My son is now happily cycling and I want to cycle with him but it's been a while! I can do the cycle to work scheme, and it looks great but there are a couple of things I'm not clear on.
My scheme involves buying a voucher/certificate and that's the basis of my agreement and salary reductions. Can I "top up" if the voucher doesn't quite cover it, and on the other side, is the agreement updated if I don't use the full cost of the voucher/certificate?
And then what to buy. I have no independent bike shops near me any more, the last one turned into a Giant shop. There is one, very expensive, independent that seems to just do serious road bikes, which I don't want anyway. I've seen a couple of last year's bikes online that look good and are discounted, and that I can use with the cycle to work scheme, but would it be utter madness to buy a bike without trying it?
One is a 2025 Specialized Sirrus step through and the other is a 2023 Trek FX step over. I'm 5'4 and a half with a longer body and shorter legs and both are available in a size Small. Any thoughts on either of these models? I'm on the verge of just going for it after going round in circles, so any advice would be brilliant. Realistically I'll ride mostly on roads and paths, with some light off roading. Thanks.