i worked in one when I was a student a long time ago. we used to have demolition derbys after hours using the electric car things. great days, sigh.

Houns:

Ok I may be biased – Boardman bikes are great VFM.

We sold over 1m bikes last year, 1 in 3 sold in UK.

2010? Well you can wait and see

Giz a discount mate

you are given 25 mins to go from box to pdi when building a bike at christmas time

Thats MORE than enough time, you do realise these things come 80-90% done dont you? When i worked there we could get 4-5 done an hour during the day, more if i was building out back and not stopping to help customers. And thats to a standard id be happy for someone else to ride, not the slapped together standard of my own bikes ;0)

i have heard some proper nonsense in terms of sales, advice and ‘my new bike doesn’t work’ fobbings-off from the staff in my local one.

You hear that at a lot of LBS’s too, ive often had to hold my tongue when i hear a salesperson giving his bull**** patter trying to sell a bike to a new-cyclist.

What i also like about my lbs’s is that they will advise you on what it is you need before they order it for you, and you don’t have to wait a week for them to fit it.

Thats why the LBS’s are still there, they (weel most) provide a service above the large scale sellers like halfords etc. What they need to do is ensure they maintain the quality of this service to ensure customers continue to shop, we hear more than enought stories on hear of shops taking the pi** or staff being unfirendly, they dont have the luxury of alienating some customers these days as there is more competition from the big players (boardman range for example is starting to attract the general public away with its good value and extensive advertisements).

One thing i think more LBS’s should do is get involved with the community and spend money on a little bit of advertising in the local paper or on Radio (cheap enough). In the north-east if you ask someone to name a bike shop they will more than likely say Halfords (currently advertising) or Hardistys Cycles (had extensive radio and TV advertising many years ago), however Hardistys in Newcastle was bought out by Edinburgh Cycles a few years ago but people still know it as Hardistys and will go that shop because they know where it is (there is another LBS just down the street from it too, im pretty sure 90% of people dont know its there!)

Oh, another good advertising oppertunity is sponsoring local races, like the Leazes park crits in Newcastle this Friday (tomorrow ;0), tho organisers havnt really advertised that race much either.

Just my thoughts.
Rich

One thing i think more LBS’s should do is get involved with the community

I’ve had loads of help from LBS’s in Bristol for the volunteer trail maintenance group I run. Donations, leaflets printed, positive word of mouth. At least four or five shops have directly helped us and nearly all the rest have been supportive.

I’m picking up my Boardman Team Carbon road bike from Halfords/Bikehut St Pauls tomorrow and very nice it is too. Was served by a 18yr old lad who knew exactly what he was talking about, club rider, proper enthusiast and very helpful. Will be giving it the 3rd degree when I get it as I know plenty of folk have had set-up issues but so far I’ve liked dealing with this branch.

Different story when you go to one of the big Halfords I reckon. Not pleasant places.

As far as LBS go I’d just like to say mine is about as much use as t1ts on Tarzan. Never have ANYTHING I need in stock and patronising to boot. I try very hard to support them but they really don’t make it easy. Best bike shop in London for us MTB types I know of is Cyclesurgery Highbury. Wall to wall good lads who really know their stuff.

For every 1 decent Halfrogs store; there 30 $hit stores.

Made-up statistic alert.

I assume you’ve frequented at least 31 stores to confirm this?

I got a £600 boardman roadbike on b2w. I’m not going to bother to do masses of research at that price point so I got what was in the shop. Wheels, chain, cassette only lasted ~2000 year round miles but I guess thats not too bad. The good visible kit means they compromise elsewhere, but I’m not bothered as I expected as much. Everything else fine. I don’t reckon you’ll get much better at the same price.

The shop I got it from was not as good as my particular LBS; staff more enthusiastic than professional. But then, they were much better that some of the LBS I’ve been to.

Bet I can show you 2 crap LBS for every 1 crap bike hut.

I’ve worked 2 in Halfords stores, both big uns, Worcester and most recently York. When I was there we had a great team in the cycles dept. Our mechanic was a top bloke, properly trained, knew exactly what he was doing. There were maybe one or two part-timers that didn’t know their handlebars from their wheels but when you need guys to just take money on a busy weekend it’s no problem. I think what a Halfords store has in stock in terms of spares/nice bikes really depends on management. Our manager used to really listen to us guys who knew a thing or two about bikes and, along with all the usual stuff, we had a great stock of spares (including spokes!) and some nice bikes in the shop. He then went on to “head-up” the Cycle Republic in town which, sadly, is closing soon. I knew a couple of the guys working there and they were very knowledgeable. Jobless now of course.

