Yeah, someone sent me this offlist this morning. This is a lot different than IcyclesUSA.com made it sound. Evidently what Congress really passe d was a measure giving favorable tax treatment to businesses that reimburse employees for bicycle commuting expenses, so unless you happen to work for such an enlightened employer, you are SOL. Well there go my dreams of r ecovering at least some of my cost for those beautiful Berthoud panniers.
BTW anyone know of any other panniers besides Carradice and Berthoud that h ave a system for adjusting the position of the hooks that attach the bag to the rack? This certainly does help in getting just the necessary amount of heel clearance without pushing the bag too far back. I have a pair of Trek shopper panniers with the more basic fixed position hooks and an elastic cord that fastens to the bottom of the rack, but I've seen some mention that Trek has a more expensive version of these bags with a diffe rent attachment system. Perhaps this is a copy of the Berthoud/Carradice system. Trek and maybe Cannondale do still make a few pieces of useful touring gear, but I think this is just a residue of their origins as clas sic bike or gear manufacturers.
Regards,
Jerry Moos
Big Spring, Texas, USA
From: Jon Spangler <hudsonspangler@earthlink.net> Subject: [CR]Re: Bicycle Commuter Act (BCA) info To: classicrendezvous@bikelist.org Date: Tuesday, December 9, 2008, 5:22 PM
Jerry and all,
The info you seek is, indeed, on the LAB site:
http://www.bikeleague.org/
There is a link to the above the BCA info on the LAB's home page:
Next Steps for Bicycle Commuter Act (10.07.08)
Now that the bicycle commuter provision is law,
the League is taking the lead to ensure that
implementation guidelines are established
prior to the provision's effective date: January 1, 2009.
Continue to check our web site for new information,
we will be updating it with answers to
Frequently Asked Questions as we get the details.
Click here to see full text of the tax provision,
or here to read Congressman Blumenauer's explanation.
There should be enough info on these links to
keep you and/your CPA happy.
Regards,
Jon Spangler
in Alameda, CA USA
On Dec 9, 2008, at 11:14 AM, classicrendezvous-request@bikelist.org
wrote:
>
> Date: Tue, 9 Dec 2008 09:17:56 -0800 (PST)
> From: Jerome & Elizabeth Moos <jerrymoos@sbcglobal.net>
> To: classicrendezvous@bikelist.org
> Subject: [CR]Cycle Commuting Tax Credit
> Message-ID: <750095.88290.qm@web82204.mail.mud.yahoo.com>
> In-Reply-To: <C4611D0A40704FA383FDEE85E2895C06@Newhouse>
> Content-Type: text/plain; charset=iso-8859-1
> MIME-Version: 1.0
> Precedence: list
> Reply-To: jerrymoos@sbcglobal.net
> Message: 9
>
> Several people have asked me offlist about the cycle commuting tax
> credit I
> mentioned. Here is where I believe I saw it, on the ICycles web
> site:
>
> http://www.icyclesusa.com/
>
> Not much detail here, but it does seem to be a Federal program, not
> a state
> one. Maybe one could get some additional info from Icycles. Or
> maybe
> call the office of your local Congressman. That's the supposed
> justific
> ation for Congressional staff, especially the ones in the home
> district - t
> o provide service to constituents. So if we are going to pay
> Congression
> al staffers, we may as well get some service out of them. I'm
> surprised
> I can find no mention of this on the League of American Bicyclist
> website.
> But perhaps I shouldn't be, I haven't been real impressed with
> the LA
> B for some years, probably since about the time they changed their
> name fro
> m League of American Wheelman in a fit of gratuitous political
> correctness.
>
>
<SNIP>
>
>
> Regards,
>
> Jerry Moos
> Big Spring, Texas, USA