Halfords In-Store Bike build problems

[simonhill]

You can get lucky or unlucky with bike mechanics because there is very little or no legislation around competence and training. Bike shops are free to employ anyone and everyone as mechanics, including those with little to no experience.

I agree, but isn't this the case with most manual work. Gas and electricity being the main exceptions. As far as I know, anyone can set up a garage and service cars, start repairing white goods, building work, etc. The more white collar professions require certified training eg surveyors, accountants, etc.

Would we welcome only certified bike mechanics being allowed to work on bikes, with all the ramifications.

[KTHSullivan]

Most engineering "titles" are quite seriously regulated throughout Europe ( Technician/Engineer); as there is a requirement for the individuals that practice in such processes to be suitably qualified and experienced. Whereas if you want to call oneself a "technician" in the UK there is realistically nothing stopping you. Aircraft and Marine engineering has always been highly regulated as one would expect. However, not until an application is made within the UK by an individual for technician/incorporated/chartered engineer status via a learned body do those post nominals become meaningful. So someone employed with the job title "technician" in the UK may not be such in the eyes of the Engineering Council that grants said title to those that are indeed suitably qualified.

[gregoryoftours]

You can get lucky or unlucky with bike mechanics because there is very little or no legislation around competence and training. Bike shops are free to employ anyone and everyone as mechanics, including those with little to no experience.

I agree, but isn't this the case with most manual work. Gas and electricity being the main exceptions. As far as I know, anyone can set up a garage and service cars, start repairing white goods, building work, etc. The more white collar professions require certified training eg surveyors, accountants, etc.

Would we welcome only certified bike mechanics being allowed to work on bikes, with all the ramifications.

Wow, I had no idea that garage mechanics have no legal requirements for qualification/training. I always assumed that they did and that was why labor for work on motor vehicles is more expensive. In fact I assumed that pretty much all other skilled labour was heavily regulated.

I also assumed that because there are much more stringent laws governing the condition of motor vehicles that the same would have to be true for the mechanics working on them.

Some shops for example the one I work at invest in their staff and all mechanics who work on people's bikes are at least Cytech 2 qualified. Our labour charges are similar to other bike shops including Halfords.

If my small organisation can afford to do it, Halfords and other big shops are perfectly capable of shelling out the money, but obviously that is not where their priorities lie. They expect high staff turnover and are purely profit driven so don't invest in their staff, but that's a bit of a vicious circle.

[Bonzo Banana]

I've only bought one bike from Halfords and that was about 10 years ago and that was in Yeovil. It was a Carrera Subway 8 with Nexus 8 hub gears and hub brakes. I think I paid £240 for it and had £80 of spending for other items thanks to an offer at the time. I think I'd used a cashback site and bought cheap Halfords gift cards. Anyway it was a very cheap purchase for what it is.

I had it built by my local store and when I went to collect it they had discovered the bottom bracket was faulty and had replaced with a much higher quality Shimano unit for free. The bike rode brilliantly from the store and I was super chuffed with it and after 6-8 weeks I took it back for its free service and it was fine after that too. That was the last time i took it back as I did maintenance myself to save money.

It should be pointed out Halfords have a huge slice of the UK market, its something like 500 stores and they have about 25% or more of all cycling revenue in the UK and maybe upto 40% of bike sales by volume (because of their lower prices). You are always going to hear more horror stories about Halfords because they are such a huge player in the market. There are many independent bike shops that offer horrible service plus much higher prices but they simply don't have the volume of sales to generate the same negativity. That is no excuse for the poor service some people have received but you have to factor in there are about 1200 independent bike shops in the UK and you will likely find that the 500 Halfords stores sell a lot more bikes than those 1200 stores and those 1200 stores will be selling a lot more premium bikes generally which will come to their stores in a better state needing less work.

Personally I'm a huge fan of Halfords but if I was buying a carbon fibre road bike there is no way I would let them assemble it for me but the same is true of Decathlon, Evans, Go Outdoors and many independent bike shops. I would just be too worried they would over-tighten a few bolts and compromise the frame or forks etc. The sort of independent bike shops I'd be happy to work on my bike I can't afford to buy from.

[Jamesh]

+1

Cheers James

[hondated]

To give this thread some balance my Grandson works for them part time and unbelievably they get buyers coming back because they've just had a puncture on their new bike.

[Ride-sleep-repeat]

To give this thread some balance my Grandson works for them part time and unbelievably they get buyers coming back because they've just had a puncture on their new bike.

