scoobynutta555

Long post alert!!


Hi, I'm after a bit of advice really. I was interested in a lightish commute/light off road bike and after a bit of research plumper for a Boardman pro carbon ht. On Sunday, I searched Halfords website for a branch and reserved the nearest one, over 10 miles away. I get a call from the branch Monday morning saying they had just the one in stock which was a demo shop floor one, to get a box fresh one would be the best part of a week, would I take the demo model? Also their Boardman trained mechanic had phoned in sick, could I pick up Tuesday.*

I go to the store Tuesday. Boardman mechanic shows me the bike, i have a brief look at the bike, check the suspension which doesn't *fully lock out ( told this is normal), I notice the bike is a bit heavier than I'd imagined. Anyway I *pay circa £1500 for my carbon bike and off I go. It dawns on me when I get home that the cabling for the bike is externally mounted. All the gumph I've read say it should be internal and hidden. I call up the store and question it. The tech says he's baffled, maybe it is an old model. I could take the bike back to the store and pick up the other one they had in sto k. Strange I thought, there was supposed to be just the one carbon ht. I take the bike back within the hour. The tech has finished his shift.I was directed to the other bike by the store gopher. Said bike had internal cabling and etc. The finish on the frame was terrible, no scratches or gouges, but it was if something was spilled all over it. The gopher reckons the paint was coming off.*

Obviously I'm not going to accept this bike either. I leave empty handed with a promise the tech guy calls me up the next day. I do a bit of research over night and am fairly convinced I've been handed a pro alloy ht which is a model £500 cheaper! And this stuff about it being 'old stock and the previous model', sounds all wrong.

I call the shop in the morning and ask for the manager to investigate. The manager gets back to me admitting the tech had prepped an alloy bike and presented it as a carbon. I'm again told I can have the demo which is supposedly ok. *I'm not going to accept this bike as the frame looked all damaged. I'm told the alternative is a weeks wait for another bike.

As it stands now, I've told the manager I'll be in this evening to try and sort this mess out. I was supposed to be away the weekend on this bike, I'll have to cancel this. I'm £1500 down with no bikes and I'll have wracked up
over 60 miles with nothing to show for it. The manager has stated they'll "throw in some accessories as a gesture of goodwill", yet I'm very much peed off with the whole experience! *

I've been completely been put off with a carbon ht, boardman itself and very much with Halfords.*

I'm now considering a hybrid boardman, possibly the pro. This store has all hybrids in stock. Should I go for one of these and push for a heavy discount for the inconvenience? I feel I've been fobbed off. I get 10% off with a nus discount code.

Am I being a bit precious?*

Any advice welcome!

davyboy

Don't buy a hybrid.

Don't buy from Halfords.

tony de wonderful

Buy my bike on ebay.

It's a bit older than a new bike but 10 times the quality of a Chinese carbon frame. You can't just walk in a shop and buy a Time frame.

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/1808178300...84.m1555.l2649

stevep360

iTrader: (20)

Cube fritzz

scoobynutta555

I already have a specialised fcr pro 2008 and a newly built yeti 575 anniversary. This would mainly be a knockabout commute bike.

legacy_gtb

iTrader: (3)

I recently helped a freind who knows nothing about bikes buy her fella one for christmas .... while having a look about i did the token bimble round halfords, but it didnt take too long to figure out they charge like a wounded bull for everything they stock!

My advice would be to get your cash back and buy mail order from somewhere like chainreaction!

The shopping hunt ended up with me getting a right bargain of a felt from a shop called Jejames ... they do next day delivery so you could have it before the weekend!

And id put money on the discount you get will far outweigh the token gesture halfrauds could go too.

Luan Pra bang

IF you read cycling forums there are many many tales of dissapointment from halfrauds.

Luan Pra bang

That seems like alot of bike, how much do you think it will go for ?

tony de wonderful

I'm not sure really. Bikes stuff dates but it is a top quality frame. It's all in good working order too.

lovinmescoob

Scobbynutta555 doesn't the NHS run the cycle to work scheme, worth having a look at if they do, especially if all you want is a knockabout bike !

+Doc+

Full refund, move on and learn not to go back

The Zohan

+1

2000 sport

iTrader: (1)

As has already been said.. Full refund and go to a trustworthy bike shop.

£1500 will get you a lot of bike. Have a look at places like wiggle and chainreactioncycles if you fancy a bargain online.

Frosticles

iTrader: (1)

Get a full refund then go and buy an On One 456 Carbon.

http://www.on-one.co.uk/i/q/PBOOC456..._complete_bike

B0DSKI

iTrader: (17)

How could you mistake a alloy frame for a carbon one

And agree with above NEVER spend £1500 on a bike from Halfords

tony de wonderful

I used to have an on one somethingorother in was a steel frame with horizontal stays. I made it into a single speed with drop bars for work and training. Cheap steel frame made in China but did the job. It was spaced for an MTB hub so used an XC hub with spacers and a mono cog to make it a single speed. For cycling to work I cannot recommend a single speed enough. Almost no maintenance, just ride.

Jamescsti

Halfords are terrible for bikes and equipment. Only reason to go there is if cycle to work forces you to as our company does.
I bought my bike outside the scheme from Evans cycles.

As for hybrid bikes, there are such a wide range under the name "hybrid" they range from what are pretty much mountain bikes with front suspension to what are pretty much road bikes which is what I have.

scoobynutta555

Quite easily it seems. The senior tec in a "bike hut" Halfords (supposedly specialists in bikes) built the thing and he made the error. And theyre surrounded by them all day long. The pro alloy is famed for it's carbon looks, the welds are even rubbed down. Id never seen a carbon ht, having now seen one its an easy mistake for a punter. And I did realise it wasn't carbon, hence the thread ;-)
The boardman range are critically acclaimed and consistently get rave reviews for their value. The weak link is quite obviously the retailer and their bike tecs rather than the hardware itself.

