PST removed from $1,000 and under bicycles

If you're thinking about buying a new bicycle (and who isn't) under $1,000, you might want to put that purchase on hold until Dec. 1.
That's when the provincial sales tax on bikes and bike helmets comes off.
The Liberals made it one of their election promises, and delivered on it today at a media event in Toronto.
Premier Dalton McGuinty said the idea is to get parents and children cycling more.
The removal of the PST will save about $80 on a $1,000 bike, with the total cost to the treasury, says the  Liberals, to be about $25 million a year. (About half a million bikes are sold in Ontario each year, and according to the McGuinty math, the under-$1,000 price range would account for about 300,000 bikes annually.)
Announcing the tax break to begin on Dec. 1 doesn't mesh well with the traditional bike-buying season, but it might be an excuse to put a bike under someone's Christmas tree.
Hey, who needs an excuse?