So I popped into my local Halfords tonight to have a look at the Boardman Pro. I enquired if there was a demo available. No chance was the answer. It would be ok to take it round the car park.

I pointed out that I didn’t really want to spend £1k on a bike I couldn’t test ride, but to no avail.

Back to the drawing board then…..

Why couldn’t they charge the cost of the bike to your credit card, you go ride, bring it back & either buy it or refund the charge?

Go back when there’s a recession on they will be only to happy to give you a test ride just to shift the thing…

You got to love Halfrauds.

Halfords as a company should have a demo fleet of their high end bikes that they can send round their stores for customers to have a go on.

It is unreasonable though for somebody to go in to a store and expect to just take a bike of the shelves and bring it back a day later. I once had a customer demo a brand new bike over 48 hrs and when he returned with the bike he said he’d buy it but he wanted a discount as it was 2nd hand. I tried to explain to him that he was the only person who had ever thrown a leg over the bike but his response was “That’s not really the point though is it? It’s still 2nd hand”.

Halfords as a company should have a demo fleet of their high end bikes that they can send round their stores for customers to have a go on.

They seem to have done alright without one so far 😆

Well thats what you get for even thinking of buying a bike from crappy Halfords. 😈

Halfords as a company should have a demo fleet of their high end bikes that they can send round their stores for customers to have a go on.
They seem to have done alright without one so far

Halfords have always struggled to sell bikes from a grand upwards. They have and still do stock good bikes eg; Airborne, GT, Kona, Voodoo and obviously their own Boardman stuff, yet a survey in 2007 on bikebiz said that over 90% of £800+ are bought from IBD’s and small chain stores, eg; Evans, Cycle Surgery, et al.

So with regards to bikes in the Boardman price brackets they haven’t done alright without one so far. 😆

hey Jamie, can i use the “it’s 2nd hand” ploy please?

awesome that one 🙂

We had the exact same issue as jim the saint. A woman tried a road bike (she was told to be back in 20 minutes as it wasn’t a demo bike. She came back after 2 hours) and wanted 2nd hand discount.

We told her that she’d get a new one and just cleaned the tyres and she payed what it cost. Some people do take liberties, and while I’d normally object to lieing to a customer like that she was out of order.

How you doing rocketdog? I need you and matt to sign my copy of singletrack.

I should hire you to come and take some pictures of me as I’ve never seen matt look so slim 😉

I’ve had exactly the same with Halfords, I was looking at a Kona a few years ago, and was told I was permitted to sit on it in-store, but not pedal it at all!!!

I didn’t buy it.

that’s funny. I’m interested in the boardman carbon road bike. Spoke to the guy about it and said I suppose a test ride is out of the question? He told me no, I Just had to arrange a time with the young roadie that worked there and i could take it out for a 2 hour test ride around bristol.. Spot on!

I don’t think I’ve ever test ridden a bike I’ve bought.

AlasdairMc – Member
I’ve had exactly the same with Halfords, I was looking at a Kona a few years ago, and was told I was permitted to sit on it in-store, but not pedal it at all!!!

I didn’t buy it.

Coupla year back I was in exactly the same situation, so p1ssed off to LBS and bought a GT Zaskar ZUM (now pinched 🙁 ).

Having said that, I have a Boardman Pro (last year’s) and it’s impossible to fault – and I’m a critical kind of guy. Weighs nowt, climbs nicely and descends reliably. Only flaw I’ve found is it feels a bit ‘floaty’ in the air… But that’s in comparison with an i-Drive.

Halfords get an unbelieveable amount of scallies trying it on. you might want to build up a relationship with the supervisors and assure them you wont twock it.

They also go to lots of the demo days – I tried a boardman at Dalby last year. That way you also get a proper ride, not just round a car park!

I don’t think I’ve ever test ridden a bike I’ve bought.

I’ve only ridden one. And that was back in ’91 when these things were unheard of, at a shop called Channels near Southend who also did windsurfy stuff at a lake. You could ride round the lake and it was mostly off road, rolling singletrack! I tried an Orange Clockwork, GT Avalanche, Saracen Traverse Hydrotech (Maguras!) and A Kona CinderCone. I bought the Kona.

Since then my bikes have been used (3) frames off the internet (3) mail order (1) Frame from LBS,(1) which I could have test ridden but never bothered.

I’d be quite happy with a pedal round the car park myself and 5 mins checking it fits OK, which is the main thing I think.
🙂

loving the concept of demo’ing a bike then trying to get 2nd hand discount!

Of my bikes,
Saracen – from halfords

carrera – from halfords

switchback – custom build

so no test rides here either.

I Have demoed a bike and then asked if i could get a discount one it as it was the demo bike but i only found out after i had got it that i had been the only person who had riden it.
My current bike i got with out a demo and the same for my commuter and they are fine just checked the fit of them.

dthom3uk where abouts do you live?

I once had a customer demo a brand new bike over 48 hrs and when he returned with the bike he said he’d buy it but he wanted a discount as it was 2nd hand. I tried to explain to him that he was the only person who had ever thrown a leg over the bike but his response was “That’s not really the point though is it? It’s still 2nd hand”.

Fiendishly clever.

I bet the person in question posts on here, judging by a few people I’ve dealt with on the classifieds.

Classic the 2nd hand thing, i dont know if i would have the balls to ask that – its just, well rude.
But now i am thinking of all the ways it could be worked.
would you like to buy that new 20k car sir, why yes can we go for a spin round the block? not a problem sir hop in.
Returns to showroom – so will you take 14k for this 2nd hand car……

PeterPoddy

I’d be quite happy with a pedal round the car park myself and 5 mins checking it fits OK, which is the main thing I think

Hmmm… and how long did you keep the yeti for?? 😉

I wouldn’t buy any mountain bike without a demo. Must’ve ridden 25 different bikes before settling on my perfect partner.

Hmmm… and how long did you keep the yeti for??

About 20 months.
🙂

I’d have never, ever realised why the Yeti didn’t suit me in a single day test ride. It took 1000 miles or more to work out it was just too flexy for me. I thought it was shock settings, tyres, wheel tension, the lot. I spent literally days and days trying to get a set-up that worked properly.

That said though, as a comfy all-day/all-week long travel enduro bike, it was fantastic. Nigh-on perfik.
Push it into a berm, a tight rocky corner or a technical/jumpy descent at speed and it struggled like hell. The back end was all over the place.
In these conditions the Pitch blows the Yeti apart in every way…. And that’s the only mail order full bike I’ve ever bought!

The Yeti did most of the job I bought it for. The Pitch does the rest, and that’s where my riding is going right now….. S

😀

Glad you’re happy with the Pitch mate (shoulda demoed first though) 😉

Demo a Pitch?
I was bloody lucky just to get my hands on one!! AFAIK my brother bought just about the last one in the country, a week after I bought mine!