my experience with halfords

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jazzmessengers

New Member
i bought the carrera tdf racer last july 09.. thought it was a great bargain at £240 for an end of line product !!! yes it's a nice bike to ride. but within 9months the bike needs the bottom bracket replaced.. the brakepads have been replaced twice.. the bike is only used twice a day for a journey of half an hour each way ... say from finsbury pk to tottenham court rd... disappointed you can say.so my experience i am never going to buy a bike from Halfords again. After a lengthy phone call to a staff of Halfords, he informed me that that the bottom bracket is not not included in the bikes warrantee, so i need to buy the said part... probably the same inferior product which will probably fail again....yes another unsatified Halford customer ..
 

Norm

Guest
60 miles a week for 9 months, probably over 2,000 miles, and you've only needed 2 sets of brake pads and a BB?

My expectations must be very different as that sounds pretty good value to me.
 

Cyclist33

Guest
Location
Warrington
I suppose I rode my Levante for 2 and a half years and about 4000 miles before it needed a new BB and that was only coz the bike shop accidentally buggered up the existing one. Brake shoes have had one replacement too.

Doesn't the BB have its own warranty? Anyway, check that what the Halfords goon said is correct. If all else fails, go somewhere else and get someone else to quote you for the repair and then buy the BB they quote you for yourself and get a mate to fix it up.

Cyc.
 

summerdays

Cycling in the sun
Location
Bristol
Brake blocks are a consumable - I was surprised how quickly I went through brake pads when I first got my bike. However I have so far got about 5000 out of my bottom bracket and got the bike shop to check it recently when I was booking my service and he seemed to think it was still fine.

I tend to assume that each month I'm saving money by not using either petrol or public transport and that that equivalent more than covers bike repairs and other cycling necessities.
 

cyberknight

As long as I breathe, I attack.
I allow maybe a couple hundred quid a year for parts,clothing etc.

I worked out i save around £800 a year after deductions on petrol.2 sets of pads over winter is not bad going at all, i cannot comment on a BB as i have not replaced one yet.
learn to do these sort of jobs yourself and it will save you a lot of money and will give you an idea of what to do if you have a roadside breakdown.
 

palinurus

Velo, boulot, dodo
Location
Watford
jazzmessengers said:
but within 9months the bike needs the bottom bracket replaced..

I've had to replace BBs in fairly short order (within the first year of use) on a couple of new bikes. Once they've been replaced with something a bit better they tend to last much longer. While I'd normally be leaping in to bash Halfords I'll suggest that this isn't really their fault.

As for brake pads- my commuter bike gets through two sets a year.
 

RedBike

New Member
Location
Beside the road
Only two sets of brake pads in 9 months. I think i've done well when mine last two weeks over winter (I am riding off-road). I don't think i've had a set of wheels last 9 months on my commuter!

It sounds to me likevyour veing too harsh on Halfords
 
D

Deleted member 1258

Guest
Every one of the last three bikes I have brought, a Raleigh in 2001, a Dawes Giro 300 in 2004, and a Pearson Touche in 2007, have needed a new BB inside twelve months. The replacements in the Raleigh and the Dawes lasted several years before they needed changing, the Pearson seems to get through them in about twelve months. As others have said brake pads are a consumable, I get through one or two sets in a year.
 

snailracer

Über Member
Brake wear seems OK.

On 2 of my bikes, the original low-spec BB's only lasted about a year, I guess that's par for the course.
 

jay clock

Massive member
Location
Hampshire UK
+1 for a cheap bike that had a new BB pretty fast, but the replacement has lasted ages. And "brake blocks wear down fast commuting in London" is hardly a big news story. I think your experience sounds good for any cheap bike. i do not like Halfords much but this story is not much to get worked up about
 
OP
OP
J

jazzmessengers

New Member
Thanks all that have replied, i will look into getting another repair shop to look at the bb's the brakepads i know it is through normal wear and tear..
 

e-rider

crappy member
Location
South West
For a start there are many types of brake block compounds - some improve braking but wear quickly and some last much longer but the performance is lower.

This has nothing to do with Halfords - if you want your brake pads to last longer buy harder wearing ones - simple! If you use the bike a lot as you do, they are never going to last more than 12 months anyway. I've worn some koolstops out in 5 rides before!

As for the BB, that's a different matter. The amount of time a modern sealed BB will last seems to depend on the conditions it's used in, and just how well it was put together in the factory. I've had some last 5000 miles, others last 7+ years whilst others have lasted just 4 weeks.

If you've had the bike less than 12 months then you should have a good chance of getting the BB covered by warranty, and just to make sure don't say that you've done thousands of miles. For all Halfords know you might have only used the bike 10 times. But on the other hand, if you've done 2000+ miles it could be considered as 'wornout' although I'd generally expect one to last a bit longer than that.
 

Sargent

Senior Member
I have a boardman. And don't plan to take it back to Halfords for servicing/repairs etc

I used to have a couple of the Carrera bikes. And while I was happy on the whole with the bikes, the service I received from Halfords got worse and worse.

Shame.
 

John the Monkey

Frivolous Cyclist
Location
Crewe
Even branded BBs can wear like that - a common complaint with the UN54 is that they either last forever or give up inside of a year.

As for brake blocks - as others have said, the more effective they are, the quicker they wear (in general). Koolstop salmons in particular can wear very quickly. £240 bike - and you need to replace, what, £20 of bits after 9 months of riding? Not that unexpected.
 
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