Planet X vs Halfords

gtvlusso

Hi All,

I am stuck in the Planet X versus Halfords battle. Would have simply bought the Carbon SL.

I have my £1000 LOC - cyclescheme - but now cannot buy from Planet X due to the "fallout".

Any other thoughts? Looked at Ribble bikes - any experiences?

Does anyone rate the Boardman Team bike (easy option!)? Will be used for summer commuting and some racing.

Thanks

G

SBothwell

Halfords have a new Carrera road bike model, the 'Virago' up on their website for 999.99 - apparently its a carbon monocoque with ultegra and truvativ finishing kit. Not actually seen one in any of the local Halfords, but might be worth asking them to get one in for you to look at? Also appears to only be available in 54 or 58 cm, but again it might be worth your while asking - looks like it might be closed to the planet X deal than the Boardman is?

alfablue

gtvlusso wrote:

I have my £1000 LOC - cyclescheme - but now cannot buy from Planet X due to the "fallout".

Is it really through Cycllescheme or is it Bike2Work (Halfords flavour), if the former, PX are now signed up to cyclescheme. Another option if you are stuck with Halfords, maybe they will supply it by purchasing from one of the few Planet-X dealers, likeTri-central, or Geoffrey Butler.

gtvlusso

Thanks AlfaBlue - will give it a shot. It is Halfords Bike to Work.

calculas

I bought a focus culebro from Wiggle through the halfords scheme and they confirmed I could buy any 2008 through Wiggle and they will also order from Dolan.

If you speak to them they'll let you know which bikes you can order.

graeme_s-2

If you can order from Wiggle, then a Focus Cayo could be a pretty attractive alternative to the PX.

schilbach

I have Halfords as my Cycle2work provider - and they do special orders - that's how I got my Focus Cayo - phone them up order it - and get it delivered to your local halfords!

davelakers

Its good to know they can get a Focus through Halfords. I had planned to get a Planet X in the summer, but I think I'll get a Cayo now.

Haynes

Cant Halfords get hold of almost anything? At one point they had Konas in their catalogue.

euangreen

I want to get the Focus Cayo 2008 from Wiggle through Halfords. I phoned up their cycle2work number and have ben told they can no longer source bikes from Wiggle. They gave me four alternaitves that they could source from other suppliers. I'm waiting for confirmation from them about why they cannot get the Cayo, is it because Wiggle are out of stock? or is it because they have decided to no longer deal with Wiggle as the Focus Cayo is in direct competition with their new Carrera Virago?

1. Carrera Virago Road Bike @ £1000
(See attached file: carrera.jpg)
www.halfords.com

2. Condor Cycles
Condor have provided us with cycle2work models of their most popular bikes
and spec'd them to come in at the £999.99 price point. I have included a
spread sheet of the specs, you can see full images on the website.
(See attached file: CONDOR 2008 BIKE TO WORK BIKES.xls)
www.condorcycles.com

3. Terry Dolan Mythos @ £995
(See attached file: DOLANmythos.jpg)
full carbon quality frame for £995 comes with a 2 year warantee.
www.terrydolan.com

4. Merida Road 905 - 20 @ £899.99
(See attached file: MERIDAroad905-20(com).jpg)
www.merida.com

Can anyone clear up whether I can get Focus Cayo through halfords cycle2work?

Many thanks
Euan

gtvlusso

Oh cr*p! I was gonna get either the Cayo or the Culebro?! Halfords are simply being difficult......Thinking about cancelling my LOC now! Anyone offer any advice?

euangreen

Not sure what I am going to do. I have my LOC ordered, and am still kind of tempted by the Carrera Virago, but feel a bit annoyed that am being forced down a particular route.

Euan

gtvlusso

Halfords need to keep people aware of these issues as I have already moved from getting a Planet X bike! Nextthey will be telling us that Trek are off the market!!!!!

daveplanetx

Hello , Dave here from planet x .

We had a good meeting with Halfords this week and everything looks set to be reinstated .
The very good news for customers is that we will be expanding the programme , and offering a new spec on the 999 carbon that we think represents the absolute best value on the market .

