LBs vs Halfords - My Experence

Andy said:

thorght

Do you hail from the West Country ny any chance? ;-)

Seriously, I wouldn't rely on Halfords stock for much other than tubes and
lubes. With regard to service levels, YMMV between one LBS and the next, and
between Halfords branches.

Agreed....they get a bad press but I have just bought a road bike from
them, tried the LBS, one was full of [censored] with over inflated egos, the
other would only order a bike in if I put my money over the counter, no
chance of a test ride so wanted me to but from a sheet of paper and
glossy pic!! as he had nothing on display.

Halfords ....found them helpfull and am happy with the bike!

Cheers

Matt South Coast UK

--

Andy said:

Just thorght I'd post my experience of different service levels I
recieved today, trying to fix a problem with my Wife's bike. I know
Halfords gets a bad view here compared to LBS's in general, so thorght
it might interest people.

The Problem:

Tightening the seap post bolt last weekend and the thread in the frame
broke. The bike is a Guess RB1 it has an oval'ish shape seat frame so
a normal quick release bracket does not fit it, it simply has a hole
where a bolt fit through and tightened up.

Possible Solutions (that I thorght of at least)

1) Re-thread hole using a tap
2) get some sort of bolt and nut which will work without damaging the
frame (not easy as its oval shape, i assume this is why they didnt use
a nut in the first place.

LBS Experience - The Cycle Shop, Newbury

Brought the frame in, showed the problem to the guy. He then offered a
Mountain Bike quick release lever (this is a road bike) I explained
that it wouldnt work and demonstrated why, asked if they could but a
new thread in, or anything else they would suggest, guy wasnt
interested said no and that was that. Simply didnt care.

Halfords Experience - Halfords Newbury

Guy Took a detailed look at thread, confirmed if was completly gone.
Then explained that he could re-tap the thread except he suggested
that to do a proper job of it the hole would need to be drilled out to
a slightly bigger size before the tap could be applied. Also told me
the risk of weakining the material. Suggested a local engineering
company who could do this type of work.

We then discussed a bolt and nut type affair. He spent arouns 20
minutes looking in his "bag of bits" and produced a nut and bolt which
fit preety well, then when fitting realised it may scratch the frame a
little so fetched a couple of washers to ensure this didnt happen. End
result it fits really well he didnt want any money for it, simply said
"remember that were here", which I of course will.

End result, the bike is fixed and I will no longer buy anything from
the LBS, any bits and pieces will be brought from Halfords that I dont
want to buy off the internet (wiggle etc). I would of thorght in this
day and age of Internet purchasing LBS's would be willing to do
anything to gain business, I guess not.

Halfords staff are very variable. The main problem with Halfords is
that a lot of the stuff they sell is [censored]. The advantage is they don't
sneer at you like a lot of LBS staff.

Andy said:

LBS Experience - The Cycle Shop, Newbury

Quoted message said:

Halfords Experience - Halfords Newbury

Andy,

I'm from Newbury too - and I can confirm that although the range is limited
at Halfords (but not as much as at TCS) they have some good guys serving
there that care, and will make an effort to help you get what you want if
they have it, and to point you to an alternative if they haven't. TCS may as
well sell catalogue bikes, and have little (even less than the previous
owners) clue.

Best bike shop (reasonably) locally is Pedal On in Tadley, IMHO.

Cheers,
Chris

--
_____________________________________________________

Chris Walters
Hungerford, UK
_____________________________________________________

Zog The Undeniable said:

Halfords staff are very variable. The main problem with Halfords is
that a lot of the stuff they sell is [censored]. The advantage is they
don't sneer at you like a lot of LBS staff.

Yes, but I'm still embarassed at having popped into Halfords, asked on
the offchance if they had a 27 inch wheel, and him going and having a
long look for one, and me insisting it was steel. I bought it anyway,
partly out of embarassment and partly because the other one need(ed|s)
replacing anyway, but when I got it home, I saw 'alloy' written quite
clearly on the rim. But it was shinier than a modern alloy
wheel. Don't know how old it is, but it was only 15 quid, anyway.

My LBS is good, too, though.

Ambrose

Lbs in Richmond north Yorkshire were asked for info to help me decide who to
spend my £2000 with. Fortnight later and no response. That's one LBS off the
list.

Regards, Bob

"Mattboy" <[email hidden]> wrote in message
news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

Agreed....they get a bad press but I have just bought a road bike from
them, tried the LBS, one was full of [censored] with over inflated egos, the
other would only order a bike in if I put my money over the counter, no
chance of a test ride so wanted me to but from a sheet of paper and
glossy pic!! as he had nothing on display.

Halfords ....found them helpfull and am happy with the bike!

