Here in the Guardian Money pages we bang on and on about the relatively simple ways to save money. Get the right mortgage – that’s vital. Change your home insurance provider every year. Switch gas and electricity providers (as we write this week, we rather like Flow Energy’s deal). But my personal favourite – the saving that keeps giving, year after year? Get on your bike.

My own cycle to work is around seven miles each way (including a detour to avoid Elephant and Castle which adds half a mile to the journey but probably years to my life expectancy).

The immediate saving is £5.80 for a return train ticket on the same journey. If I were buying a season ticket, it would be £1,256 a year. Then there’s the coffee – £2 a day, so possibly another £400 or so a year. Add in a newspaper (I’ll pretend we don’t all pick up Metro) and we’re talking another £300, taking the total to around £2,000 a year, or £3,333 from the gross earnings of a higher-rate taxpayer. Apart from giving up smoking, there is no other change to one’s daily working pattern that can produce such large savings.

Next Thursday 4 September is National Cycle to Work Day. Already 760,000 people in the UK do so most days and campaigners are hoping at least an extra 20,000 will join them on Thursday, as they seek to raise the number of regular cycle-commuters to 1 million by the end of the decade.

On Thursday we won’t just be hearing about how much money you save, or the multiple health benefits, but also that cyclists perform better at work and are more frequently promoted. We cyclists can be so fabulously self-righteous maybe we should be calling it National Holier Than Thou Day.

The critics will point out that those £2,000 a year savings don’t come for free. You have to buy a bike, a helmet, the clothing, the lock, the lights, the insurance, and an annual service.

Once-humble bike shops have morphed into boutiques where prices match the ambition, if not the pace, of middle aged men with too much fat in their wallets. Great to see that in the Condor Cycles sale its Leggero road bike is down by £884 – to just £7,999 (it is a rather lovely shop, mind).

So we asked CycleScheme.co.uk, which has helped 425,000 people buy bikes tax-free through employer-run salary sacrifice schemes, to name the bicycles it reckons make most sense for commuters starting out. Its favourite budget option is the B’Twin Triban 300, £279 at Decathlon stores.

“This is a great starter road bike. It’s strong, durable and has everything you need to start commuting, including a frame which is rear-panier-rack-ready so you can easily attach luggage. Plus it comes with a lifetime B’Twin warranty,” say its researchers. The drop handle bars may not appeal to some, though.

If you can afford a few hundred quid more, then you should be taking a look at Tokyo Bikes. The company was founded in the Yanaka suburb of Tokyo in 2002, and makes lightweight and colourful bikes for city commuters who prefer comfort to speed. “The CS model at £580 offers flexibility with an eight-speed Shimano Acera, while keeping things streamlined, simple and light (just 10.8kg),” say CycleScheme researchers. Unfortunately, that price doesn’t include the mudguards, a rather essential extra for commuting.

The most important money tip is to buy through a tax-free Cycle To Work provider and save up to 42%.

Of course, you don’t have to buy new as Gumtree is flooded with nice-looking used bikes. It’s my firm belief, though, that almost every one of them is nicked (including my old one).



Bikes: bang for your buck



The B’Twin Triban – a great starter road bike. Photograph: pr

Best all-rounder under £500 Scott Sportster 50 – £449 The Scott Sportster 50 is a great all-round commuting bike and a real bargain. Sturdy, comfortable and ideally suited to almost any type of commute, yet surprisingly easy on the wallet.

Best all-rounder over £500 Giant Defy 0 2015 – £999 A massive amount of bang for your buck here. Super hi-tech components – including FluidForm ALUXX SL aluminium tubes – the Defy 0 is a flash, but at the same time a very dependable commuting bike. It’ll certainly turn heads as you whizz past your fellow commuters in the morning.

Best for urban commutes tokyobike CS – £580 Tokoybike makes its bikes with urban commuting squarely in mind. Stylish and sleek, their simplicity means their prices can be trim too. The CS model offers flexibility with an eight-speed Shimano Acera, while keeping things streamlined, simple and light (just 10.8kg). The perfect easy bike to hop on and off as you cycle around the city.

Best for rural commutes Trek X-Caliber 8E – £800 The X-Caliber provides a fast, comfortable ride no matter the terrain. It features an Alpha Gold Aluminium frame that provides a fast, refined ride with G2 Geometry for better handling too – and at a great price. What’s more, savvy buyers will be pleased by its limited lifetime warranty from Trek, so it’ll be your rural commuting friend for many years to come.

Best for split journeys Brompton M3L – £905 The British classic is perfect for a mixed-mode commute. Robust enough to cope with busy city streets, yet lightweight and compact enough to be carried on the train, tube and bus. Its British design is notoriously robust and strong, so even if it seems expensive at first – it’ll last you in the long run. The Brompton S1L sits comfortably within the Cycle to Work scheme £1,000 limit, with room for accessories and a helmet too.

Best budget option B’Twin Triban 300 – £279.99 This is a great starter road bike. It’s strong, durable and has everything you need to start cycle commuting, including a frame which is rear-panier-rack-ready so you can easily attach luggage. Plus it comes with a lifetime B’Twin warranty.

Finally, the most important money saving tip is that you can save up to 42% on all bikes and accessories if you go through a tax-free Cycle To Work provider such as Cyclescheme.