Subject to final confirmation in the next few days but weve been working hard with the halfords team to not only reinstate but improve the cooperation - spec will hopefully jumps to -

Dura Ace STI , Dura Ace Front Mech , Dura Ace Levers , lovely schwalbe ultremo tyres , and were trying to squeeze a few more upspecs - ti railed saddle , 7075 triple butted oversize bars .

Full specs very imminent , hopefully finalised and up and running by monday .



.

alfablue

Dave - that spec for £999, utterly amazing! All credit to you for this, and smoothing things over with Halfords.

Can I ask, you recently appeared to be accepting Cyclescheme orders, will this remain alongside your reinstated Halfords arrangement, and if so will the same spec / price be available?

daveplanetx

Yes we still have cyclescheme , we also have our own Race2Work scheme .

I think we will have no option but to offer the same spec - largely due to stock and production procedures we are putting in , its obviously easier to produce a limited number of models and specs to save our costs on stock and production - I guess its a bit like Gordon Ramsay coming in and simplifying the menu on ramsays kitchen nightmares .

gtvlusso

Holy Cow!

Dave, you are a deal meister extraordinaire! Good work fella, glad the situation is sorted out for both parties and really pleased to hear about the spec upgrade!

My LOC is coming soon!

Cheers

gtvlusso

Dave @ PX

Do you think you will be doing a spec on the ti frame at £999?

Cheers fella

G

jpembroke

I can feel my Campag-only stance becoming seriously eroded

tartan_army

Am I right in saying whats on the website now is still the 'old' spec?

Dave, any idea when new deal finalised?

My company has just introduced cyclescheme cycle to work but we are having a one month enrolment only each year so I have a couple of weeks to decide and take up the scheme or I have to leave it till next year. Decisions, decisions...

Anyone come up with any other good £1000 deals?

rolyatnai

Dave

this seems a great offer on the page, my company has arranged a scheme through www.onyourbike.gb.com, and they use leisure lakes bikes, but their website says that employees can go to any independant bike shop if they'd prefer, well to be honest I'd love to stop drooling and ocme to planet x for a bike that the government pays 40%ish for! especially if its carbon and dura ace so that i can get the best bang for my buck, can you let me know if it is possible to do this or shall i remain a broken man crying in my beer while the halfords shopper gets on with it!!

cheers - and damn fine work

Ian

euangreen

Never simple is it?

I received my LOC and when I contacted Halfords they said they can no longer source the Focus Cayo 2008 as it is now £1199 list price (£999 on the web though) and because of the euro exchange rate they cannot get the bike. However they can get a hold of Focus Viriado and any other Focus bike where List Price is less than £999.

It seems they are also doing a special offer on their Carrera Virago and offered it to me for £899, however I could not find out the exact spec of this: I have attached what they sent me but it's not clear on things like what type of Ultegra (is it new Ice Grey) and the weight etc.
I am now trying to see if they can get of the planet x carbon dura ace build mentioned earleir in this thread as this seems like a fantastic deal!