Halfords gets a really bad rep in the cycling world and that’s due to the few cretins that you come across working there. I’ll agree it’s not an ideal shop for all things bike related but if you find one with good staff they’re at least as good (if not better) than a LBS.

My only experience with getting a bike from Halfrogs was when I got a Raleigh road bike replaced on its 10 year warranty. I’d bought the bike 2nd hand, but they still honoured it. Great I thought, free bike!
£50 I think they charged me to build it.
It came with a check list of all these things they’d done, like “Brakes checked” Tick!
I looked it over and found that ALL of the brake blocks were loose and rotated and soon as you pulled the lever.
Bloody dangerous that. (this was amongst other issues)
Haven’t rushed back there.

trail_rat – Member
also
GT bike, better spec and price than from a GT dealer.

wrong .. halfords GT are on a very inferior quality and heavy frame compared to the real GT brand bikes.

try comparing an aggressor (halfords) to an avalanche (lbs) the reason they are cheap is the shit frames that they have…

Absolute bollocks. The frames are the same full stop they are just bought direct from GT and not brought in through a third party.

If you pay peanuts you get…

live in london so choice of lbs is very poor

but my local halfords, wees all over the local evans and action bikes in terms of things like cables, lubes, bearings even tyres

“Absolute bollocks. The frames are the same full stop they are just bought direct from GT and not brought in through a third party.”

so you know the above for a fact or pure speculation ?

Having had the two side by side and infact weighed the frames of the same bikes at the price points i can inform you there is no butting on the halfords range , and the tubing is ALOT thicker ….thus heavier

Not to mention they use a different mech hanger…the above observations made by me were also confirmed by a phone call to hotwheels the official uk importer of GT bicycles into the uk

I agree that they are not brought in through a third party but they are entirely different frames

And when did you do that?
The standard GT ones are not butted either. I take it you cut them in half to see the differences in the tubing thickness? and that you r eyes must be calibrated.

Halfords GT

So apart from one mech hanger being black where is the difference?

cutting up frames is quite fun but no i didnt.

We were looking for the differences in the bicycles as we were quite annoyed that it looked like halfords were undercutting our prices after hotwheels promised us that the bikes were different … and like your self we thought they were having a laugh and the bikes were the same. Till we got our hands on an aggressor

no longer stock GT anyway so not really an issue any more, GTs prices have gone through the roof ….no longer represent good value for money from the lbs IMHO …
halfords can drag em down to their knees AGAIN

Mind you if this is a couple of years back then you are right as they used the year befores frame where as now they are the same.

bought my boardman pro 08 hardtail a few weeks back. well chuffed.
there’s been a few issues which they’ve sorted. there’s now an issue with the fork – they’ve told me to go to leisurelakes – all under warranty. no issues.

the bike was £766 (£1000 this year) although it had the wrong post and saddle on it.

great value – £200 xo mech, x9 shifters etc – in theory it’s the frame that’s the weak spot, can’t fault it tho

ill agree to disagree with you there … as we havnt taken any GTs in at all for comparison this year so ok halfords have taken away there underhand tricks for 09 ….

carry on – nothing to see here !

Saw this on Bikeradar today, apparently from the man himself…

“Hi all,

Forums offer a great sharing of information as long as you feel able to separate fact from fiction and personal agendas which is sometimes hard. I have been watching the forums for some months now and in fact get to read much of what is written on-line in the UK.

With this in mind I thought it was about time I chipped in to let you know you have been heard, share some information and hopefully dispel a couple of inaccuracies too…..so here goes!

In the 2yrs since we kicked off, things have been overwhelmingly good with people really happy with the product. This has been reflected in the many independent reviews we’ve taken part in, the majority of which we have been ranked first in which is nice! This in fact led to some of the issues that people have experienced, but not all:

1. Frequently low Stock levels
2. Patchy mechanical service from Halfords
3. Patchy customer service from Halfords
4. Misconceptions about ‘who’ Boardman are.

