On my job there is currently an offer to step into bike leasing with KBC (MoveSmart). It sounds promising, though there might be some catches.

For what I understand it’s not the same leasing as with cars. For example: there is no repair if the bike has been in an accident, there is yearly maintenance though.

I also found [a complain on test aankoop](https://www.test-aankoop.be/klagen/publieke-klachten/publieke-klacht?referenceid=CPTBE01431064-23), it seems that it isn’t interesting when breaking the contract (in case you change your work)

Has anyone good/bad experience with this kind of service?

2 comments

  1. I have used it for the past year to lease a gravel bike and it works very well. Never had to take it in for reairs or anything, so I cannot comment on that.
    But yes, do take into account that you will have to pay a hefty fee if you want to change employers. I do not recommend it if you are not sure you will still be with your company for the duration of the contract.

    I am actually changing employers right now, after about one year of leasing. KBC’s proposal:
    * A fee of about 2000 EUR to take over the bike.
    * A fee of 1100 EUR (!) to return the bike, and possibly extra fees in case of damage.

    Taking the monthly fee into account, it would have probably been cheaper to buy the bike new outright in the first place.

  2. I’ve only leased cars, so maybe this is “normal” for bikes.. but those numbers in the complaint you link…. I did the math and this is highway robbery!

    And I don’t mean just if you have to break the lease, even if everything goes well and you complete the lease and buy the bike for the residual , you will still have paid about ~7200 euro for a ~4300 euro bike?? In a mere 3 years? That’s like a ~22% APR, if my back of envelope math is right. Yikes!

    And let’s be real: it’s a bike… not much is going to go wrong, most likely. It’s not like a car where maybe year 2 the transmission blows up and you’re super happy you’re leasing because now it’s THEIR problem. So “risk” protection because of leasing is at best, minimal.

    So what am I missing? This seems like a terrible idea, even if things go WELL?

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