In praise of... the shop that shall not be named

[lejogger]

After pinpointing down a concerning rattle to a bit of sideways play on the rear wheel I decided I'd take my Boardman CX to the main uk distributor (we all know who) in order to get the cones tightened and a service performed.
Last summer when I was having niggly brake and gear indexing problems I took out their 'Care Plan' which promised me one full(ish) service when required and as many fettling sessions as you could need for the princely sum of £20 for a year.

To be honest I've learned how to do most things myself as it's obviously more economical in the long run but after having the bike for nearly a year and nearly 4000 miles I decided that as well as getting the hubs looked at I would also get them to give the whole thing the once over and get them to do the service.

Got it back yesterday, and it honestly feels like a new bike. They paid attention to all the jobs I told them needed doing - hub service, brake service, jumpy gearing (presumably caused by the loose cones anyway) headset tightening etc. Now the only thing I couldn't do myself was the hub service because I don't own cone spanners, but even on the jobs I can do myself which are pretty simple, the quality of the work they'd carried out - especially the brake fettling is excellent.

The only minus points they get are for not returning the seat post to the exact same height, and it was slightly off centre... but having said this, last time I took a bike to a LBS, it came back with the seat post as far down as it can go, a missing spoke magnet for the computer and a missing rubber stopper from the headset bolt. Niggly things but very poor attention to detail

So anyway. I'm sure for every good experience there may be plenty of bad, but on this occasion, chapeau to Halfords Bromborough.

 

[GetAGrip]

Blimey, two + threads for them in one day!! Might pop in later for a browse. Would be good if they could score a hat trick

 

[e-rider]

I don't see why any bike shop would have a need to adjust the saddle height (unless you had a problem with the seatpost) - if my seatpost had been pushed right down I'd be claiming for a new one as they usually get scratched doing that which isn't good if the post cost £100.

Halfords isn't all that much different to any bike shop in that you get staff that know what they are doing and staff that don't - and the majority of staff don't give a shoot becasue they are paid minimum wage, which these days is almost impossible to survive on.

In over 25 years of cycling I have only twice ever taken my bike(s) to a bike shop. That was to get the headtube faced (as the tool costs about £400), and Mercian in Derby once fitted headset cups (which they farked up; so much for being frame builders!!!).

You just have to look at the set-up of display bikes, or friend's new bikes to see that most shops either don't have a clue or can't be arsed.

My advice is do it all yourself.

As for the 'care plan' this is a no lose for Halfords, they 'pay' their staff anyway, and quite often they are sitting doing nothing anyway, so getting them to fix a bike doesn't cost anything unless they become overwhelmed with work and have to hire more staff (which is very unlikely).

 

[lejogger]

I don't see why any bike shop would have a need to adjust the saddle height (unless you had a problem with the seatpost) - if my seatpost had been pushed right down I'd be claiming for a new one as they usually get scratched doing that which isn't good if the post cost £100.

The only thing I can think of yesterday is that it's something to do with getting it clamped in the workstand?

In over 25 years of cycling I have only twice ever taken my bike(s) to a bike shop. That was to get the headtube faced (as the tool costs about £400), and Mercian in Derby once fitted headset cups (which they ****ed up; so much for being frame builders!!!).
...My advice is do it all yourself.

I do generally try to... but it was the wrong end of the month with regards to pay day to be going out buying cone spanners, and it was convenient to drop it off before work and pick it up afterwards all completed. Although the day I drove to work instead of cycling probably cost me half a spanner in petrol!

As for the 'care plan' this is a no lose for Halfords, they 'pay' their staff anyway, and quite often they are sitting doing nothing anyway, so getting them to fix a bike doesn't cost anything unless they become overwhelmed with work and have to hire more staff (which is very unlikely).

True, but for the value to the customer - particularly one who isn't a seasoned fettler such as yourself - you can't really go wrong for £20. I'd have spent well over £100 on the same if I'd have visited my LBS.

 

[e-rider]

True, but for the value to the customer - particularly one who isn't a seasoned fettler such as yourself - you can't really go wrong for £20. I'd have spent well over £100 on the same if I'd have visited my LBS.

Yes, it does sound good value for the customer. It's good to remember that some people just simply aren't good at mechanical things so even Halfords staff would be a better option! Also, as you say, bike tools are expensive and simply not affordable for a lot of people. And, LBSs charges can quickly far exceed £20 for even simple jobs.