Chain.

[RiflemanSmith]

Hi I purchased a bike from Halfords, I was pretty pleased with it over all.
Except when under load, standing going up hill the chain used to slip some times.
The other day I was going up a long steep hill and the chain slipped and the figure of 8 thing got caught on a spoke locking the wheel.
Now the gears are not changing up and down with precision like they used to.
What should I do?

 

[Cheshire Celt]

Take it back to halfords ???????

 

[compo]

I assume you haven't had the bike long so take it back to Halfords under warranty. Make sure the spokes are not damaged as well in which case you want the wheel repaired or replaced as well.

 

[RiflemanSmith]

I got it at the end of June but I haven't had it serviced does that matter at all?
Thanks.

 

[compo]

Just take it back and say nothing about servicing.

 

[amaferanga]

It sounds like your gears weren't indexed correctly - not really the fault of Halfords. Unfortunately you just continued riding it and damaged the derailleur in the process. If you're lucky you'll just need a new derailleur hanger (the bit that the rear deraillleur attaches to - it's designed to bend/break to save the frame and derailleur and it may be that you've bent it a bit which would lead to poor shifting). You might be lucky and Halfords will sort it out under warranty, but what has happened isn't their fault as far as I can see.

 

[Pauluk]

I suspect that Halfords could argue that as it didn't have its 6 week free service it's your fault. I agree with compo, take it back and say nothing about the service. The 6 week service is problematic anyway as its the miles the bike has done, not the time from purchase, as you may have only used it a couple of times in 6 weeks or absolutely thrashed it for the first 3 weeks of its life.

 

[RiflemanSmith]

I adjusted the rear derailleur and it's getting the correct gears now, I will see how it rides when I go back to work later.
Thanks for the help.

 

[Arjimlad]

You may find you have spoke trouble after this event, and the derailleur may be out of true.

I had this happen when a chain snapped on me, steep uphill on a 5 yr old bike where I had not adopted the Mickle method (or any method) of chain maintenance..