Halfords again....

[Justinslow]

And looks like boardman bikes might be permanently "discounted ", according to them as they have bought out boardman they dont have to pay a cut to chris anymore , lets hope as im after a team carbon next year and if it stays at £800 notes ............................. we can but hope.

Was looking at a nice 13 bike, carbon, aero, hidden brakes, good groupset and very light.
Dreaming....

 

[alecstilleyedye]

Is a couple of years considered a good working life for a pump these days?

my first ever track pump was my first ever internet purchase, from harry hall before the manchester bombing. it's still going strong, and the best £25 i ever spent…

 

[Elybazza61]

Joe Blow servicing kits are mostly about £4, so most of them could go on for years too, but few want to bother repairing when you can get a new pump and sling the old one in the shop's skip.

The twin head on my Joe Blow seemed to go through seals and internals pretty regularly,dunno if it was because the other half used it for the car;just got the single smart head and it seems like a new pump again.

 

[wheresthetorch]

The twin head on my Joe Blow seemed to go through seals and internals pretty regularly,dunno if it was because the other half used it for the car;just got the single smart head and it seems like a new pump again.

I miss @Fnaar . . .

 

[Cycleops]

The problem with Halfords is the sheer variety of shopping experiences they offer customers. Do they have a separate stock code for each one?
One key to the success of a retail multiple is to meet customer expectation, even if those are deliberately pegged low. With Halfords, you expect crap service so when they overwhelm you with expertise and good service, you feel somewhat cheated out of the Halfords experience. If they took my advice, one day soon they could become a huge and profitable business.

I think the trouble might be the old ' Darren is the one that knows all about bikes but it's his day off today' syndrome.

And looks like boardman bikes might be permanently "discounted ", according to them as they have bought out boardman they dont have to pay a cut to chris anymore , lets hope as im after a team carbon next year and if it stays at £800 notes ............................. we can but hope.

Don't count on it. Paying him off can't have come cheap and they have profit margins and shareholders to keep happy.

 

[youngoldbloke]

The washers for the

Joe Blow servicing kits are mostly about £4, so most of them could go on for years too, but few want to bother repairing when you can get a new pump and sling the old one in the shop's skip.

If you just need the washer for the presta side of the Twinhead (and the washers are what most often need replacing) £3.99 for the spares kit is hardly good value, effectively £4 for a rubber washer. I researched this some time ago - dealers CAN order packs of the washers - 10 for 99p, but I'd be amazed if anyone on here has ever found a bike shop that stocks them, I never did. In the end I gave up, removed the Twinhead, and replaced it with a brass chuck. (Incidently I found tap washers of the appropriate size can be used as replacements in this )

 

[huwsparky]

Two years, seriously? I'll be leaving my Rennkompressor to my grandchildren.

I can't ever imagine mine giving up either. Built to last for sure.

 

[youngoldbloke]

Re my post above - just discovered SJS sell lots of individual Topeak spares, but by the time you've added p+p the washers are £2.00 each. If you order a few it makes it more reasonable, but I am going to stick with the brass chuck.

 

[adamangler]

As someone who recently worked at halfords.

What i will say is customer service wise you wont find better when it comes to sorting problems/refunds etc as every manager will lick your balls and whatever else is required so you dont give them bad feedback. complaining goes a very long way at hell frauds.

 

[NorthernDave]

You can order anything from the entire Topeak range in store at Halfords, even if it isn't on the Halfords website or stocked in store - they have a catalogue behind the counter.
Delivery to store is free, they'll price match all the usual competitors and if you're a BC member, you'll also get your 10% discount.

 

[CanucksTraveller]

It's funny, if you have a browse through a cycle forum, you can easily end up with an overall impression that LBSs are the places you must use because the customer service is great, they're specialists, they know their stuff, and we should support them. Halfrauds, Hell Frauds, call it what you will, is the devil, and you'll have disinterested staff, a bad experience, and you'll also be killing off your LBS in the process, so you're probably an evil person to boot.

My experience has consistently been this: Appalling customer service, awful stock levels, unrealistically high prices, bad knowledge, and indifferent staff. That's at all three of my LBS's in my town by the way. At my local Halfords they have an awesome range of cycling items, good prices, and the staff aren't remotely objectionable. They could have better knowledge at times, but you can't be perfect.

Someone's getting it drastically wrong in and around my town, and it's not Halfords.

 

[mjr]

Someone's getting it drastically wrong in and around my town, and it's not Halfords.

If that's the best bike shop in town, it's worth catching a train to another town for bike shops.

 

[Goggs]

I think people are being a tad unfair towards Halfords. They're no different to any other large nationwide chain; some branches are good and some will inevitably be bad. I could tell horror stories about specific branches within a certain huge plumbing chain for instance, but I won't. I lay the blame at branch management level.

 

[GrumpyGregry]

You can order anything from the entire Topeak range in store at Halfords, even if it isn't on the Halfords website or stocked in store - they have a catalogue behind the counter.
Delivery to store is free, they'll price match all the usual competitors and if you're a BC member, you'll also get your 10% discount.

You can't post inflamatory stuff like this. You'll be claiming that a lot lbs's are sh1te next.

 

[gavroche]

I think people are being a tad unfair towards Halfords. They're no different to any other large nationwide chain; some branches are good and some will inevitably be bad. I could tell horror stories about specific branches within a certain huge plumbing chain for instance, but I won't. I lay the blame at branch management level.

I don't remember seeing any Halfords shops in Provence , which is where your avatar say you live, lucky you! By the way, Provence is my wife's favourite place, and mine too.