IIRC the one my mate works at charges £10(inc tube)as they replace the tube not repair and they have to turn many away because they wouldn't have time to do anything else if they accepted them all
You'd be surprised how many CC riders can't do it let alone Joe Bloggs bringing his 6 year old childs bike in

[pliptrot]

As a (real) professional engineer it pains me to see how casually the term "engineer" is used, and not just in The UK. But why worry? You might have spent 6 years at university and have the right to put the term "doctor" before your name but you will be paid the same as a bus driver. Anyhow- back to Halfords: it is - as everywhere and everything- a lottery who you get. I bought a bike from them (I have mentioned this before on here) and found a crack in the frame at the shop. 24 hours later they had rebuilt it on a new (much better) frame and it was A+ from the get go. I asked what the price adder was and was told 0. The bottom bracket threads had been greased, the gear adjustment was perfect and the cables were perfectly cut. I'd go back there before many of the LBSs I have dealt with. But the pleasant young man who did this has no doubt moved on. Possibly to university, and I imagine he was smart enough to read something other than engineering.

[RossiA]

To the original topic... Do you have any update on how Halfords resolved your issue?

I ask because I have had a similar experience in the last week with poor build quality leading to an accident. I'm currently waiting to hear back from Halfords.

Thanks

[Barrowman]

Haven't read all the posts , I know there are some excellent mechanics working for Halfords, but there are quite a few examples ( some detailed here) of bikes coming out of Halfords with the forks in backwards . As someone else has said, if you haven't tightened it do you trust who (supposedly) did.

[jb]

I would never buy any type of bicycle from Halfords.

I would buy a certain type of bike from Halfords but I would never let them assemble it.

Doubtless there are good conscientious mechanics there but they seem to be heavily diluted by the couldn't care less brigade and as you can't pick and choose your builder don't let them. The bikes themselves will be what it says on the tin, if you get decent spec components you will have a reasonable bike.

[Airsporter1st]

You can get lucky or unlucky with bike mechanics because there is very little or no legislation around competence and training. Bike shops are free to employ anyone and everyone as mechanics, including those with little to no experience.

I agree, but isn't this the case with most manual work. Gas and electricity being the main exceptions. As far as I know, anyone can set up a garage and service cars, start repairing white goods, building work, etc. The more white collar professions require certified training eg surveyors, accountants, etc.

Would we welcome only certified bike mechanics being allowed to work on bikes, with all the ramifications.

Don’t think that they are automatically any better - you will find similar incidences of shoddy/unsafe work amongst them too.

I well remember a CORGI (forerunner of GasSafe) registered technician installing a combi boiler over our kitchen work top - stripping back the insulation on the wiring far too much, leaving a good 1/2” of bare conductors showing outside the terminal block.
He was most indignant when I pointed it out - even more so when I stood over him while he ran a new canle.

[ANTONISH]

Looking at the original reason for this thread I wonder if one of the problems is the required torque settings for bolts.
The settings can be quite low and tolerances between male and female threads could effect the torque needed.
I remember a few years ago in a shop of a well known retailer (not Halfords) when a woman brought in her newly purchased bike.
The front changer had slipped down the seat tube.
The mechanic came out of the workshop and was mystified "because I always use the correct torque setting" - the bike was taken into the workshop and reappeared with a secure front changer - I suspect the torque used may not have been the officially approved one.
As it happens I have a Dolan titanium bike (no problems thanks for asking) which has a carbon seat pillar - the official torque setting didn't secure it in the frame and I had to adjust the setting upwards - no problems in six years although the experience has confirmed my prejudice against carbon components.

[SummitFreedom]

Damn. So after reading this thread, I don't think I will be buying a cycle from halfrods. I think I will be better off buying from my LBS?

[rareposter]

Damn. So after reading this thread, I don't think I will be buying a cycle from halfrods. I think I will be better off buying from my LBS?

What you've got to remember though is that Halfords is far and away the biggest nationwide retailer of bicycles and the majority of their market is very much the entry level and kids end where you have cheap bikes with cheap parts that are inherently more unreliable/less durable than more expensive bikes so, by the law of averages, you're going to hear more horror stories about them.

It fails to account for the thousands of people who buy bikes there every year and never have any issues with them.

Equally that also doesn't account for the people riding round on bikes that are badly built but the customer is completely unaware of this and the bike doesn't actually break or fail!

And there's the benefit that, as a nationwide retailer, they have a decent dealer network who'll generally be able to sort anything out, get spare parts etc.