I'm half thinking about an n+1 (may turn out to be n+1-1). Halford's happens to have the two top rated models for the budget. Has anyone had positive experiences with their mechanics ie which branches are preferred and which to avoid?
CityCyclingEdinburgh Forum » Stuff
Halfords
(28 posts)-
Posted 7 years ago #
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You don't have to get the bikes fully assembled if you don't want. You can take it away partially assembled still sealed in the box (they get you to sign a disclaimer) if you're confident putting on bars, seat, pedals, etc. yourself.
Posted 7 years ago # -
If you order on the internet you have to put thiose bits on yourself anyway...
Posted 7 years ago # -
I'd have to get instore to get the British Cycling discount. I can cope with most of the mechanics if it's half assembled. Would disc brakes be set up?
Posted 7 years ago # -
The brakes should be fitted to the bike but might need a bit adjustment for positioning and cable tension (assuming it's not hydraulics).
Posted 7 years ago # -
No harm in asking your local friendly mechanic how much they would charge to take the disassembled bike and do the business
Posted 7 years ago # -
Or check over the Halfords assembled bike for that matter.
Posted 7 years ago # -
Halfords 'technicians' regularly fit forks backwards, and who knows what other less visible stuff.
Posted 7 years ago # -
At least fitting suggests they tightened something. My handlebars turns 90 degrees while manoeuvring after a free service. If they do build it check everything is tight afterwards.
Posted 7 years ago # -
I had a good experience with Halfords Seafield in 2015, when I bought a Boardman road bike through Cycle To Work.
The staff were on the ball, the mechanic who did the final set up offered some good tips on maintenance and when I did have a problem (Mavic CXPs unthreading spokes at random), the guy I spoke to more or less rebuilt my wheels by hand to ensure they were put together properly.
On subsequent visits, staff seemed friendly, knowledgeable and appeared to actually be cyclists...
Posted 7 years ago # -
Thanks all
@MP101 that coincides with my initial impression. Straiton were fairly poor on the tech side when selling. Seafield were much better. Though in both the advice on sizing was pretty weak.
Still deciding whether to bother...Posted 7 years ago # -
I should have added that the Boardman I bought 5 years ago is still a great bike and going well.
Posted 7 years ago # -
Every time I go to Halfords I vow never to return and yet, in an effort to reduce the number of things I have delivered by van, I found myself there again this evening. Definitely never again!
They have two desks, one marked 'Click and Collect - Motoring' and the other 'Click and Collect - Cycling'. I dutifully rocked up to the latter where a bloke ignored me a bit before tutting, looking up, and asking grumpily if I was collecting a bike. When I said it was some components he tutted again and told me in a tone that very much suggested I was a complete idiot, that I needed the other desk.
By this time there was a queue at the other desk so I had to wait, with increasing pessemism, behind people whose C&C orders could not me find or who could not provide the required order number.
I <rule2> hate that soulless circle of hell.
Posted 2 years ago # -
they do sell the excellent Schwalbe Marathon Landcruiser Tyre beloved of the IWRATS for £12
on your Gauge of annoyance was it as high in Halfords as when he took us up the completely pointless hill so we could experience what it was like during missile attacks on the firing range?
Posted 2 years ago # -
The hill annoyance subsided quickly with the joy of the descent down that track, though the report of the rifles and the twang of bullets was a wee bit alarming.
The Halfords annoyance is a long, deep rooted angst, coupled with a similar level of annoyance at myself for being stupid enough to go in there again.
Posted 2 years ago # -
I always find that buying a bike from there is a gamble as the majority of staff I've dealt with often make an erse of building the bike. My work does a bike to work scheme and Halford's are the preferred supplier and you can get 10% extra if you get a bike they sell. Even with that inducement I used Edinburgh bike shop instead for the latest bike.
Posted 2 years ago # -
Had a bike built by Halfords several years ago which included a Hamax child seat. Collected the shiny new bike with my daughter and we decided to ride it home with her in the chair.
Couple of minutes away from the shop and the way the chair on the back was moving worried me. So I stopped to check it out. Whoever had attached the child seat to the bike had attached it. Well done. BUT what they forgot to do, funnily enough, was tighten the bolts to secure the thing. The child seat was literally hanging on by a couple of threads. It makes me laugh/rage inside whenever I have the displeasure of going back there and they have their "Free safety check"/"Free bike health check" banners plastered all over the place.
