Soooo, you're saying it's safe to buy and service from Halfords?
What if I buy the bike from Halfords but get my LBS to build it and service it (if they would)?
Soooo, you're saying it's safe to buy and service from Halfords?
This happens hundreds of times a day up and down the country.SummitFreedom wrote: ↑8 Jun 2023, 7:20pm Soooo, you're saying it's safe to buy and service from Halfords?
Halfords won't do that, they're legally obliged to build it for you and even if they would sell you a boxed bike (they won't), your LBS will be rather miffed at having to build it up and they'll charge full price labour.SummitFreedom wrote: ↑8 Jun 2023, 7:20pm What if I buy the bike from Halfords but get my LBS to build it and service it (if they would)?
This is on the Halfrods cycle page when buying a cycle:rareposter wrote: ↑8 Jun 2023, 7:39pmThis happens hundreds of times a day up and down the country.SummitFreedom wrote: ↑8 Jun 2023, 7:20pm Soooo, you're saying it's safe to buy and service from Halfords?
Halfords won't do that, they're legally obliged to build it for you and even if they would sell you a boxed bike (they won't), your LBS will be rather miffed at having to build it up and they'll charge full price labour.SummitFreedom wrote: ↑8 Jun 2023, 7:20pm What if I buy the bike from Halfords but get my LBS to build it and service it (if they would)?
Who said anything about delivery?rareposter wrote: ↑8 Jun 2023, 9:51pm When a shop sells a bike by mail order, they build it up to check it all works, all the bits are there etc and then they do some limited disassembly (to put it back in the box, things like wheels off, pedals off, bars turned around).
Then they send it out and you are expected to put the wheels and pedals on, tighten everything up and so on. Relatively basic, it's not as comprehensive as a full bike build from the state they arrive from the factory. That's what "boxed" means in this context.
What I can't understand is why you'd spend £465 on a Carrera from Halfords, plus £35 for delivery, plus the cost of a bike build and setup from your LBS (which I'd guess will be about £50). We're up at £550, you may as well just go to the LBS and buy the Giant which they'll build and set up for you included in the price.
I think this goes a long way to explaining the issue. This rate is clearly discounted considerably to make it more manageable and attractive to the budget-conscious. IME, the cheaper Halfords offerings always take longer to set up.SummitFreedom wrote: ↑9 Jun 2023, 3:17am For those that are less than £350, one of our expert technicians can build the bike plus conduct a full safety check, for only £10.
It also fails to account for those who do have issues after buying from the sainted LBS.rareposter wrote: ↑8 Jun 2023, 6:42pm It fails to account for the thousands of people who buy bikes there every year and never have any issues with them.
It’s a question of who you trust. Halfords is not a ‘bad place to shop’. There are branches that have shown questionable working practices and their cheaper bicycles need a careful hand in assembly. My advice is go ahead and buy but consider having the bike assembled, or at the very least checked, independently. As I have mentioned before, Halfords have shown that they accept their shortcomings in that respect and will reimburse customers accordingly (we can leave the semantics of that statement for another time).SummitFreedom wrote: ↑9 Jun 2023, 8:26am So.... It's safe to buy from halfords and have the cycle serviced there?
At this stage (and having seen the litany of questions on various aspects of the bike and the purchasing), I would be inclined to stick to one retailer.peetee wrote: ↑9 Jun 2023, 10:13amMy advice is go ahead and buy but consider having the bike assembled, or at the very least checked, independently.SummitFreedom wrote: ↑9 Jun 2023, 8:26am So.... It's safe to buy from halfords and have the cycle serviced there?