bike just ordered from halfords. need advice

[nickhuds]

hi guys, ive just orered my new boardman comp road bike from halfords . ive taken them up on setting the bike up for me, but after reading some comments on halfords im a little concerned.

i understand from what ive read that its fairly common to recieve a bike that isnt set up properly, and in some cases fairly unsafe?

ive bought the bike from my local halfords in basildon, and to be honest the guy i spoke to upstairs in the bike section, seemed very helpfull and sounded like he new what he was talking about.

i was just wondering if anyone else has had any experiances with the basildon halfords, and also what i should be checking before riding off.

thanks for your help and advice in advance.
nick

 

[Wigsie]

Dont know basildon Halfrauds but beware the 'knowledgable' guy you spoke to may not be the one that actually builds it! I wouldnt ride it straight out the shop, would whip it round an independant shop for a once over before you do (unless you have the knowledge/confidence of doing it yourself).

 

[jonnyfarside]

I bought a Boardman Hybrid Pro from Halfords. No problem with the set up and I have been really pleased with the bike. You will hear bad press about Halfords but I suspect it is partly self selection. Contented people will stay quiet and the majority of Halfords customers won't be members of a forum such as this one.
If you stay around ling enough you will read plenty of negative stories about local bike shops as well.

 

[The Jogger]

Read my thread, I didn't see this before I wrote it.

 

[nickhuds]

ive just read your thread jogger and it seems you were dealing with monkeys, i personally wouldnt of left the shop untill they put it wright, either that or i would take it to a lbs and send the bill to halfords providing the lbs would give a written description of what was defective.

im still fairly confident all will be ok, as the guy i spoke to was one of two staff in the bike department, and the other guy was bieng watched constantly by the chap i was speaking to.
hopefully this store is one of the better ones with experianced staff.

 

[The Jogger]

Good Luck , I'm sure they're not all the same as chichester:-)

 

[nickhuds]

lets hope so jogger, im really looking forward to getting it.
time will tell, and i shall keep you all posted.
hopefully all will go well.

 

[HJ]

I bought a Boardman Hybrid Pro from Halfords. No problem with the set up and I have been really pleased with the bike. You will hear bad press about Halfords but I suspect it is partly self selection. Contented people will stay quiet and the majority of Halfords customers won't be members of a forum such as this one.
If you stay around ling enough you will read plenty of negative stories about local bike shops as well.

As I have said elsewhere, there is a certain irony that the Boardman range of bike is exclusive to Halfrauds, they are good bikes, but the shops are often awful. And you are quite right the majority of Halfords customers won't be members of a forum such as this one. As having bought a badly set up bike they have ridden it twice and put it to the back of the garage to gather dust, having decided that cycling is not for them, which is a tragedy...

Most local bike shops only survive by giving good service, unlike the big chains which can work on the pile it high and sell it cheap model. No need for after sales service and expensive staff (you have to pay knowledgeable staff more than the minimum wage).

 

[Sittingduck]

They vary from store to store. All you can do is give it a good check over and make sure everything that is supposed to be tight, is tight. If you're really worried have an LBS set it up properly for a few quid. The value of the Boardman bikes is surely worth this possible inconvenience.

Best of luck,
SD

 

[GrumpyGregry]

ask around for the name of a local bike shop. find out what they charge for a once over. buy bike from Halfords, any problems MAKE A FUSS there, there is usually at least one member of staff who actually does know which way is up, if that fails take it to the LBS. Write to the Halfords and local trading standards.

You will end up with a brilliant bike and just be a few qui9d out of pocket

 

[Dayvo]

You should have asked for advice before you went to Halfords!

 

[Decani]

Perhaps the moral of the story is to buy new bikes from the LBS, especially if it helps to keep smaller independent traders from going bust !

 

[GrumpyGregry]

Perhaps the moral of the story is to buy new bikes from the LBS, especially if it helps to keep smaller independent traders from going bust !

My LBS's are thriving without my trade, even the ones who treat non-road race bike owning customers as stupid aliens who are beneath their contempt. People must like paying through the nose. You pays yer money and you makes yer choice. The margin on new bikes is amongst the lowest margin of the items a shop sells therefore buy from the web, chainstore, whoever and if you want to do you LBS a favour buy your other goods and service(s) through them so they can rob you blind.

Boardmans are only available from Halfords are great bikes and for the price NOTHING mass market an LBS will sell will come near the spec. of a given Boardman unless it is NoS

 

[Garz]

While I am a fan of keeping local shops ticking over (from butchers to florists etc) when I went to a few local bike shops I got this offensive feeling that unless you were spending over £1000 they either have little time for you or look down their noses!

If they want to advertise their custom to the people they meet then they do themselves no favours when emitting this horrible aura. So while I agree that places like halfords offend alot of you, there is another side to the coin of the 'LBS' that some of you may not have seen.

Im not a wealthy person so if my sub £1000 isnt good enough for the greedy/elitists then they dont deserve my custom.

sorry for the rant

 

[nickhuds]

in all fairness i did try two local bike shops before going to halfords and unfortunately they were quoting me 3 weeks delivery time? and half the summer would have gone by then. besides i cant wait that long im anxious just waiting till friday :-)
besides all the should haves and shouldent haves i cant wait and im certain i will be very happy with the bike after reading several reviews about boardman bikes, so i think for all the negatives mainly aimed at halfords i can certainly find several positives after all lots of you have agreed that the bike is good, the value is second to none in some peoples opinions and if i have any issues with the bike set up i can always take it to my lbs or as you guys have been so helpfull i could always ask for more advice. :-)