I will start with the last issue first:

Who are ‘Boardman’?
Fact: Boardman are an independent company set up and led by former top triathlete, Alan Ingarfield. We design, spec and test our bikes and in the UK, these are available exclusively at Halfords but, Boardman and Halfords are not one and the same. We chose Halfords as our exclusive distributor for four reasons:
* They gave us instant access to a huge number of people, meaning fast
expansion and allowing the high-level of investment in R&D we want to do.
* The scale we could start at allowed us to offer you the bikes we wanted to build at awesome prices.
* They agreed to fully support what we wanted to do in terms of very high specification (and fair play, they have)
* Lastly, they expressed a real desire to use the partnership with us
to move on their own business, more about that in a moment.

So, Boardman Bikes is a completely independent company with full control of product, this will become even more apparent as we expand into other countries, which we plan to do.
We could not have achieved what we have (in less than 2yrs) without working exclusively with Halfords and I’m still very happy we took this route. That doesn’t mean however there aren’t issues to be overcome and that’s the point of this mail.

Low Stock Levels
I don’t think anyone can say hand-on-heart that they could have predicted the incredible demand, particularly on some models, that we have seen. As our exclusive retailer, Halfords are working hard to ensure stock levels are back up ASAP – steps were immediately taken to speed up production and we are well on the way to catching up, but at time of writing, it will still take approx 5 weeks to get fully back up to speed on every model.

Patchy Mechanical and Customer Service
A lot of the posts I read were about these two issues and even after weeding out those that had an axe to grind, there were still too many legitimate issues, so I wrote to Paul McClenaghan, the Commercial Director of Halfords and attached a large selection of forum posts. As soon as he got the mail, Paul contacted me and we arranged to meet. This happened yesterday.
Paul and another board member, Andy Torrance (Store Operations and Logistics Director) had already got together and personally looked at every post. Andy’s immediate response was that many of the issues raised were ‘many of the issues raised were just unacceptable and below the standards that Halfords set’ which was a good start. From this point, lots of ideas were discussed on how the service you receive can/would be improved/made more consistent in the stores that sell the Boardman range.

I am not going to hold myself responsible for how well or how fast Halfords
tackles the issues, I would be making promises that aren’t mine to keep but I can promise I will keep pushing them towards being World Class in this area, which is what they wanted, or at the very least make very clear to the customer what they can and can’t expect from them.
I’ll keep you updated on progress and post actions that Halfords agree to
put in place.

Direct On-line Sales
What I can tell you that’s new, is after hearing what you all had to say,
Halfords have now set up an on-line deliver-to-your-door ready-built option for us, so for those not living near a Halfords which stocks our range, or, for those that would prefer not to go into a Halfords store, it’s an additional way of being able to buy a bike. It’s a great idea, but will it actually work?

In short – yes – I believe it has great potential. I visited the workshop yesterday and spoke to the guys who will be building the bikes, again I can’t make promises that aren’t mine to keep but I can share with you what I saw. The team was a small group of real bike riders who love what they do, which gave me a lot of confidence and the capacity to deal with the demand seemed plausible. I personally think the service will deliver a lot of what people want but if it doesn’t, let me know either via our website or the forums and I’ll be asking why not.

There will always be those that have already decided what their opinion is and that’s that, but for those that haven’t had the best experience so far and have an open mind, I hope this helps a bit. I have absolute faith in our range of products – which has been mirrored not only in the demand from the general public, but from the press and their reviews. We are working hard to bring you the best quality bikes in the UK and we’re also working hard to ensure Halfords continue with the progress they have made in staff training and product knowledge.

So, there you go, I really just wanted to let you know I’ve heard what you’ve said – both good and bad – and it’s appreciated.

Thanks everyone for the overwhelming support so far, we promise to keep it up and keep striving to make even better bikes and I promise to drop in from time-to-time and update you.

Cheers

Chris B
PS Sorry for the long post!”

My Halfords are ok really story; I went in to buy a bike computer because I needed the magnet, I already had a computer…

When I mentioned this, the guy put the computer back and said, ‘Call in tomorrow, I’ve got one at home you can have’.

They are really ok these days, not Ernest Colnago, but certainly as good as a high street kids bike shop shop.

Yeah, mine are too… Over the years I’ve had more bad experiences from LBSs than Halfords, to hear some folks speak you’d think every LBS is wonderful and every Halfords is terrible.

I’ve worked at both Halfords, and a couple of London LBs’s.

My experience at Halfords was both frustrating and demoralising. although they had just started the Bike Hut concept, it was no better than what had been before, tbh; just a few shiny spensive bits in a glass case. Still the same shit Apollo rubbish, and a few lower end GTs. Some of the Carreras were ok though.

