I have very mixed feelings on this... there is however a lack of mixed feeling on facebook where this link was published - there's not a whole lot of love going on.
I have two Boardmans so I have a small feeling of defence towards
Halfords. My Team Carbon in particular is my pride and joy, and to be fair although I realise that Halfords have had a few shockers, I've had probably just as many poor experiences at my LBS. The mechanics charged with fettling the Boardmans are capable; what's worrying is the one's with the responsibility of building a steed up for your young child are generally the ones who seem to have spent a little too long inhaling the fumes in the touch-up paint aisle, or running round spraying alloy wheel cleaner down each other's pants.
I just can't get my head around the rationale. Nobody is going to be spending £5k on anything in Halfords, especially a bike. Pinarello don't make a bike that retails under about £1.2k do they so none of the C2W rabble will be cashing in? What market can they possibly be aiming at? The whole reason they shifted so many Team Carbons in 2010 was because it came in at £999. You don't see many of the Pro carbons around for that very reason despite them being perfectly decent.
So unless they're going to be heavily discounted, and/or under the C2W threshold whilst accepting that you ought to be a half decent fettler yourself to make sure you can set up anything that the mechanics might have missed, I just don't see how this is going to work for anyone.
