Halfords, yay

[cyberknight]

All depends on the shop staff at the end of the day.

MY halfords has a keen MTBer as a employee, another unnamed LBS i took awheel for treuing after spoke kept working loose and all they did was tighten it up and it came loose a few more times before i took it to halfords who trued it from the base line and it was fine ever since.Said LBS does not even keep anything less than 9 speed cassette in stock , they said it could be a week for the part FFS i can get it from wiggle/CRC in 2 days .

So if we are going to carry on with a brand bashing then lets name and shame all of the poor quality LBS while we are at it.

I do not work or represent halfords and i know their limitations but in my experience they have been ok,heck i got a free wheel out of them when then could not replace a hub on a wheel that was still under warranty.

 

[abo]

I'm in there now, to be fair the bike manager had a look at the cassette (now missing a few extra teeth, made for a very scary ride into town due to the rear not knowing what gear it wanted to be in), plus the bottom bracket appears to be paggered. He asked who built it; luckily I had the receipt which I showed him. He looked at it, said 'hmmmm' and said he would build me a new bike, now. Plus I got him to chuck in a set of mudguards...

Hopefully I'll have more joy this time, the bike manager (Stuart) does seem clued up at least and of course, he knows my face now in the event of further problems...

 

[cloggsy]

So if we are going to carry on with a brand bashing then lets name and shame all of the poor quality LBS while we are at it.

I think that's a damn fine idea!!!

 

[Angelfishsolo]

Good news

I'm in there now, to be fair the bike manager had a look at the cassette (now missing a few extra teeth, made for a very scary ride into town due to the rear not knowing what gear it wanted to be in), plus the bottom bracket appears to be paggered. He asked who built it; luckily I had the receipt which I showed him. He looked at it, said 'hmmmm' and said he would build me a new bike, now. Plus I got him to chuck in a set of mudguards...

Hopefully I'll have more joy this time, the bike manager (Stuart) does seem clued up at least and of course, he knows my face now in the event of further problems...

 

[Cyclopathic]

All depends on the shop staff at the end of the day.

MY halfords has a keen MTBer as a employee, another unnamed LBS i took awheel for treuing after spoke kept working loose and all they did was tighten it up and it came loose a few more times before i took it to halfords who trued it from the base line and it was fine ever since.Said LBS does not even keep anything less than 9 speed cassette in stock , they said it could be a week for the part FFS i can get it from wiggle/CRC in 2 days .

So if we are going to carry on with a brand bashing then lets name and shame all of the poor quality LBS while we are at it.

I do not work or represent halfords and i know their limitations but in my experience they have been ok,heck i got a free wheel out of them when then could not replace a hub on a wheel that was still under warranty.

A definitive listing of lbs's with proper edited customer reviews and a ranking system. I've visited several lbs in Leicester and have yet to find the perfect one although some have been worse than others. I have not used Halfords much but when I have they have been competant and fairly helpful. I haven't bought a bike from them though.

I would be a bit loathed to give a bad report of an lbs straight away without first giving them a chance to rectify whatever the problem was. We all have off days and the real mark of quality is how they deal with any grievance and how efficiently they correct any mistakes. I'd also fear that being too quick to harshly judge an lbs could really damage their business and as I said my experience may be the exception rather than the rule.

 

[cyberknight]

A definitive listing of lbs's with proper edited customer reviews and a ranking system. I've visited several lbs in Leicester and have yet to find the perfect one although some have been worse than others. I have not used Halfords much but when I have they have been competant and fairly helpful. I haven't bought a bike from them though.

I would be a bit loathed to give a bad report of an lbs straight away without first giving them a chance to rectify whatever the problem was. We all have off days and the real mark of quality is how they deal with any grievance and how efficiently they correct any mistakes. I'd also fear that being too quick to harshly judge an lbs could really damage their business and as I said my experience may be the exception rather than the rule.

That's why i said un named ,i will give anyone the benefit of a bad day .
The post is more of a , lets stop specific name bashing when the list of good and bad experiences can cover the whole spectrum of the cycle industry as a whole.
Given a choice i would use a LBS purely to support local business if they are compentent.

 

[Cyclopathic]

That's why i said un named ,i will give anyone the benefit of a bad day .
The post is more of a , lets stop specific name bashing when the list of good and bad experiences can cover the whole spectrum of the cycle industry as a whole.
Given a choice i would use a LBS purely to support local business if they are compentent.

I got carried away. I suppose I am a bit disapointed not to have found the holy grail of an lbs that met all my requirements. I mean is it too much to ask to have the perfect bikeshop within a distance easy to get to with a broken bike? That perhaps do a complementary cup of tea and a nice chat about what the best option is for a particular problem not just the best solution from their point of view. I'd quite like the moon on a stick as well.

 

[abo]

Well I've ridden home, had some lunch and found the time to post. The new bike shifts, I can get all the gears now! I just need to put my bits back on and tweak it a bit: seat and bar height and I'd prefer a bit more air in the rear tyre.

One thing, the forks seem softer than the last bike (yes they are the right way round ) but since the only two bikes I've ever ridden with front suspension are this one and the one I returned, I've nothing to compare them to, so I'm not sure whether these ones are right and the others were crap, or vice versa (please no...)

 

[david k]

hope its good for you

 

[abo]

hope its good for you

Keeping my fingers crossed!

 

[david k]

no, you might crash or fall, keep them on handle bars at all times, think H&S (shaking head )

 

[abo]

no, you might crash or fall, keep them on handle bars at all times, think H&S (shaking head )