£300 bike, this worth a punt?
Discussion
is it defintely the bottom bracket axle thats loose in the frame, or is it the crank arms that are loose on the bottom bracket axle?
if its the former then it will probably mean a new bottom bracket. depending on the competency of the staff there, and the tools they have at their disposal, this shouldnt take more than half an hour to do.
if its the latter, it probably just needs tightening up good and proper, which should take about 2 minutes. (again assuming they are competent and have the tools)
if its the former then it will probably mean a new bottom bracket. depending on the competency of the staff there, and the tools they have at their disposal, this shouldnt take more than half an hour to do.
if its the latter, it probably just needs tightening up good and proper, which should take about 2 minutes. (again assuming they are competent and have the tools)
And I hate to say this, but if that saddle is at the right height (roughly speaking, lean on a wall, put the pedal to the bottom of its crank revolution, put your heel on it and you leg should be almost arrow straight) then they have sold you a bike which is WAAAAAAAY to big for you. Proportionally, it should look more like this...I'm just under 6' and that's an 18" frame...
Ok, dropped bike off yesterday, they have just rang me asking if i have built the bike or they did! they built it...its missing a part off the bottom bracket thats causing the movement.
Not to happy about how this is going now, when i first dropped it off they asked questions where i had rode it as it had mud on and that sometime people mistreat bikes, now there asking if i have taken it apart and things!
Just had another call, they have replaced the bottom bracket and its ready...the part that was missing was a cup??
Not to happy about how this is going now, when i first dropped it off they asked questions where i had rode it as it had mud on and that sometime people mistreat bikes, now there asking if i have taken it apart and things!
Just had another call, they have replaced the bottom bracket and its ready...the part that was missing was a cup??
CoolC said:
The cup is the seperate part here:
Shame it wasn't fitted at the factory or noticed by the Halfords staff on assembly.
At least that should be the end of the issues and you'll have a great value bike to ride.
Jesus, thats a pretty big bit to bloody miss! Shame it wasn't fitted at the factory or noticed by the Halfords staff on assembly.
At least that should be the end of the issues and you'll have a great value bike to ride.
Let hope i have not lost all confidence in the bike
Nicko_12345 said:
Jesus, thats a pretty big bit to bloody miss!
Let hope i have not lost all confidence in the bike
I'm sure the bike will be fine now, just give everything a quick check before you set off on it again. Let hope i have not lost all confidence in the bike
I have a Vulcan to put together tomorrow. It's a 16th birthday present for my Nephew
Nicko_12345 said:
Jesus, thats a pretty big bit to bloody miss!
to be fair to them, you would have to actually be looking for it to notice it's not there, and the crankset would have come fitted from the factory, so other than a quick check to make sure the crank bolts are done up tight they wont have spent much time on that part of the bike.Nicko_12345 said:
when i first dropped it off they asked questions where i had rode it as it had mud on and that sometime people mistreat bikes, now there asking if i have taken it apart and things!
sadly a lot of people do mistreat bikes. most people regard a £300 bike as being expensive, and that it should be able to take anything they can throw at it. these people then get angry when, having thrown anything they an at it, the bike breaks.and it is very often the case that people will have a go at fixing something themselves before turning it over to a bike shop to deal with, and it can be a pain for the mechanic to have to work out whether something is broken/missing because of wear and tear, accidental damage or people having a go themselves.
I'm guessing the employee you returned it to was not the same person you collected it from?
CoolC said:
The cup is the seperate part here:
Shame it wasn't fitted at the factory or noticed by the Halfords staff on assembly.
At least that should be the end of the issues and you'll have a great value bike to ride.
Shame it wasn't fitted at the factory or noticed by the Halfords staff on assembly.
At least that should be the end of the issues and you'll have a great value bike to ride.
I thought it looked like it was missing a bit ..,Should be fine once it's put back together. I'd still be making a complaint to Half management though: they sold you a bike that was unsafe.
Gizmo! said:
I'd still be making a complaint to Half management though: they sold you a bike that was unsafe.
OP if you do decide to do this^^how well did the cycle section staff handle it?
if they handled it well and were suitably apologetic and sorted the problem as soon as they reasonably could, then point out the problem you had and suggest they check for the same issue on subsequent bikes rather than blaming the staff directly.
i say that because often as not the managers dont have a clue about bikes or indeed building bikes and often have a go at the staff for something that in this case at least, probably isnt their fault.
i speak from experience, having worked in a Halfrauds bikehut for 9 months a few years back
however if the staff there were rubbish and unhelpful, then let 'em have it
OK thought I would update, this is the exact email I have sent to there complaints department this evening:
Hi,
On the 31St of March 2012 I purchased a Carrera Vulcan bike from you Fenton branch for £379.99, I also purchased your 1 year adult bike care pack for £19.99. I had the bike built by the staff at your store and then collected it on Monday the 2nd of April, I did not ride the bike that night as I went to play football. The first time I rode the bike I noticed there was a problem with it, the bottom bracket moved from side to side when I was pedalling, making the chain fall off when I went into top gear. I completed the 5 mile round trip to my mum’s house and on returning home I called your Fenton branch at about 7.20pm, I was told that the bike department was busy and that they would call me back within 10 minutes, after not having a call after 15 minutes I decided to call again, I was told the same thing on this call and I never got a call back at all that night.