Cheers

Matt South Coast UK

--

I should add that, to prove I'm not biased against Halfords, I'll
probably be buying a Carrera Subway 2 for my wife. I was going to buy
the Subway 8 with hub gearing (simpler to use) but I'm concerned about
its complexity and the near-impossibility of finding anywhere to fix it
if it breaks. Apparently they're not as indestructible as SA 3-speeds.

Halfords were also the only place in Swindon which had a suitable
cantilever brake hanger - and people in the local CTC have commented on
how nice it is - for my touring bike!

"Andy" <[email hidden]> wrote in message
news:[email hidden]...
: Just thorght I'd post my experience of different service levels I
: recieved today, trying to fix a problem with my Wife's bike. I know
: Halfords gets a bad view here compared to LBS's in general, so thorght
: it might interest people.
:
:snip

I've generally been quite happy with Halfords, much as I dislike large corps
in general. LBSs have, IME, been pretty [censored], but I only tend to use them
once if the service is no good the first time. The one near Ilford, Romford
Road, generally good unless the workers get cycle bores in the shop - if so,
be prepared for a wait.

Rob

Zog The Undeniable said:

I should add that, to prove I'm not biased against Halfords, I'll
probably be buying a Carrera Subway 2 for my wife. I was going to buy
the Subway 8 with hub gearing (simpler to use) but I'm concerned about
its complexity and the near-impossibility of finding anywhere to fix it
if it breaks. Apparently they're not as indestructible as SA 3-speeds.

Haven't bust mine yet! But then again, I've only covered 25 miles🙁

I saw another Subway 8 on the road today. First time I've ever seen
someone riding 'my' bike. (Pre-empting the inevitable follow up; *my*
bike is in front of me as I type).

[email hidden] wrote:

[snip]

IME, it all depends on the *staff*.

You get good staff anywhere and you get bad staff anywhere.

--
Callas

Quoted message said:

End result, the bike is fixed and I will no longer buy anything from
the LBS, any bits and pieces will be brought from Halfords that I dont
want to buy off the internet (wiggle etc). I would of thorght in this
day and age of Internet purchasing LBS's would be willing to do
anything to gain business, I guess not.

I've worked in retail myself although not connected to cycling and
worked with national companies and local private owned companies and
would say the level of training generally with local independant
stores tends to be higher than national chains which is strange. If
anything you'd expect the major chains to be better in this respect.
One thing I would say though is with the national chains if someone
brings back something as faulty they will normally get a refund fairly
easily but local independant shops seem to put up more of a fight
presumably as they feel there giving away their own money with a
refund.

On a logical basis you would expect Halfords people to be better at
servicing/repairing bikes for the simple reason they sell low cost,
less reliable bikes and so would get more practice at it.

Not Responding said:

Zog The Undeniable said:

I should add that, to prove I'm not biased against Halfords, I'll
probably be buying a Carrera Subway 2 for my wife. I was going to buy
the Subway 8 with hub gearing (simpler to use) but I'm concerned about
its complexity and the near-impossibility of finding anywhere to fix it
if it breaks. Apparently they're not as indestructible as SA 3-speeds.

Haven't bust mine yet! But then again, I've only covered 25 miles🙁

The Nexus 8 is supposed to be much improved over the Nexus 7, which had
quite a poor reputation, but if the hub fails it is probably a case of
swapping it out (new wheelbuild).

I was a bit put off by this thread:

http://www.cyclingplus.co.uk/forum/topic.asp?TOPIC_ID=27847

Zog The Undeniable said:

Not Responding said:

Zog The Undeniable said:

I should add that, to prove I'm not biased against Halfords, I'll
probably be buying a Carrera Subway 2 for my wife. I was going to buy
the Subway 8 with hub gearing (simpler to use) but I'm concerned about
its complexity and the near-impossibility of finding anywhere to fix it
if it breaks. Apparently they're not as indestructible as SA 3-speeds.

Haven't bust mine yet! But then again, I've only covered 25 miles🙁

The Nexus 8 is supposed to be much improved over the Nexus 7, which had
quite a poor reputation, but if the hub fails it is probably a case of
swapping it out (new wheelbuild).

I was a bit put off by this thread:

http://www.cyclingplus.co.uk/forum/topic.asp?TOPIC_ID=27847

I'd come across that thread but didn't let it put me off what is, in
truth, a bit of experimentation. Besides, I thought that the Dutchman
seemed to be grinding an axe rather than genuinely highlighting
shortcomings.

So far, I really like it. But then, as I said, I have barely covered
any miles.

(Andy) said:

Just thorght I'd post my experience of different service levels I
recieved today, trying to fix a problem with my Wife's bike. I know
Halfords gets a bad view here compared to LBS's in general, so thorght
it might interest people.

The Problem:

Tightening the seap post bolt last weekend and the thread in the frame
broke. The bike is a Guess RB1 it has an oval'ish shape seat frame so
a normal quick release bracket does not fit it, it simply has a hole
where a bolt fit through and tightened up.

