bike to work scheme halfords suggestions please

[cyberknight]

thanks for the height guide i look to be 20.5 21 thanks for the help. from belfast and haven heard of lbs does anyone know if there is one here or similar havent heard of it. currently looking like it might be the ventura is it easy enough to put a rack on these and do halfords do them or would it be better from a specialist

Bike racks are easy to fit. 5 minute job .

If you need to use halfords vouchers up...


Not sure if you can put a standard rack on so a seat post rack is probably the way to go
http://www.halfords....tegoryId_236256
http://www.halfords....tegoryId_236256

The second one is obviously better.

The basic bags are fine but you would need to put clothes in a bag to keep the dry in real down pours..
http://www.halfords....tegoryId_236256
http://www.halfords....tegoryId_236256

Depends on the size of the stuff you need, i use the top one as i had it as a present last year, i am sure you can find similar cheaper if you shop around.
Also consider driving some days to leave clothes at work maybe?

 

[Banjo]

Welcome to the site dangb lbs is short for local bike shop.

Re sizing guides take great care to get it right.There are a few real experts on this forum who would help if you put up a post headed "what size road bike do I need "or similar.

Buy the wrong size and you will never be happy with it.

If your commuting I would defo look for a bike with fixing points for a rear pannier rack. Seatpost racks can only take light loads.Also mudguards are fairly essential in winter.Not all road bikes can take mudguards.

Road bike sizing guide

 

[gavintc]

3/4. have no idea about upkeep of bike might just pay £20 for year warranty then get used to upkeep in first year, think will def get someone else to look at it after i buy it

Be very careful heading down this route. Maintenance is not one of Halfords strong points and it is one of the reasons that a poster recommended that you take the bike straight to real bike shop to have it fixed for riding. There have been some real howlers on here with regard to Halfords lack of care and attention on maintenance. 20 GBP does not sound a lot for maint - what do you get for that? I can guarantee it will not include parts.

 

[cameramanjim]

haven heard of lbs does anyone know if there is one here or similar havent heard of it.

LBS stands for local bike shop. Often just a bike workshop, but sometimes they sell a limited range of bikes as well. Almost always excellent!

Gumtree also a good bet for second hand bikes. Look out for stolen ones though (and on eBay).

 

[cyberknight]

If your commuting I would defo look for a bike with fixing points for a rear pannier rack. Seatpost racks can only take light loads.Also mudguards are fairly essential in winter.Not all road bikes can take mudguards.

Or get some P-clips, i only just remembered them

 

[the snail]

...had a really enthusiastic guy sorting my bike out and i could not fault their service ! I guess it is just the luck of the draw with any retailer.

at the risk of boring people with another halfords rant.. my friend picked his bike up after they'd failed to get a part for it. they didn't ring him up, just turned the bars round so it would take up too much room in their "workshop". He had to ask the spotty youth to put the bars back, when he got outside, they were still loose. He got him to tighten them. When he got outside, they were still loose. He decided to push it home. That's not poor service, it's criminally negligent. If you buy from them, give it a really thorough inspection before riding..
I don't think it's luck of the draw, halfords are basically a supermarket, presumably they pay peanuts, so you get a monkey to put your bike together. When my friend took his bike to the LBS for a repair, the guy stayed open late to fix it, so it was ready for his commute the next day.

 

[cyberknight]

If your local halfords is bad then it is wise to use another retailer,unfortunatly like i was the OP is tied into halfords so we have to find what we can that they stock in his/her price range.

 

[the snail]

If I had access to the scheme, I'd buy from them too if I had to. Nothing wrong with their products, but I'd avoid any dealings with mechanical/safety issues. Ultimately it's your resposibility to check the bike whenever you ride it I suppose.