I called the store the following morning, I was told that there was no one in the bike department on that morning, but I could make a appointment to bring the bike in later that day which I did, I arrived at the store later that evening and went up to the bike department, I started explaining the problem to the staff member and demonstrated the play in the bottom bracket which he confirmed shouldn’t move like that, what happened then shocked me, the member of staff asked where the mud had come from on the wheels, I thought this was a strange question as I had purchased a MOUNTAIN bike. Delving deeper with his questions he was deliberately trying to put the point across that I had mistreated the 2 day old and less than 6 mile ridden bike, which is totally ridiculous as I had ridden the bike once and only had it two days!! I then left the store leaving the bike there to have the problem fixed.
I called the branch again the following day to see if they had found the fault, they had not had time to look at it yet, the staff called me back a couple of hours later, the conversation was a strange one to say the least, firstly they asked if I built the bike, i didn’t the store assembled it for me, then after that i was asked if i had tried to fix the bike myself, again i hadn’t. He then went on to explain that the reason the bottom bracket was moving was because the “cup” was never fitted to it!! He then went on to say that he needed to check that this was covered by warranty! I found this strange as i had only picked up the bike on Monday!! He then needed to check if they had the part in stock and said he would call me back, upon calling me back he said they had the part in stock on that it had being fitted and was ready to collect. I collected the bike later that day and planned to ride it home from the store, as soon as i got on the bike and pedalled away i turned the handle bars and nothing happened!! Having managed to not crash into a car in the car park i took the bike back into the store and went straight back to the bike department, luckily enough the person who had dealt with me was busy dealing with another customer, therefore giving me time to calm down. I stated the obvious problem and he tightened the handle bars up for me and i left again.
I am totally shocked that one two separate occasions i have left you store with a unsafe bike. I feel that the staff at the store have constantly blamed me for the problems and I feel that the whole experience has being a very stressful and worrying experience.
I am meant to be taking the bike back in 6 weeks for a check, I won’t be taking it back as I do not trust your staff at all, I feel that they are not up to their job! Also I will not be using the £19.99 bike care service either!
I honestly will never set foot in one of your stores again, I am truly shocked and upset with the whole experience.
I do not expect a response to this email, as I expect your customer service is as bad as your in store service.
As you can see, to say I am not happy is a understatement.
Hi,
On the 31St of March 2012 I purchased a Carrera Vulcan bike from you Fenton branch for £379.99, I also purchased your 1 year adult bike care pack for £19.99. I had the bike built by the staff at your store and then collected it on Monday the 2nd of April, I did not ride the bike that night as I went to play football. The first time I rode the bike I noticed there was a problem with it, the bottom bracket moved from side to side when I was pedalling, making the chain fall off when I went into top gear. I completed the 5 mile round trip to my mum’s house and on returning home I called your Fenton branch at about 7.20pm, I was told that the bike department was busy and that they would call me back within 10 minutes, after not having a call after 15 minutes I decided to call again, I was told the same thing on this call and I never got a call back at all that night.
I called the store the following morning, I was told that there was no one in the bike department on that morning, but I could make a appointment to bring the bike in later that day which I did, I arrived at the store later that evening and went up to the bike department, I started explaining the problem to the staff member and demonstrated the play in the bottom bracket which he confirmed shouldn’t move like that, what happened then shocked me, the member of staff asked where the mud had come from on the wheels, I thought this was a strange question as I had purchased a MOUNTAIN bike. Delving deeper with his questions he was deliberately trying to put the point across that I had mistreated the 2 day old and less than 6 mile ridden bike, which is totally ridiculous as I had ridden the bike once and only had it two days!! I then left the store leaving the bike there to have the problem fixed.
I called the branch again the following day to see if they had found the fault, they had not had time to look at it yet, the staff called me back a couple of hours later, the conversation was a strange one to say the least, firstly they asked if I built the bike, i didn’t the store assembled it for me, then after that i was asked if i had tried to fix the bike myself, again i hadn’t. He then went on to explain that the reason the bottom bracket was moving was because the “cup” was never fitted to it!! He then went on to say that he needed to check that this was covered by warranty! I found this strange as i had only picked up the bike on Monday!! He then needed to check if they had the part in stock and said he would call me back, upon calling me back he said they had the part in stock on that it had being fitted and was ready to collect. I collected the bike later that day and planned to ride it home from the store, as soon as i got on the bike and pedalled away i turned the handle bars and nothing happened!! Having managed to not crash into a car in the car park i took the bike back into the store and went straight back to the bike department, luckily enough the person who had dealt with me was busy dealing with another customer, therefore giving me time to calm down. I stated the obvious problem and he tightened the handle bars up for me and i left again.
I am totally shocked that one two separate occasions i have left you store with a unsafe bike. I feel that the staff at the store have constantly blamed me for the problems and I feel that the whole experience has being a very stressful and worrying experience.
I am meant to be taking the bike back in 6 weeks for a check, I won’t be taking it back as I do not trust your staff at all, I feel that they are not up to their job! Also I will not be using the £19.99 bike care service either!
I honestly will never set foot in one of your stores again, I am truly shocked and upset with the whole experience.
I do not expect a response to this email, as I expect your customer service is as bad as your in store service.
As you can see, to say I am not happy is a understatement.
Gizmo! said:
You're a tolerant guy.
After the handlebar event I'd have been demanding compensation...
t mental!can't fathom why they would have undone the stem bolts to resolve the bottom bracket issue. That's very strange.
Though I'm not surprised they asked you those questions when they rang you, we always had to ask similar questions in that sort of situation aswell; standard procedure if you will.
sounds like you got unlucky with the service you got though, as most Halfords stores are fine, and some are very good.
Though I'm not surprised they asked you those questions when they rang you, we always had to ask similar questions in that sort of situation aswell; standard procedure if you will.
sounds like you got unlucky with the service you got though, as most Halfords stores are fine, and some are very good.
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