well i went to my LBS

[summerdays]

Even if someone one here worked in Halfords I would have no problem with saying what you think.... as I don't think most of the folk working on the bikes actually know anything more about bikes other than its a sort of jigsaw - they've been told how to put it together ... but they don't know bikes. Of course if they were on this forum .... then they must be interested in bikes and then hopefully they would be good.

The problem with Halfords is that you don't know what skill level the person working on your bike will have - there must be some good ones out there somewhere (but they are not in Bristol). Go with the recommendation above but be prepared to check/adjust your bike afterwards (or take it to a LBS).

 

[John the Monkey]

One quick point - Halfords may let you sit on the bike in the shop, but they're very unwilling to let you test ride (I know, because I wanted to have a look at one of their Vanquishes around the time I was buying my first road bike).