# Brompton moving to Halford



## steveindenmark (17 Oct 2018)

The new CEO at Brompton has decided to let Halfords sell and repair Bromptons Would you trust your Brompton to a Halfords monkey wrench? Not me.


https://www.forbes.com/sites/carlto...-chain-store-halfords-as-bike-shops-cry-foul/


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## mustang1 (17 Oct 2018)

Whoa! I'm gonna see where this thread goes.


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## Joe Brom (17 Oct 2018)

In the USA they've started selling standard kit Bromptons at REI, a sporting goods chain (I don't know what Halfords is or how this compares). In this country I think it leads to more awareness of the bike..Bromptons are still a rather rare sight around here. 

As for fears of bad service, I don't think it's any different than buying online: you're still likely to end up at a specialist shop for maintenance and repair work.


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## LCpl Boiled Egg (17 Oct 2018)

It's a bit early for April Fools isn't it?


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## steveindenmark (17 Oct 2018)

I am waiting for the Hitler in the bunker film clip with the Brompton subtitles. 



Had they chosen Decathlon I would have thought it was a more sensible idea. But Halfords


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## Freds Dad (17 Oct 2018)

Will they offer the 10% BC discount on a Brompton.


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## Venod (17 Oct 2018)

I think Halfords service and repair staff capabilities vary wildly, I build and service my own bikes and would never take them anywhere for service or repair, but if I had to I would trust the guy at Halfords, I have bought stuff off him and through conversations I have had with him I release he knows his stuff, its just a pity they don't have the same across all stores.


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## Drago (17 Oct 2018)

I wouldn't trust them to fit a bell. It's a huge company, yet the reason the standard of spannering is so variable is because they won t spend money hiring qualified techs, or training staff to be techs. It's pot luck What you get, and that's unacceptable for such a safety critical field of endeavour. I cant see this ending well for Brompton the or customers, if its true of course.


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## rogerzilla (17 Oct 2018)

Bromptons aren't much better made than an Apollo BSO, so I don't see the problem. They arrive boxed and assembled anyway.


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## guitarpete247 (17 Oct 2018)

Most LBS mechanics standards will vary. I was not that impressed with mine when I bought my last bike. 
e.g. Bar tape put on badly, handlebars on at unusable angle (whilst on drops any jolt and my hands were slipping off), hoods far to far forward to be comfortable, front derailleur cable routed wrongly into derailleur clamp.
I did my own 6 week tweek job and corrected problems. Moving the levers meant taking bar tape off when I found that the angled cut at the end was so ragged it may have been cut with nail scissors/clippers.
Boardman I bought from Halfords, a few years ago, was set up perfectly. I've hardly had to do anything except twist the barrel adjusters.
I'm not going to name my LBS on line but I won;t use them again.


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## Drago (17 Oct 2018)

True, but LBS's are different firms to each other. Identify a decent one, and you're reasonably assured of a degree if consistency in the ongoing standard of their work. Not so at Halfords, even in the same branch.


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## steveindenmark (17 Oct 2018)

There is also the snobbery side of things. Im going to look ridiculous going into Halfords wearing my plus fours, tweed jacket and deer stalker hat. At Brompton Junction I just fit right in.


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## steveindenmark (17 Oct 2018)

Freds Dad said:


> Will they offer the 10% BC discount on a Brompton.


Do they do cycle to work scheme at Halfords?

My 9 Streets resale value is in freefall


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## DCLane (17 Oct 2018)

I would have thought Halfords alternative retail chain Cycle Republic would have made a better choice? They already sell Bickerton and Tern though.


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## mjr (17 Oct 2018)

As pointed out on CUK's forum, Cycle Republic's leader used to work at Evans. I'm not sure of dates and whether he might have been involved in persuading Brompton to partner with Evans back then, plus have recent reports of Evans wobbling made Brompton keen to line up another chain store dealer just-in-case?


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## tom73 (17 Oct 2018)

DCLane said:


> I would have thought Halfords alternative retail chain Cycle Republic would have made a better choice? They already sell Bickerton and Tern though.



Like you it sound's a better fit form both side's 
They must think that too as they are starting roll out via Cycle Republic according to the article.


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## FolderBeholder (17 Oct 2018)

Joe Brom said:


> In the USA they've started selling standard kit Bromptons at REI, a sporting goods chain (I don't know what Halfords is or how this compares). In this country I think it leads to more awareness of the bike..Bromptons are still a rather rare sight around here.
> 
> As for fears of bad service, I don't think it's any different than buying online: you're still likely to end up at a specialist shop for maintenance and repair work.


The people at the REI near me (Encinitas/San Diego Ca) literally scratched their heads when I asked about Bromptons there recently. A blanker expression Ive never seen.