Posted 2 years ago # -
You feel for staff working in the stores? Presumably they are kept very busy indeed
Also if you are a decent mechanic but for some reason have woken up inside a bad dream and are working in halfords and colleagues are not good mechanics.
Posted 2 years ago # -
Halfords good for the TripleWax concentrated car wash stuff that's also good for washing bikes. And those £35 car roofrack bike racks. And, er, ... that's about it
Posted 2 years ago # -
I've had mixed experiences. I am a fan of boardman bikes which does limit my options a little.
After one "service" a number of years ago I experienced my bars rotating 90 degrees under breaking. I didn't use the last year of a 3 year service package after that.
However this year I once again found myself buying bikes there. The guy who set them up cycles a lot himself and did a great job and we ended up chatting about Halfords reputation. He said that having seen the bike I ordered coming in he made sure to set it up himself as he didn't trust his coworkers to do it correctly.
It's a bit hit or miss but if they have what you need for price you are willing to pay then I wouldn't always rule them out.Posted 2 years ago # -
@acsimpson, you have a very nice bike there.
Don’t forget their land cruiser tyres and I once had a nice bottle cage from them
Probably car oil that is same as chain lube too in value litre size.
Do drivers moan about them as much?
Did they start as a bike shop and move to motors?
Founded in Leicester in 1892
Acquired by different companies over the years, including Boots. Floated LSE 2004.
Acquired Boardman
Wound up Cycle Republic
Posted 2 years ago # -
Haven't been in Halfords for years. Used to occasionally drop by to pick up bits and bobs. The odd bike component or part, inner tubes, engine oil (good on single speed or chunky six speed chains), Hammerite, WD40. They have some decent bikes, not only Boardman but the Carrera range are not bad too. Would I trust them to set up or service my bike? No. LBS for those jobs. Or just do it yourself if not too technically challenging.
Posted 2 years ago # -
I got my gTech from cyclerebublic, it arrived fully assembled, I took it basically apart and reinstalled it. Apart from the bar to stem link, on my first ride the handle bars started to rotate in the stem...
Posted 2 years ago # -
“
The retailer’s motoring business in retail and autocentres has shown strong growth, but cycling sales ‘stepped back’ in the context of strong comparators and supply disruption. Retail cycling revenue was down by 27.2% vs FY21.
“
Posted 1 year ago # -
I popped in to Halfords at Hermiston Gait the other day looking for 3-in-1 oil* and was quite surprised at how much floor space they had devoted to bikes. All part of the run-up to Christmas I suppose, so likely only temporary, but it somehow made it feel like a much more 'friendly' shop (though spoiled somewhat by the virtual impossibility of finding someone to take my money).
* In a can, not the spray, which you can pick up in virtually any supermarket. Well, the can is plastic these days but at least Halfords had it on the shelves, unlike B&Q. What's the world coming to when a can of 3-in-1 oil has become a somewhat esoteric purchase? Says the man who decants it in to a proper metal squirty oil can...
Posted 1 year ago # -
Also from the above article:
In addition to revealing financial results, Halfords said it was launching a recruitment drive to hire 1,000 new automotive technicians across its autocentres business over the next 12 months.
So, not checkout staff then...
More here: https://www.theguardian.com/business/2022/nov/23/halfords-targets-retirees-in-recruitment-drive-for-1000-roles Retailer, which has reported halving of interim profits, also wants more women in technician jobs. (Glad to see the roles described as "technicians" rather then "engineers" - but maybe that's just me.)
Posted 1 year ago # -
Halfords at Hermiston Gait... was quite surprised at how much floor space they had devoted to bikes.
That Halfords usually has the left third of the store completely covered with bikes, either test models or if the workshop is busy then peoples bikes waiting for collection. I think they've got another display by the other window too I'm guessing that's Christmas.
Was it here I read that something like 75% of bike spend in the UK is with Halfords and I think it been a larger part of their business (profit wise) than car stuff for a few years now.
(I'm in a few times a year to look at stuff, usually end up buying in decathlon.)
Posted 1 year ago #
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