Seems to me that you're not really slagging them off at all, you're simply discussing the problem and soliciting advice. I'm not sure how discussing it on an Internet forum is different to discussing it in public anywhere else? Odd.

There's a big difference. If you discuss it down the pub, very few people get to hear it. If you discuss it here, anyone who Googles that product may find your thread about it failing. You can do as you wish (I've discussed broken parts on here), but there are different consequences.

+1 your mate must be chuffed with you and your big mouth, I reckon you owe him big time!

I used to work at Halfords (although I hated working there), and I bet I know a damn sight more about bikes than a lot of people on here. Calling a particular Halfords store crap is one thing, calling them all crap is a bit narrow minded. If I was your mate, I would be pissed.

Agree with Flow, my mate works there and he knows his stuff, his Cytech 2 was paid for by Halfords too. I would say that most of the know all folk that think they know everything about bikes have alot to learn, I have been employed as a cycle mechanic for over 15 years now and I don't know every little thing so really an enthusiast isn't going to know as much as they would like to think!