is launched there is always a breaking in period . The new mechanical Dura Ace , I think , looks fantastic although some people still prefer the look of the old chainset . The electronic version still looks a bit chunky and it will probably go through a few more transformations before it becomes ‘normal’ looking . The weight is down on the mechanical groupset and shifting efficiency is supposed to be up twenty percent . I just think the concealed sti cables look the business .

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Continental sell tyres but many people left the stand not quiet sure what product they were after viewing . They were running a competition for a week long downhill mountainbiking trip to Bavaria but once again many were entering this competition without knowing what it was for . This may have been a contributory factor :

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Yellow ltd. had a good range of Pinarello’s on display . The Valverde spanish Prince looks great and there will be just a limited supply of 25 available to UK and Irish customers , so get your orders in quick .

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The stealth black really looked fantastic , or as Barry Hoban said ‘ that little black number wouldn’t look out of place in the bedroom ‘. The one thing I wasn’t convinced by were the garish Most lightweight stickers plastered over the wheels . The bike would have really looked fantastic with much more subtle labelling .

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Mavic had all of the 2009 wheelsets on display . The 800 euro approx. Carbone cosmic set look to be the wheels to be had for next year . Lighter than this years model and 300 euro cheaper . The black R-Sys look much better than the silver ones and should be more popular .

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Paul Mannings track machine was also on display , fresh from Beijing . Check out the Rolls saddle , the choice of the eighties . Track riders can experience up to 2g in the bends so an extra comfortable saddle can be very necessary and weight is not such a big issue .

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BMC had their full range on display on the Extra stand . Having ridden the demo model we have in the shop I have been very impressed with the Racemaster and the range of colours available for next year should add to their appeal .

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Cube had a really well designed stand and their bikes were very impressive . The finish was really well thought out throughout the range with everything subtly colour coordinated . The spec of the machines was very high and priced well .

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By 4.30 pm we had pretty much seen all that we had to see and made our way back to the tube and on to the airport . Arriving home at 9.30 pm was a lot better than our usual trade show return time of midnight and even allowed time for some reflection on what we had seen . Viner was the big one of the day for us as this really is something special . We have even ordered two for ourselves for next season already .

Barry

www.worldwidecycles.com

Nicholas Roche interview !

Posted: October 6, 2008 in cycling, ireland, irish cycling, worldwidecycles
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Good interview with Nicholas Roche here today :
http://www.pezcyclingnews.com/?pg=fullstory&id=6361

The Meter man and the marigold gloves !

Posted: October 6, 2008 in cycling, worldwidecycles
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No two days are ever the same when you stand behind the counter of a bike shop . Some day’s are filled with tales of the previous weekends epic feats whilst customers admire the latest offering from BMC , Pinarello or Kuota , other days are more general with kids picking out their Santa bikes and pensioners getting punctures repaired . Last Thursday was no exception to the rule .

It began at 9.30 am just like any other morning . The first customer into the shop was in search of a box of powerbar energy gels . These are a huge seller at present with many runners coming in to get stocked up for the marathon .

Next up was the sales rep. from Centro . Declan is nice and laid back and none too pushy , unlike some who seem to have special duracell sell sell batteries inserted somewhere on their person , and are always trying to get you to buy everything they have before it’s all gone by 4 pm this evening . Declan’s type of pitch works much better with us .

Then the door chime went again and a pensioner with a sprightly step in her feet made her way up to the counter . We exchanged pleasantries about the weather etc. and she handed me the top of a cigarette packet with 26 x 1 3/8 written thereon and said that she was told to get two of them . Then came the usual Columbo part ;

ME : ‘ Is it tubes or tyres that you need ? ‘

CUSTOMER : ‘ Oh sure I dunno , he just told me to get two of ‘em ! ‘

M : ‘Tis probably just tubes so , because you could get the tubes without needing new tyres but on a 26 x 1 3/8 bike which is probably a few ( at least 30 ) years old you would more than likely need new tubes as well if you were fitting new tyres . Sure if they aren’t what he wants you can drop them back in and we’ll take them back of off you ‘

C :  ‘ That’s grand so , we’ll do that ‘

Now this is where the transaction went off on a tangent partly caused by my efforts to be help full . The following part of the story has all of the names changed for reasons which will become obvious .

C : ‘ Tell me this now , do you know many of the meter men around the town ? ‘

M : ‘ Aahh I can’t say that I do , off the top of my head ‘

C : ‘ Do you reckon they’d talk ? ‘

M : ‘ Talk , in what kind of way ? ‘

C : ‘ Well you know like , If you told them something , do you reckon they’d go around telling everyone they meet ? ‘

M : ‘ Ahm , I wouldn’t say they would . No I’d say that they’d be fairly discreet ‘

C : ‘ You see , what happened was that Bridie Moloughney came running into my place yesterday morning with her arms flapping telling me that Nancy Slattery was after dieing .  Now sure I was in shock , I knew she wasn’t well but I didn’t think she was that bad . Bridie was all in a fluster and took of out again before I could get the details off of her .  And didn’t the lad that reads the meter come in about five minutes after and sure I was telling him about poor Nancy and he was thanking me for telling him and that he was going to check their meter aswell but that now he’d leave it ’till the next time . ‘

M : ‘ Oh right ‘

C : ‘But that’s not the best of it at all . I called into Peggy Dunleavy after that to know if she knew any more about poor Nancy and she gave me the shock of my life when she told me that as far as she knew Nancy was fine . We gave a ring just to be sure and didn’t Nancy herself answer the phone . We didn’t know what to say so Peggy just asked her if she knew what time the parish council meeting was on , on Friday night . And that was that .

‘You see what was after happening was that Mary O’Mahoney was passing my place the evening before and she spotted Nancy’s husband Gussie’s car outside with the engine running and the door open . He’d only popped in for a second to give the chainsaw back to Tommy but Mary went into overdrive and thought that something was after happening to Nancy . So she rang Joan Murphy who is always a bit too quick off the mark and by the time Joan met Bridie this morning she had herself convinced Nancy was dead and she told Bridie who came running in to me .’

M : ‘ ’tis amazing the way people get their wires crossed ‘

C : ’tis , but what I’m worried about is that the meter man will be after going around telling everybody and then when he finds out the truth will he think I was trying to pull a fast one in not getting him to read Nancy’s meter so she wouldn’t get a big bill .’

M : ‘Ah sure I’d say that you’ll be safe enough . I wouldn’t think that they’d be ones for running with stories and sure anyone can make a mistake ‘

C : ‘ Oh , I hope you’re right . I didn’t sleep a wink last night I was so worried about it . But wait until I ask you seeing that I’m here , do you sell Marigold gloves by any chance ?

M : ‘ We don’t , unfortunately ‘

C : ‘No bother , I just thought that you might have been able to save me a trip over the town , bye now !’

M : ‘Bye , thanks very much ‘

I think that there is much to be learned from that ladies’ experience ,

1 – Be careful what you tell the meter man , and

2 – Bike shops don’t sell marigold gloves .

 

Barry

www.worldwidecycles.com