Halford's Sale

[Vespula]

Ends today, ordered mine.
GT Aggressor XC 3 Mountain Bike, Hydraulic brakes etc. £299

http://www.halfords.com/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/...

[Loki660]

I wouldn't buy a bike from Halfords, Motor World etc. (discount suppliers) since they're only interested in money. Go to a specialised bike dealer as they'll know what they're talking about.

e.g.

http://www.evanscycles.com/

[Mandog]

Evans Cycles and not interested in making money. How ironic.

Can't go wrong with a £300 GT bike.

[Zippee]

Loki660 said:

I wouldn't buy a bike from Halfords, Motor World etc. (discount suppliers) since they're only interested in money. Go to a specialised bike dealer as they'll know what they're talking about.

e.g.

http://www.evanscycles.com/

If you know what you want and don't need advice then go wheres cheapest. If that happens to be Halfords or equivalent then so be it!

[anonymous-user]

Loki660 said:

I wouldn't buy a bike from Halfords, Motor World etc. (discount suppliers) since they're only interested in money. Go to a specialised bike dealer as they'll know what they're talking about.

e.g.

http://www.evanscycles.com/

cobblers...i have heard more bullst spouted about bikes by employees of evans than in any other cycle shop and the Konas and GTs etc that Halfords sell are identical to the Konas and GTs sold by Evans. if you can prove me wrong i will buy you one.

i accept the Halfords final assembly can be somewhat unreliable but to be honest, if you buy a bike and ride it without first giving it the once over yourself, you are a moron.

now back to that Boardman pro carbon i am looking at, you know the one with zipp 404s, sram red gruppo...oh wait, its from halfrods....must be st....

[Accelebrate]

For what it's worth I got seriously messed around by Evans a few years back when trying to buy a bike, vowed never to go anywhere near them again.

Whilst the assistants are a bit of a mixed bunch I've never had any issues with Halfords.

[Gnarlybluesurf]

Loki660 said:

I wouldn't buy a bike from Halfords, Motor World etc. (discount suppliers) since they're only interested in money. Go to a specialised bike dealer as they'll know what they're talking about.

e.g.

http://www.evanscycles.com/

Personally I've never come across a bike shop more interested in making money out of you than Evans cycles.... Halfords critics largely complain about the mechanics there but this can be helped by choosing the larger ones that are set up as "bike huts", their prices when they have their online specials are some of the best on the web... Do you work for evans or were you just trying to open the worm can?

[Loki660]

NoI don't work for Evans, I gave evans as an example, hence the e.g. (latin meaning 'for sake an example') and which one would you choose a specialist bicycle dealer or discount supplier which specialises in nothing but deals in everything?

Or to put it another way, if you required a specialised part for a very specialised car:

Would you go to a Halfords, Motor World or an Andrew Page?

So if you required a specialised bike, you would go to a specialised bicycle dealer.

[anonymous-user]

Loki660 said:

NoI don't work for Evans, I gave evans as an example, hence the e.g. (latin meaning 'for sake an example') and which one would you choose a specialist bicycle dealer or discount supplier which specialises in nothing but deals in everything?

Or to put it another way, if you required a specialised part for a very specialised car:

Would you go to a Halfords, Motor World or an Andrew Page?

So if you required a specialised bike, you would go to a specialised bicycle dealer.

I think you have missed the point. As stated, Halfords sell THE SAME BIKES as Evans et al (because you like your latin) so they can by rights be no better or no worse regardless of where you choose to buy them. Now, you can get bad advice but its a case of caveat empor (see what i did there!) and if you do your research properly, you can get the right size etc regardless of whom you buy it from.

your attitude towards halfords and bicycles is based on nothing other than snobbery.

as for your second example, if it is a specialist part for a specialist car, why would halfords stock it in the first place? they deal with high throughout items for everyday cars, its not their business model to stock parts for an E-type or a Ferrari!

[Loki660]

pablo said:

Loki660 said:

NoI don't work for Evans, I gave evans as an example, hence the e.g. (latin meaning 'for sake an example') and which one would you choose a specialist bicycle dealer or discount supplier which specialises in nothing but deals in everything?

Or to put it another way, if you required a specialised part for a very specialised car:

Would you go to a Halfords, Motor World or an Andrew Page?

So if you required a specialised bike, you would go to a specialised bicycle dealer.

I think you have missed the point. As stated, Halfords sell THE SAME BIKES as Evans et al (because you like your latin) so they can by rights be no better or no worse regardless of where you choose to buy them. Now, you can get bad advice but its a case of caveat empor (see what i did there!) and if you do your research properly, you can get the right size etc regardless of whom you buy it from.

your attitude towards halfords and bicycles is based on nothing other than snobbery.

as for your second example, if it is a specialist part for a specialist car, why would halfords stock it in the first place? they deal with high throughout items for everyday cars, its not their business model to stock parts for an E-type or a Ferrari!

So I can get a Trek bike (http://www.trekbikes.com/uk/en/) from Halfords?

[mk1fan]

You can if you go through Cyclescheme.

There's nowt specialised about a £300 GT or any £300 bike. The biking equivilant of a Pug 306 / Ford Focus.

Edited by mk1fan on Friday 5th March 16:06

[markoc]

The GT sounds great - and now the weather is turning it is perfect for getting some miles under it! The first "proper" MTB I bought was a GT Talera back in the day (1993 ish) and I remember it costing me £349. Bought on a whim, and largely due to a crazy paintjob. You get a hell of a lot more bike for your money now.

