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Halfords are getting better at bikes all the time, I go in a lot of their stores and the staff are getting better at service and knowledge and skills.
They are building up some nice brands with good bikes that people want to ride and will ENJOY riding.
The other shops better watch out for them. I'd certainly buy a bike there now if one suited me.
I like the designers honest ethos on the frame and spec - very refreshing - yeah that's what I want, a bike I love to ride, not necessarily the latest look or fashion.
So where do think they are going with their current staffing policy?.... mate of mine has just started working for them(as a stop gap)..Cytech 2 qualified at £6.81 p/h!..he says the place is a joke,contracts for 16/20 hrs with flexibility demanded,i.e the next step up from zero hours contracts,and no fulltime customer facing staff being hired ...is that going to attract good staff who want to take the brand forward?.The answer to that is clearly no...so much for the much vaunted relaunch.
So where do think they are going with their current staffing policy?.... mate of mine has just started working for them(as a stop gap)..Cytech 2 qualified at £6.81 p/h!..he says the place is a joke,contracts for 16/20 hrs with flexibility demanded,i.e the next step up from zero hours contracts,and no fulltime customer facing staff being hired ...is that going to attract good staff who want to take the brand forward?.The answer to that is clearly no...so much for the much vaunted relaunch.
That's been the case for a long time. My son worked part time at Halfords when he was at Uni, six or seven years ago. Just after he left the local branch got rid of a mechanic who was both an excellent mechanic and well qualified. I'm not sure what that says about their staffing policy, but then I know nothing about the staff in Evans or for that matter any number of other bike shops.
I do like this new range of bikes and were I to buy one, which I would happily do if it fitted my needs, then the first thing I would do on getting it home would be a bottom to top check, the same as I did when I bought a KTM from the nearest dealer to me.
Maybe I shouldn't have to, but for the sake of half an hour with a spanner and a couple of allen keys, it's not really a hardship.
When I bought my Boardman road bike I insisted that I took it away as an unopened box, having seen the scarred carbon seatpost on another on display. I signed a form and lost my free 6 week service. 😉 Hardly anything needed doing to assemble it so God knows how they can foul it up.
Intutition has Giant Defy seatstays, Propel top tube and TCR geometry (aside from a 0.5 cm shorter TT). Should be a very good ride for the money, and undercuts the . I quite like the 13, personally.
The TCR Advanced Pro is £300 cheaper (alloy steerer), and the Advanced Pro a little more - so I can see their pricing strategy.
Robbo if the place is that much of a joke why doesn't he quit? They are trying to change the staffing policy and have infact increased their minimum contract to engage msn re colleagues, flexibility of overtime I'm guessing your mate means, are two very different things and are not demanded. Your mate is on a contract, if he can't or won't work then he just needs to say I can't work. Simples!
When I bought my Boardman road bike I insisted that I took it away as an unopened box, having seen the scarred carbon seatpost on another on display. I signed a form and lost my free 6 week service. Hardly anything needed doing to assemble it so God knows how they can foul it up.
Yours was easy so it must mean the other tens of thousands sold are the same.?
The Boardman's and the Carrera's are really good bikes out of the box and 99% of the time they are a doddle. We get the odd one that is a pain in the ass to set up but that's mainly down to a component issue ect... The Apollo's/ Trax on the other hand are a whole different kettle of fish. Some are good out of the box but some require a good mechanic to get them up to standard. Wheels need truing, headsets adjusting, bottom brackets adjusting, V-brake arms re-installing and gears setting up from scratch, some even need re-cabling out of the box. They are built to a very low price point and sometimes it shows. If an inexperienced employee gets one of these then it can be an issue.