I dont think every REI store carries them, perhaps just those located in certain metropolitan areas (and online)


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## rogerzilla (17 Oct 2018)

The only dealer-specific job (as opposed to DIY or factory job) is a rear hinge replacement. i can't see Halfords tackling that. It can take an hour to get the old allen bolts out, you need an M10 tap to grab the old bushes and drift them out*, then a £200 dealer-only reamer once the new bushes are in. This requires skills that you can't easily get from a manual or on a Cytech course.

*I've done the job up to that point a couple of times. It's a pig


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## FolderBeholder (17 Oct 2018)

rogerzilla said:


> The only dealer-specific job (as opposed to DIY or factory job) is a rear hinge replacement.




And the seat post packing?


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## Cycleops (17 Oct 2018)

Joe Brom said:


> In the USA they've started selling standard kit Bromptons at REI, a sporting goods chain (I don't know what Halfords is or how this compares). In this country I think it leads to more awareness of the bike..Bromptons are still a rather rare sight around here.


Halfords are a nation wide chain of stores that sell motor parts, accessories and bicycles. They have a bit of a history for messing things up, putting forks on backwards and general inattention to jobs, due to poor staff training and throughput of personnel. On the other hand some branches have been reported as good.They are the largest retailer of cycles in the UK.


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## rogerzilla (17 Oct 2018)

FolderBeholder said:


> And the seat post packing?


Officially that's a factory job. I had no problem doing it myself, though - just broke out the old shim, cleaned up the seat tube (frame then went off for a respray) then glued the new shim in with a suitable flexible glue. It didn't need reaming. Brompton probably won't sell you a shim nowadays - they are becoming quite customer-hostile. They won't sell you a stem, for instance - dealer-fit only. A quill stem! It's not a blooming Ferrari F1 car, it's a steel bike with very basic and outmoded parts.


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## Drago (17 Oct 2018)

They probably feel that there's more money to be made by not letting too many DIY fitted parts into circulation. I'm not sure I'd agree with that tactic myself, but then I'm not making money selling a folding bike for a massive mark up on production and distribution costs.


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## FolderBeholder (17 Oct 2018)

rogerzilla said:


> Officially that's a factory job. I had no problem doing it myself, though - just broke out the old shim, cleaned up the seat tube (frame then went off for a respray) then glued the new shim in with a suitable flexible glue. It didn't need reaming. Brompton probably won't sell you a shim nowadays - they are becoming quite customer-hostile. They won't sell you a stem, for instance - dealer-fit only. A quill stem! It's not a blooming Ferrari F1 car, it's a steel bike with very basic and outmoded parts.



I'm certain they dont want a shim, falling into the hands of someone who may knock them-off at a lower quality and erode some of their brand equity for quality issues. I'm not saying I agree with that, nor disagree.

I'm in the office equipment business, an increasingly proprietary industry (HP is the worst offender...but they all do it) so I'm somewhat accustomed to this practice. 

I remember years ago when my car needed a headlight for instance. You'd go the the auto-parts store and pick a round one, or perhaps a rectangular one if your car so equipped, a high beam, low-beam, or combination (for 2 vs. 4 headlight configurations) but you could get a headlight for any car at the same place. Try that now. 

I think more and more products are becoming more and more _proprietarily componentized_.


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## rogerzilla (17 Oct 2018)

Nah, they happily sold them for 20 years. They're just trying to create business for the dealers


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## FolderBeholder (18 Oct 2018)

rogerzilla said:


> Nah, they happily sold them for 20 years. They're just trying to create business for the dealers


Maybe so...but dealers deserve some buisness though, else there wont be any. At the end of the day, I don’t believe they can keep the doors open without service work, as well as sales.


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## Drago (18 Oct 2018)

No one deserves to remain in business as a matter of right - they deserve it only if they have a business model that works, and which adapts to the standards of the day. If a dealer can't provide that which the customer wants then there are a dozen firms waiting in the wings who can.


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## Cycleops (18 Oct 2018)

I should think UK sales are falling and Brompton need to maximise their sales effort. I'm sure they considered Halfords previously but rejected them for whatever reason.


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## Drago (18 Oct 2018)

I like greasy back street bike shops run by old men who chew their beards, with nudey calendars from 1976 on the walls. Means I've got some one who probably knows what they are doing, and wastes no effort or expense on any form of pretence.


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## Cycleops (18 Oct 2018)

Dogtrousers said:


> If they're buying from Halfords they'll expect the price to be less extortionate.


Which makes Halfords seem all the more a rather unlikely choice for Brompton. You can image the scenario when a customer asks the sales lad what's the difference between this one and the Brompton at four times the price. Er, it folds a bit smaller.


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## Freds Dad (18 Oct 2018)

They probably chose Halfords because of the number of customers they get through the door. One of my neighbours wanted a bike for his child and asked me where was the best place to go. I pointed him toward the LBS but he ended up at Halfords because they were cheaper.
Two weeks later he was taking the bike back because it was faulty and then complained about the service. If only he had listened.