Personally I wouldn't buy from Halfords, but that is because they don't stock the kind of bike I'm aiming at - mid to top end full suss for my next purchase in the summer. That said, I equally won't be going to Evans (where I bought my last bike) as they were royally rubbish.

[Gnarlybluesurf]

markoc said:

Personally I wouldn't buy from Halfords, but that is because they don't stock the kind of bike I'm aiming at - mid to top end full suss for my next purchase in the summer.

It must be magic... they seem to do those too and some knowitalls seems to have given them the odd award....

http://www.boardmanbikes.com/mtbfs/fs_pro.html

[Gnarlybluesurf]

Loki660 said:

So if you required a specialised bike, you would go to a specialised bicycle dealer.

When you say "a specialised bike" would you mean what Cycling News voted to be Performance Bike of the Year?

http://www.boardmanbikes.com/road/road_pro_carbon....

Or maybe a bike that won What Mountain Bikes Editors Choice?

http://www.boardmanbikes.com/mtbht/ht_Pro.html

Or another one that got the same award in a different category?

http://www.boardmanbikes.com/mtbfs/fs_pro.html

Or was it a typo and you really meant this?

http://www.specialized.com/gb/en/bc/SBCDealerLoc.j...

[markoc]

Gnarlybluesurf said:

markoc said:

Personally I wouldn't buy from Halfords, but that is because they don't stock the kind of bike I'm aiming at - mid to top end full suss for my next purchase in the summer.

It must be magic... they seem to do those too and some knowitalls seems to have given them the odd award....

http://www.boardmanbikes.com/mtbfs/fs_pro.html

Last time I checked they didn't stock Lapierre or Orange... and given I'm looking at a Zesty or a Five I'm guessing I'm not going to get it at Halfords.

I will freely admit Boardman are hugely underrated.

[Gnarlybluesurf]

markoc said:

Gnarlybluesurf said:

markoc said:

Personally I wouldn't buy from Halfords, but that is because they don't stock the kind of bike I'm aiming at - mid to top end full suss for my next purchase in the summer.

It must be magic... they seem to do those too and some knowitalls seems to have given them the odd award....

http://www.boardmanbikes.com/mtbfs/fs_pro.html

Last time I checked they didn't stock Lapierre or Orange... and given I'm looking at a Zesty or a Five I'm guessing I'm not going to get it at Halfords.

I will freely admit Boardman are hugely underrated.

I think we may have been working in different price brackets.....

[Nick_F]

markoc said:

Gnarlybluesurf said:

markoc said:

Personally I wouldn't buy from Halfords, but that is because they don't stock the kind of bike I'm aiming at - mid to top end full suss for my next purchase in the summer.

It must be magic... they seem to do those too and some knowitalls seems to have given them the odd award....

http://www.boardmanbikes.com/mtbfs/fs_pro.html

Last time I checked they didn't stock Lapierre or Orange... and given I'm looking at a Zesty or a Five I'm guessing I'm not going to get it at Halfords.

I will freely admit Boardman are hugely underrated.

They don;t need to be stockists: my Merlin Rock Lobster came via Halfords Cycle-to-Work.

[R60EST]

Thanks to this thread I've just been down to Halfords and ordered one of these for collection tomorrow.
I have been mulling over buying a bike and for the money nothing else comes close, it's had some fairly decent reviews too.

[Rich_W]

Who actually makes Boardman bikes? I'm guessing he's not actually running a factory 5 days a week and it's more a "name branding" thing.

I have to admit if I was about to spend £1500+ I wouldn't consider that bike. I would wonder just how good the frame is to get those wheels and components at that price. Something has to give in that situation.

I'd be looking at the more established names. Not just the usual 3 examples of Giant, Spec and Trek. Though there isn't anything actually wrong with those 3 of course. On a related note would Halfords staff really be able to advise you on correct fit. Hell, some specialist bike shops can't even get that right. What hope the part timers?

[anonymous-user]

Rich_W said:

Who actually makes Boardman bikes? I'm guessing he's not actually running a factory 5 days a week and it's more a "name branding" thing.

I have to admit if I was about to spend £1500+ I wouldn't consider that bike. I would wonder just how good the frame is to get those wheels and components at that price. Something has to give in that situation.

I'd be looking at the more established names. Not just the usual 3 examples of Giant, Spec and Trek. Though there isn't anything actually wrong with those 3 of course. On a related note would Halfords staff really be able to advise you on correct fit. Hell, some specialist bike shops can't even get that right. What hope the part timers?

in short, boardman gare made in the same factory as merida www.merida-bikes.com and lets just say that an awful lot of other people get frames built there including specialized bikes which come from the merida factory too so..... well its fair to say the Boardman frames arent knocked together in some back stret in taiwan... this is what the likes of specialized and trek dont want you to know and use your ignorance as the basis for their sales. if you had some time you could get the geometry info and find out which specialized your boardman could well be!...

boardman got a significant helping hand from halfords as a result of letting halfords be sole supplier. they also got some great press feedback from the early bikes and boardman guys knew that demand would be high. also, chris wasnt going to put his name to any ste as he had too much to lose.

halfords do take their bikes seriously, they sponsor the national road race series and the guys who work in the larger stores are keen enthusiasts and ride a lot themselves. this snobbery against them annoys me a lot.