Carrera Virago

DESCRIPTION: CARBON ROAD W/Shimano ULTEGRA COMPONENT
MODEL: CARRERA CARBON ROAD VIGARO - £999.99

ITEM DESCRIPTION
FRAME Axman Carbon Frame 12K
Size:48/50/52/54/56/58cm. Center to Top
FORK AXMAN FULL CARBON, B-CLASS, (ALLOY STEERER IS NOT AVAILABLE)
HEAD SET 1-1/8" SE-MI CARTRIDGE/FLAT COVER
AHEAD CAP 1-1/8" ALLOY BLACK TOP CAP
COMPRESSION 1-1/8" 50MM, OD:23MM, W/O TOP CAP
B.B. PARTS INCLUDED IN F/C
CHAINWHEEL TRUVATIV 53X39T MRBLK 170MM
F/R BRAKE TEKTRO DUAL PIVOT CALIPER BRAKE, DIMENSION 39`49MM.
BRAKE LEVER SHIMANO INCLUDED IN SHIFTER
CHAIN SHIMANO 108L
RIM SHIMANO WHEELSET
F. HUB SHIMANO WHEELSET
R. HUB SHIMANO WHEELSET
SPOKES SHIMANO WHEELSET
TIRES CONTINENTAL C226 WIRE 700X23 BLK/BLK
TUBES TUBES, F/V W/48MM LONG VALVE
F. DERAILLEUR SHIMANO 105
R.DERAILLEUR SHIMANO ULTEGRA 10 SPD
SHIFTER SHIMANO ULTEGRA 2/10 SPD
FREEWHEEL SHIMANO 12-25T
STEM TRUVATIV 31.8 10DEG 120MM MRBLK
HANDLE BAR TRUVATIV HB BB XR 31.8 440MM WIDE, BT BLK
SEAT POST TRUVATIV 31.6MM, 350MM MRBLK
SADDLE B93 BLK TOP, SILVER F/R BUMPER, WITH CARRERA LOGO.
PEDALS NIL

euangreen

Just heard from Halfords:

Unfortunately we are completely unable to source any Planet X models.

:-(

So Variado Expert of Halfords Virago...

Halfords Virago might be just as good but I now really resent buying their bike for all this mucking around they've caused me!

Euan

Cass1969

I'm in the same situation.

I order by £1k LOC from Halfords when they were taking orders for PX. Now they say they're not dealling with them because the PX bike hasn't passed the appropriate Britsh Safety Test. V dissappointed!

So I had narrowed my choice down to Condor Italia or Squadra or Dolon Mythos (full carbon). I'm loathed to get a Virago because I resent the way I appear to have been treated by Halfords.

Can I now add Focus to this? Have Halfords said they will do their bikes?

Cheers

euangreen

Yes you can, but only for bikes that are less than £1000 for their list price NOT the discounted web price.

For example the Focus Cayo 2008 is £1199 list price, £999 web price so they can't get it.

The Focus Variado is OK, as £899.99 list price, and £799.99 web price.

You obviously don't benefit from the web discount

Euan

Cass1969

Thanks.

So what you going to get?

euangreen

Am going to get the Focus Variado.

Am sacrificing the carbon frame of the Virago (Vigaro..? I can never remember which it is!) for the alloy one of the Focus Variado. The Varidao has full Ultegra groupset where as the Carerra has a mix of 105 and ultegra. There is not a lot in it to be honest.

Hope you find what you're after

Euan

daveplanetx

Now they say they're not dealling with them because the PX bike hasn't passed the appropriate Britsh Safety Test. V dissappointed!


- Can I just clarify that there is absolutely no issue with the quality and standard of planet x bikes , since our carbon road bike is a custom built competition bike supplied without pedals - it is BS exempt and clearly does not need to be supplied with reflectors and a bell and instruction manuals that would mean we could supply with a BS decal .

Halfords have adopted a highly inconsistent policy - in the past months they have purchased from us on B2B carbon fibre track bikes that do not even have a front brake so with this in mind to quote british standards is highly inconsistent .

There are 2 sides to every story and in this case we have chosen to discontinue our supply of bikes to halfords due a string of correspondence and demands that we considered were verging on bully boy tactics , and we simply will not operate under these conditions .

davelakers

Gutted..............................................................................................

I was pinning my hopes on a PX until I was told by the Halfords C2W team that I couldnt have one.

euangreen

Yeah,
Was gutted could not get the Focus Cayo or Planet X Dura Ace build. Seems to me like Halfords have conveniently stopped supplying two bikes that seem to be in direct competition with their Virago carbon bike. Just a coincidence...?

Euan

Cass1969

I hope you didn't think I was questioning the quality/safety of PX bikes, that's clear to see.

PX has always been honest, helpful and timely with me (cheers Andy!). Just a mega shame I can't get one with my blooming Halfords voucher.

Halfords said quite early on in my dealings with them that there was no margin in a PX bike for them; I think this is the real reason and safety is now a convenient reason to stop. I have to say that they didn't really try to push the Virgo to me.

Cheers
Cass