Midlife......

iTrader: (2)

On a slightly different note I looked at the boardman road bikes and you do get a lot of kit for the money.......the guy at the Penrith branch seemed to know his stuff so I guess it's a bit like "chips away"........it depends on the bloke who you deal with.

In the end I went for a Basso simply because of the quality of the frame

Shaun

Alg

Just tapping the frame with a fingernail would tell the "Tech" what it was made from. Distinctly different sounds.

tony de wonderful

Oh dear for not being able to tell the difference but live and learn.

Boardman are just enough company buying cheap Chinese frames. They are probably all made at the Giant factory. Seriously every bike maker does this really except a few boutique brands.

All Boardman do is contract cheap frame to be made in China, then they bolt on the OEM stuff like wheels and group sets there or ship the frames here and do it here.

So Boardman actually make nothing just get their painted on the frame, choose what OEM parts to add, then pimp them out in Halfords, after paying Chris Boardman for whoring his name to them.

I'd seriously never buy a Boardman if I was still riding. For my main bike I would probably looks for an old but serviceable Colnago Master X steel frame, then bolt on my choice of components.

Half the fun of cycling was tinkering with bikes and building them up bespoke.

I hope to ride one day again...

Midlife......

iTrader: (2)

Whilst the above is true it's just the way the global market goes............. I bought a Moser / Clumbus frame the other day to tinker with but doubt that would suit most people.

If I was wanting a bike I would still consider a Boardman road or CX bike because of the bang per buck for a new bike...............

Shaun

Jamescsti

I enjoy cycling and do so on a daily basis, tinkering with it isn't my thing though, I'd rather pay someone else to do it, I can change brake pads but that's about my limit.
That and washing, degreasing chain and all that sort of general maintenance stuff.

tony de wonderful

It's dead easy compared to a car. Just there are a few tools which you need and often bottom brackets have their own proprietary tool.

In the days before pre-packed bearing races and feed through forks it was more fiddly.

stiscooby

IMO - Dont buy from Halfrauds!

I know a year or two back when I was looking at getting a new MTB I went into Halfrauds to take a look at a Carrera (which people on bike forums seemed to rate well at the time for the £'s). While I was in there a guy had come in to pick up his "repaired" bike but then returned about 5 mins later as he had started to ride it across the car park, going home, only to have it fall to bits lol. He dragged it back into the store and went into one at the bell-ends behind the desk. They all stood there scratching their heads "oh, dunno what has happened there sir!".

I had seen enough and ended up getting my new bike from a "proper" local bike shop.

From what I have seen most people working in Halfrauds are people just out of school, have no clue about bikes or what they are doing with them.

Another time I ordered some lights and bits from them via their web site (used them as I had some vouchers). Some items were out of stock so a few days later I got a call to say all items were now in stock so ready to collect.

Then went across town to pickup items, got there - muppet behind counter didn't know anything about it, couldn't find details of my order, even though I had my REF?!?!? I then pointed out all the items I wanted were on the shelf, but more expensive as you got a discount from ordering on line, but he couldn't do this discount because thats "on line". I then proceeded to tell him not my problem as I got a message from one of your monkeys here telling me my items are ready so where are they? "errm dont know sir"..... FFS!!!! I then told him to go get his manager - long and short manager just grabbed stuff off the shelf and charged me same price as web site, job done, what a load of hassle.

Never use them again if I can help it.

An0n0m0us

Alternatively if you really want the particular bike try to find another store with better staff and certainly one that doesn't sell you the wrong bike. If need be go via head office/customer services about what has happened to date and how out of pocket you are.

SiPie

I fought for over 2 years to get my employer to enter the bike to work scheme (700 employees so wrongly thought it would be a formality! but that's another story)

Anyway, finally there was reason to celebrate after they agreed following my numerous presentations to infinite committees

I had proposed that they chose a well respected local bike shop with a great reputation but alas no, they wanted to use Halfrauds

So I contacted a pal of mine whose employer used halfords and managed to get my hands on their list of 'issues' that they'd collated over the years re Halfords. Believe me it made shocking reading. Countless cases of wrong sized frames or incorrect models supplied. The highlight (lowlight) that stuck in my mind was a guy who had the wrong bike and accessories delivered went back and forward for ages and his final email said "contact me when you have my 20" xyz bike and xyz list of accessories assembled and ready for collection". One week later he got a phone call telling him that his mudguards were ready to be collected

Made such great reading that my employer agreed to use the LBS instead

I won't even bother with my experiences with halfords and bike parts many years ago before I knew any better !

Stay clear and by the way, the problems that my mate has encountered with his Boardman hybrid are plentiful

scoobynutta555

Right, a quick update. Last night when I went back to the store I was offered a bottle cage and a bottle for the alternative bike they had in stock (hybrid pro) I was bowled over by the offer. I asked for some time to consider the offer, whilst taking a refund as this couldn't be done remotely. I called back today saying Id take the bike if there was a discount that reflected the nature of the problems and time/expense I've wasted. They offered me 10% off after supposedly clearing this with
head office.
I purchased the original bike with a 10% discount anyway which they were aware of. In essence, I could walk into any Halfords and get a 10% discount anyway, so it was a meaningless gesture worth nothing.

I'm going to contact Halfords customer service and Boardman themselves. I expect much the same response if any.