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## rogerzilla (18 Oct 2018)

Brompton must have made a mint from Cyclescheme. The price of an M3L very quickly crept up to the max voucher value.


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## Kell (18 Oct 2018)

It's an interesting point about the British Cycling discount. I'm sure I read that Brompton are very aggressive towards dealers trying to give any form of discount on the bikes. 

Also, as others have said, with all these things, different stores have lots of different pluses and minuses. My Brompton dealer seems good on the surface, but the only major work I've had done was rebuilding the rear wheel and they got that wrong as they laced it incorrectly. 

It's also currently a month and a half wait to get a bike serviced there, so it's impossible to book anything in if you need your bike on a daily basis. AND they don't take in bikes on a weekend or open early or late so it would require me to either be very late for work or take a day off. 

They have very little stuff in stock and it seems to take an absolute age for them to order it in. Whereas I can go online to Brilliant Bikes and get it delivered the next day.

I really want to use them and help support local business, but they're not making it easy to do it. It's really no wonder so many local businesses are closing as they've failed to keep up with modern life.

With a lot of this stuff, it's just as easy to watch a youtube video and learn to do it yourself. Going back to the reference about headlights, our old Audi A6 was a pig to remove the bulbs and if one went on the driver's side, it meant the airbox had to come out to gain access. One Halfords did it, but I took it to another and they couldn't figure it out. I ended up doing it myself. Took a good hour the first time, but once I knew what I was doing, it only took about 15 minutes.


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## FolderBeholder (18 Oct 2018)

Kell said:


> It's an interesting point about the British Cycling discount. I'm sure I read that Brompton are very aggressive towards dealers trying to give any form of discount on the bikes.
> 
> Also, as others have said, with all these things, different stores have lots of different pluses and minuses. My Brompton dealer seems good on the surface, but the only major work I've had done was rebuilding the rear wheel and they got that wrong as they laced it incorrectly.
> 
> ...



Sounds like this LBS is crowded with service work on bikes sourced elsewhere (internet?). Not everyone can, or wants to DIY, so in my estimation the LBS’ business model needs change to service only, or mostly, and thrive within that realm vs. doing a mediocre job in service AND sales. 

Im a major DIY’er but for certain things Id rather part with some money, vs. time (and knuckles) to have done. The seat-post packing would be one of those things for me. My closest Brompton dealer BTW is over an hour by freeway away....


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## steveindenmark (20 Oct 2018)

I am now going to do a complete U turn and support the Halfords move.

I went to an authorised Brompton dealers in Arhus Denmark today. In the shop was the owner and the mechanic. The owner started to serve me and then his phone went off and he spent the next 10 minutes chatting to a friend. In the meantime the mechanic was handing over a new Brompton to a customer. He was clueless as to how to fold it. When the boss got off the phone I wanted 3 innertubes. They had one Brompton inner tube in the entire place. I cannot see how Halfords could do it any worse. Give them a chance.


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## mjr (20 Oct 2018)

steveindenmark said:


> I am now going to do a complete U turn and support the Halfords move.
> 
> I went to an authorised Brompton dealers in Arhus Denmark today. In the shop was the owner and the mechanic. The owner started to serve me and then his phone went off and he spent the next 10 minutes chatting to a friend. In the meantime the mechanic was handing over a new Brompton to a customer. He was clueless as to how to fold it. When the boss got off the phone I wanted 3 innertubes. They had one Brompton inner tube in the entire place. I cannot see how Halfords could do it any worse. Give them a chance.


Clearly someone who hasn't enjoyed a halfords where the staff are on those flaming headsets all the time!


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## rogerzilla (20 Oct 2018)

I went in a Brompton dealer this morning and, again, no inner tubes. IME the Schwalbe AV4 tubes aren't that good - they just spontaneously let go at the seam and are unpatchable then - so I always need a couple of spares in.


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## steveindenmark (21 Oct 2018)

I wonder if Brompton send people out to do spot checks. I doubt it.


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## further (21 Oct 2018)

mjr said:


> Clearly someone who hasn't enjoyed a halfords where the staff are on those flaming headsets all the time!


What ?


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## Ming the Merciless (21 Oct 2018)

I reckon this deal will fold.


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## mjr (21 Oct 2018)

further said:


> What ?


Local halfords branvh has staff wearing headsets when I last went in to buy car headlight adjusters. They might be talking to each other. They might be on the phone. I can't tell. Awfully rude.


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## further (21 Oct 2018)

mjr said:


> Local halfords branvh has staff wearing headsets when I last went in to buy car headlight adjusters. They might be talking to each other. They might be on the phone. I can't tell. Awfully rude.


OK


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