Possible Solutions (that I thorght of at least)

1) Re-thread hole using a tap
2) get some sort of bolt and nut which will work without damaging the
frame (not easy as its oval shape, i assume this is why they didnt use
a nut in the first place.

LBS Experience - The Cycle Shop, Newbury

Brought the frame in, showed the problem to the guy. He then offered a
Mountain Bike quick release lever (this is a road bike) I explained
that it wouldnt work and demonstrated why, asked if they could but a
new thread in, or anything else they would suggest, guy wasnt
interested said no and that was that. Simply didnt care.

Halfords Experience - Halfords Newbury

Guy Took a detailed look at thread, confirmed if was completly gone.
Then explained that he could re-tap the thread except he suggested
that to do a proper job of it the hole would need to be drilled out to
a slightly bigger size before the tap could be applied. Also told me
the risk of weakining the material. Suggested a local engineering
company who could do this type of work.

We then discussed a bolt and nut type affair. He spent arouns 20
minutes looking in his "bag of bits" and produced a nut and bolt which
fit preety well, then when fitting realised it may scratch the frame a
little so fetched a couple of washers to ensure this didnt happen. End
result it fits really well he didnt want any money for it, simply said
"remember that were here", which I of course will.

End result, the bike is fixed and I will no longer buy anything from
the LBS, any bits and pieces will be brought from Halfords that I dont
want to buy off the internet (wiggle etc). I would of thorght in this
day and age of Internet purchasing LBS's would be willing to do
anything to gain business, I guess not.

LBS are completely hit or miss in my experience. I have three within
a 10 mile radius. One lies in utter chaos and hasn't been opened in
months if not years due to owner's mental health taking a nasty turn
for the worse, another one has a customer service attitude that is
often so appalling [you should feel priviledged for being in here] and
the third has been a small family shop for years, it's perfectly fine
apart from the fact that they've never got anything I need :-(

Conversely, I dropped into a LBS in Oxford [about 35 miles away] at
the weekend, and it was excellent. Cordial service and plenty of
stock. Ended up buying some SPD pedals and shoes. Mind you, it was
Oxford :-)

Sadly, the internet is just such a tempting source for the purchase of
bike bits. Guilty.

Garry

On 9 Jul 2004 08:34:26 -0700, [email hidden] (Andy) wrote
in message <[email hidden]>:

Quoted message said:

Just thorght I'd post my experience of different service levels I
recieved today,

And here's mine from Reading: Went into Halfords to buy something,
waited 20 minutes for sales staff, none appeared, left. Went to LBS:
Served immediately.

YHMV.

Guy
--
May contain traces of irony. Contents liable to settle after posting.
http://www.chapmancentral.co.uk

88% of helmet statistics are made up, 65% of them at Washington University

"And here's mine from Reading: Went into Halfords to buy
something, waited 20 minutes for sales staff, none appeared,
left. Went to LBS: Served immediately."

Strange that.....Halfords is after all self service!! maybe thats why
you waited so long!

Cheers

Matt

--

On Sat, 10 Jul 2004 15:30:23 GMT, Mattboy
<[email hidden]> wrote in message
<[email hidden]>:

Quoted message said:

"And here's mine from Reading: Went into Halfords to buy
something, waited 20 minutes for sales staff, none appeared,
left. Went to LBS: Served immediately."

Quoted message said:

Strange that.....Halfords is after all self service!! maybe thats why
you waited so long!

Makes you wonder why they have staff at all, really.

Guy
--
May contain traces of irony. Contents liable to settle after posting.
http://www.chapmancentral.co.uk

88% of helmet statistics are made up, 65% of them at Washington University

My brother works in halfords and i know that there is good and bad
staff. My local halfords has about 3 good guys who know the bikes inside
out and actually have good bikes like kona's and Gt.

The bad staff are more like 16 year old neds that only know wat size of
tube a customer requires.

They do have a good range of bikes but u need to order the more expensie
bikes,the dearest i saw in it was a £900 Gt I-drive.

They are a little overpriced but not by that much and that is what the
internet is for anyway,just take the bike there to get it fixed.

--

On Sat, 10 Jul 2004 16:47:00 GMT, IKON
<[email hidden]> wrote in message
<[email hidden]>:

[re Halfwits]

Quoted message said:

They do have a good range of bikes but u need to order the more expensie
bikes,the dearest i saw in it was a £900 Gt I-drive.
They are a little overpriced but not by that much and that is what the
internet is for anyway,just take the bike there to get it fixed.

And there you have it. If you want to buy a bike off the Web and have
it fixed by Halfords, that's certainly one way of doing things. I
prefer to use a proper bike shop, not least because it has an
incredible number of bikes on display - we can dream, can't we? :-)
Guy
--
May contain traces of irony. Contents liable to settle after posting.
http://www.chapmancentral.co.uk

88% of helmet statistics are made up, 65% of them at Washington University