I started there really enthusiastic and motivated. Sadly, the team I was in consisted of one person actually passionate about bikes (me), a supervisor who actually hated bikes, and a bunch of young lads who were more inertested in skiving, than actually doing their jobs properly.

Most of the complaints came on days when I was not in, as the rest of ’em were **** useless, mostly. all the typical ‘bikes falling apart in the car park’ stuff, as they just weren’t arsed enough to bother putting the things together propply.

I lasted 8 months, and was suspended for the last three of those (on full pay!), ‘cos of a ‘bit of a fracas’…

I then worked for an outdoor adventure shop, that sold a few bikes, which was pretty boring. Then went to a ‘proper’ bike shop, where I lasted 2 months, before losing my job after a colleague who’d been there a while, and was the son of a close friend of the bosses, made up a pack of lies about all sorts of stuff (later proven to be untrue, and I did get an apology from one of the bosses).

I then worked at Cycle Scurgery. Oh joy; a proper bike shop, with decent people working there, who actually gave a shit, and worked as a team.

I’d become bored by then, and was fortunately made ‘redundant’ (never been sacked, me…).

See, that’s the thing. Anyone with any aspirations beyond the world of bikes won’t be sticking around long enough to make a difference, and most folk in bike shops are just there to get cheap bikes/bits, and be insulted on a monthly basis.

When you’re getting paid the same as someone in McDonalds, yet are expected to show passion and commitment, as well as an extensive knowledge and understanding of the products/activity you are selling, you are being proper exploited. I have every sympathy with anyone working in a bike shop. I woon’t want to do it again.

My local Halfords is ok, for grease/cleaning and stuff like the odd innertube, but I woon’t buy a bike from there (this is the same one I worked in, but a lot shitter now). The Evans at Canary Wharf is ok, actually. Helpful, friendly staff, and one lad gave me a light bracket for nowt recently! There was an arsey Aussie manager bloke there, but I can handle people like that easily.

As for the Scurgery; it’s gone downhill. Still got nice stuff, but it’s nowhere near what it was, sadly (sold up to Snow and Rock; Ben and Steve ran it propply; they were passionate about bikes).

If I need owt these days, I check it out in a shop, then buy online.

Unless I need a spoke….

If I need owt these days, I check it out in a shop, then buy online.

Troll?

Not at all. Most stuff that shops stock can be found cheaper online. Unless the shop offers price matching, or is only slightly more spensive, I’ll buy online.

Might sound bang out of order, but I will try on clothing/footware in shops, to get the correct size, then buy online, if cheaper. Sorry, but it’s simple economics, I’m afraid. I’ll go where it’s cheaper, and save my moneys. I can’t be losing sleep over the loss to the LBS. Capitalism, right? Survival of the fittest and all that? If the LBS can’t offer the same low price as online, then they lose my custom. Of course, if they’ve got something cheap in a sale, then I might buy from them. Otherwise, it’s often online. Last time I needed a new cassette; the LBS wanted £50. Online, it was £33 inc postage. I’m not throwing away £17, just to prop up an outmoded business model…

The reason it sounds bang out of order is because it is.

You do realise that generally shop prices are a bit higher because they have higher overheads. It isn’t an outdated business model, because people go in to try stuff out, and they rely on enough people having morals.

LOL! £17 is not ‘a bit higher’, it’s considerably higher.

Morals? MORALS????

Have you ever worked in retail? 😯

To be fair, if you visit the Bike Hut near St Pauls, its actually pretty damned good and the staff are helpful and know their stuff. Certainly no worse than evans…though I guess thats damning them with faint praise!

Nice to see Rudeboy’s lefty principals last just long enough for him to need to go shopping. Will remember that the next time you lecture us all on Tube strikes or Thatcher being a selfish cow.

As long as you’re all right mate, f**ck the poor sods working in the bike shops.

Sorry, but it’s simple economics,

No, it’s not seeing further than the end of your nose. £17 off a once-a-year purchase is great, if you know exactly what you’re looking for and are happy to buy based on a tiny picture on a computer screen. Otherwise there is still a place for “real” shops.

i get better service in halfords – who don’t know me – than in the local bike shops – where they were, for some period at least, taking a large proportion of my income, month on month.

can’t be bothered with the LBS if they can’t be bothered with me.

I just picked up my Boardman Team Carbon from Halfords (late Bikehut) St Pauls. The cycle2work admin took forever but the guys in there couldnt have been more helpful.