Me & the missus went into Halfords for some screenwash - cut a long story short i walked out with a Boardman Hybrid Comp model.
So what? Well the fact i don't have a job & i'm living off my redundancy is a factor - feel guilty now..
hey, a new bike is always a good thing. celebrate - it'll get you to all those interviews glowing with healthiness
(Even if it came from a motor factors)
Good work. The worse I did was buy a 5 grand quad bike on my credit card when drunk on ebay.
luckily it turned out to be not as advertised and I got my money back...!
My justification is that we're planning to do the C2C in 24hrs this yr so i need to get fit, & a road(ish) bike is the best way of doing that!
Swapped the Avid 5 mechanical discs for some Hope mini's i had in the shed so that should save a few grams etc.
a sound decision in that case
Better get that job on wednesday now...
well you could always sell those mechanical brakes...drop me a mail if you want to 😉
were you not asking if you should buy a(nother) bike if you get the job....?
where does that leave you now....?
Mr MC knows someone who went to motorbike shop to get some new ear plugs he came back with a £12,000 BMW tourer!!!! Oh well I think he's got value for money 😉
Alpin - it's not quite as bad as that, i had £200 of Xmas present/cash, sold the brakes for £50 so it really only cost me half the price.
Still got a few thousand in the bank from my redundancy as well....
Hello Simon, fancy a spin when the snow clears a bit?
Ms Spanner might tag along too.
Have you managed to persuade your missus out on two wheels yet?
If so, how about a bimble along the canal from Sowerby Bridge back to Rochdale.....
Good Luck with the job BTW.
you dirty bugger, I trust you cleaned it up. That said I have been known to have the odd pleasurable wince to myself when ever there's a new bike in the window of my LBS
Hi RS - Yep, i'm def up for a spin out, might even get out later on the new toy!
A bimble with the missus sounds good, not sure when yet though as her shifts are all over the place.
Drop me an e-mail.
Well it's stopped snowing - think i can get out for the inaugaural ride 🙂
I have the excuse - a female friend bought a Kona from Wiggle last week & wants me to set it up for her.. 😉
Which Kona?
I got made redundant on Christmas Eve and did exactly the same thing as the OP, except in Evans and for a good bit more money.
I figured if I was going to be out of work, then I might as well be on a nice bike - might help to keep my spirits up. Well that's what I told the other half anyway.
MrNutt - she bought a Kona Kula from wiggle, the ex-demo model for £488. Beautiful little 14" frame. She is recovering from breast cancer and wants to get out again. She (pre-cancer) recently discovered mtb'ing but her bike was a horrible pig-iron halfords special (yes, i do see the irony) and she loved riding. She wanted to treat herself when her chemo was done so last week mr debit card came out to play!
MrNutt - she bought a Kona Kula from wiggle, the ex-demo model for £488. Beautiful little 14" frame. She is recovering from breast cancer and wants to get out again. She (pre-cancer) recently discovered mtb'ing but her bike was a horrible pig-iron halfords special (yes, i do see the irony) and she loved riding. She wanted to treat herself when her chemo was done so last week mr debit card came out to play!
good luck to her and spot on for helping! 🙂 (even if her bike selection meant I couldn't make a lewd joke! 😀 )
Fivelittlefish - I was ideally planning on buying the team model but i could really justify the extra £150 when i had hydro brakes in the shed & could fit a carbon fork at a later date.
Off out on it shortly - will report back! 😆
Well, she needs the help, not sure she even knows how to change gear yet as she's only ever had twistgrip before.
I have a spare shockpump she can use as well, gives me an excuse to get out and ride 5 miles to her house then take the scenic route back!
Is it O.K. to buy bikes from Halfords now? (I'm a bit out of touch...)
😕
Yeah, it's fine - but only if you bitch about how badly it was set up afterwards.
MD seems to like his and I know he's a decent mechanic, so he's on pretty dangerous ground, credibility wise.
😆
Just been out for a spin on it - this bike is FAST!!! 8)
Well, fast compared to the mtb & carrera subway i've been riding before anyway!
Set-up wise it's fine, the lads in the shop told me they had to set it up before they could send it out & that's fair enough. Got it home & checked everything over & all seems fine.
Not all shops are the same i suppose...
I'm happy with the bike, i can see my getting in more riding midweek now when the trails are gloopy so my fitness should increase markedly. For the money these bikes are killer value & i've heard the same about the road bikes & the hardtail mtb's as well.
Ok, they are sold through Halfords but still good bikes despite the snobbery we all have about the shop.
I have been thinking of getting one of these hybrids just so i can blat out 15-20 miles midweek when i cannot be bothered to get the MTB out. How much did you pay and how fast is fast? 😉
Jamie -
I bought the cheapest model, the Comp. £500, comes with an aluminium fork (higher models have carbon) & Avid BB5 mechanical discs. I changed the brakes to some Hope mini's i had in the shed though.
Truvativ touro comact chainset & SRAM X5 gearing.
Speed? not sure a i haven't got a computer on it yet but it accelerates like stink away from the lights - compared to what i'm used to anyway.
I like it, it's a nice comfy bike with good kit & nice handling. Def worth the money IMHO.