Took my back wheel in for new bearings a couple of weeks back as I couldn't find my cone spanners. Still felt as rough as old boots, so today I stripped it down again. Freehub is knackered as I expected (on order elsewhere). What did surprise me though was that they changed the bearings and one cone on one side leaving a badly pitted cone still fitted.
Twitter is a good one, friend of mine did just that about one of the energy suppliers following several unsuccessful e-mails etc. Only took a few hours and they managed to see his point of view!!
I helped out a young lady on a shiny new Apollo hybrid today; she was by the side of the road wrestling with the transmission, probably exploring the outer limits of her vocabulary under her breath. I managed to extract the chain so that she could continue her ride.
She'd shifted onto the big ring and the chain had gone over the top and jammed between the chainguard and the big chainring. I wasn't surprised; the mech was set too high (by about 1/2") and was adjusted wrongly so that even in top gear, the inner plate of the front mech was set to rub.
Bought and fettled in Halfords, only done about twenty miles.... I suggested that she might think about going to a proper bike shop instead....
Hi, Halfords should really start being a bike shop instead of another Quick Fit...........................
NA Thinks Just End 2 End Return + Bivvy - Some day Soon I hope You'll Still Find Me At The Top Of A Hill Please forgive the poor Grammar I blame it on my mobile and phat thinkers.
NATURAL ANKLING wrote:Hi, Halfords should really start being a bike shop instead of another Quick Fit...........................
They are very much a Kwik fit outfit, want a job doing properly? Do it yourself.
To be fair my local Halfords did a reasonable job on initial set up, I didn't bother taking it back for the '6 week service' as the only thing that needed doing was to nip the head bolts up.
Hi, Still Toying with the idea of going bike repair freelance. Thirty years ago I jumped straight in to motorcycle repairs even though it was just a hobby................. Back then 50 % of repairs were electrical....I've a hobby in electronics Wonder what would be my main job on cycles..........................
NA Thinks Just End 2 End Return + Bivvy - Some day Soon I hope You'll Still Find Me At The Top Of A Hill Please forgive the poor Grammar I blame it on my mobile and phat thinkers.
NATURAL ANKLING wrote:Hi, Still Toying with the idea of going bike repair freelance. Thirty years ago I jumped straight in to motorcycle repairs even though it was just a hobby................. Back then 50 % of repairs were electrical....I've a hobby in electronics Wonder what would be my main job on cycles..........................
How about a service keeping flaking Di2 transmissions on the road?
My experience with Halfords has been good; they injected that slime stuff into my Brompton's tyres, think it was a tenner total including labour. One of the valves went and I took it back under (the 2 year) guarantee. Telling me I would have to pay for the stuff that wasn't under guarantee (fair enough) but that it wouldn't take long, they took a lot longer, so made no charge - I got new slime and a new tube + labour, must have amounted to £20 FOC. When I said the experience was good, I didn't just mean the work carried out, but also the attitude which, all too often seems to be wrong in many other bike shops.
OTOH...took said Brompton for a "Silver" service - £60 - at Evans. Thinking that because they sold them, they would be better at servicing them (unlike my local Halfords who gave the impression they'd never seen one close up), I paid the bill and found that the 3 speed SA was out of adjustment (I put this right) and the rear brakes had been adjusted with the cable ferrule stuck outside, leaving excessive gaps between the pads and rims...Very basic mistakes which should have been picked before collection. In addition, they advertise a "Brompton Specific Service" at £175(!), but told me they cannot do all the work in that branch; some of it needs to be done in one of the London branches...
I bought a brand new Boardman £1000 bike, bottom bracket had been x threaded and on first ride after some miles I stood on the pedals at a junction and it all came out and I fell backwards and was unconscious for 15 mins rushed by ambulance to A and E . They are not good at paying compensation either
Theres a story going around facebook atm and it made it into the daily record, about a mum who wanted to buy her little boy a new bike. The kid saw one in Halfords and on trying to buy it, Halfords told her it would take them 3 days to build it up. Little boy was upset as you can imagine, finds his dream bike and can't ride the flippin thing till Halfords sort it out. Luckily, a passer by heard the commotion and offered to build it for him. Bike was ready in 20 mins. Happy kiddie.
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“Ride as much or as little, or as long or as short as you feel. But ride.” ~ Eddy Merckx It's a rich man whos children run to him when his pockets are empty.
Vantage wrote:Theres a story going around facebook atm and it made it into the daily record, about a mum who wanted to buy her little boy a new bike. The kid saw one in Halfords and on trying to buy it, Halfords told her it would take them 3 days to build it up. Little boy was upset as you can imagine, finds his dream bike and can't ride the flippin thing till Halfords sort it out. Luckily, a passer by heard the commotion and offered to build it for him. Bike was ready in 20 mins. Happy kiddie.
Why expect Halford's to be a great bike shop? It's just like most shops these days - full of poverty wage staff who know next to nothing about what the shop sells.
As for the story about taking 3 days to get something ready for a customer, that's wholly unremarkable in my experience of buying lots of things.
yes dont put down Halfords too much - is a very useful place to get stuff for maintaining bikes/cars/motorbikes. tools/sockets/oil/nuts and bolts. I got my camping kettle and pan set there and a good one it is for £20. The Woolworths of things mechanical? And ( my local store in Brixton ) dont mind me wheeling my bike in the store
Last edited by mercalia on 6 May 2015, 1:29pm, edited 1 time in total.
