Front Brake failure

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crankyhorse

New Member
My bike had its 6 week service at Halfords last month.

My front brakes failed on my way home when one of the brake blocks came loose. Well done to the mildly disinterested employee who had my bike for 12 hours :angry:
It happened after I had been in Halfords to try out a Boardman road bike I was after. I will not be trusting that branch again, although I will have to get my C2W bike from a Halfords somewhere.

I really want to start maintaining my bikes myself so I'm going to look for an evening course at the local college or something.
 
Location
Edinburgh
Well done in learning the lesson to not trust Halfords with any maintenance. That could have been a nasty accident.
 
Maintaining your own bike is always the best way forward, and the way to really know the machine that you ride.

Bought a Carrera 2 years ago and it was not at all set up - chain came off both ends on the mile ride home, then I noticed that the rear rack I had fitted was (1) loose and (2) incorrectly fitted so that it interfered with the rear brake.

Anything set up that bad is not worth taking back to the particuilar branch for anything but a refund, as the staff are obviously both incompetent and careless - however since it's in essence a good bike, I just set the thing up and gave it a thorough check over myself at home.

If you can't do a course, then get a good book and an old bitser bike from the free ads, strip it down completely - every bolt, every bearing - and overhaul it- IMHO the best way to learn. Then when you can do that in your sleep, take the wheels to bits and re-spoke them, with a swear box to hand the first time - it all becomes simple with a little practice

IN FAIRNESS TO HALFORDS: It does depend on the branch - I would now trust that branch with a bike as since I bought mine, a lad I used to work with on higher-end bikes who has been doing the job quite some time is now working there and I now I can vouch for his competence as much as any LBS
 

DavieB

MIA
Location
Glasgow
Dont want to sound a bit full of it, but I genuinely check my brake-blocks are tight every day before I ride, just takes a quick tap or twist.
 

HJ

Cycling in Scotland
Location
Auld Reekie
I remember once picking my bike after a service and at the first junction finding they had forgotten to reconnect the both the V-brakes, fortunately I was going up hill and there was no other traffic...
 

Tynan

Veteran
Location
e4
had the rear wheel drop out of the frame once, 100 yards after collecting from an LBS in Stokie a long time ago
 
Halfords isn 't a serious bike shop IMHO....I remember buying a bike from there :blush: in the mid 1980's and the front wheel bolts wern't tightened up.

Sorry no insult mean't to Haford's but don't hey deal mainly in car stuff?
 

gaz

Cycle Camera TV
Location
South Croydon
I've had similar experiences from some Evans stores. This is why i check everything before i leave the store with my bike.
 

Simba

Specialized Allez 24 Rider
My bike went in for its 6 week free service with halfords back in January, the rear mech wasn't engaging on the smallist cog on the cassette and the brakes needed adjusting, thats what I told the boy in halfords (I say boy as he didnt look a day over 16) Well he had the bike for 3 days and it was worse when I got it back, ended up adjusting the rear mech and brakes myself. Also after I got it back it just wouldnt shift onto the granny ring anymore (Not like I use it anyway but not the point)

Next bike I get will be from Evans Cycles as there is a branch in Manchester and they know what they are doing.
 

fossyant

Ride It Like You Stole It!
Location
South Manchester
Tightening brake blocks is not rocket science, and you really should have checked them. double check anything to do with braking and transmission.
 

summerdays

Cycling in the sun
Location
Bristol
Have you rang and complained to them ... as potentially that mechanic needs more training or moving to another department (or most likely - a kick up the backside).
 
If you can't do a course, then get a good book and an old bitser bike from the free ads, strip it down completely - every bolt, every bearing - and overhaul it- IMHO the best way to learn. Then when you can do that in your sleep, take the wheels to bits and re-spoke them, with a swear box to hand the first time - it all becomes simple with a little practice

My neighbour is a bike mech at a LBS. He says in essence, it's simple... it's just the method you use. And then he replaced my (gear) cable, and setup my gears in minutes... I can do stuff like this myself though usually takes me longer. After watching him and trying to take it all in, I reckon I could do it almost as fast as well.
 
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