Brilliant Halfords bike build!

JMC39

Just got my first bike for a long time (Cycle2Work), which Halfords have built. On the first journey I have found that the disc brakes are rubbing, the gear changes are really rough - the chain fell off after 200 yards, and the pedal fell off!

Great start to my new commute to work!

JMC39

After some research, the thread has actually ground off on the chainset where the pedal attaches! Does anybody know if this means I need a new chainset? Eitherway it looks like I am off the road after a day!

Megatron-UK

Do you mean where the pedal screws into the crank arm? If so, then it sounds like they have over tightened it and stripped the threads off.

Andy B

Disc brakes can occasionally rub, but you need a little time to let the pads bed in properly, this should cure the rubbing, unless the rotors are impeding the wheel's rotation, in which case they need to be straightened.

Crank arm should be replaced FOC if this happened due to their poor fitting of the parts.

Gears a bit clunky sounds like they've not been set up correctly & Hellfrauds should sort this out, over time cables do stretch, but not in such a short a time as you have had your bike.

Same with the chain, sounds like poorly set up gears.

salasbalingy

I work part time in the bikehut department at halfords so if you take the bike back in and explain you problem it should be sorted there and then if the parts are in stock!

JMC39

Thanks guy's. Yeah it's the crank arm - didn't know the name of it before!

The only problem is the bike won't fit in the car, will have to pedal to Halfords with one leg

salasbalingy

what bike is it? of you dont mind me asking

edthedead

In support of Halfords (!) I found the one where I got my bike from to be pretty good really, the staff were helpfull, polite and I had no problems with the bike build at all.... maybe I was just lucky... or you were just unlucky!

NYK

I paid Halfords £35 to service my sons BMX due to loose everything etc. Two months later and everything is more loose now than before and the bike is un-rideable. They suck because they employ monkeys.

supersonic

Very rare you can ride a bike 2 months without touching it again! But I can't make a judgement as I do not know all the details. It is recommended you check the bike over before each ride and keep it adjusted.

It's fair to say many halfords are poor, but a lot employ good staff who know their onions.

As Andy says, bikes do bed in, and require maintenance and adjustment overtime. You cant expect them to run forever without being touched, hence the first free service to tune up the bedding in process.

Pedal falling off, and chain does strike me as poor set up - but even then you get warning before the pedal falls off as a loose sensation. Futher riding usually rips the threads out as it drops off.

Easybuilder

Without putting too finer point on it, some bikes come into Halfords in such a mess, filthy dirty, often wet and look like they have been thrown around.
If you want good service from the staff, treat them with a bit of respect and you will get respect back. Treat them like they are monkeys and they will assume you are one as well.
It's difficult to take a Dad seriously when his lads bike is battered and dirty with damage to frame and components such as gear sets, bits missing off cable ends and obvious signs of attempts to adjust or mend things and we have to listen to tales of the bike never having been ridden, it just went that way.

oily67

My Son bought one of those 3 wheeled bikes - the one with the huge front wheel - from one of our local Halfrauds, with his birthday money.
Three times in the first two days something came adrift - both rear wheels then one of the pedals !
I stood over the guys while they performed most of their "check" :? They seemed to check everything, although they were busy with other things at the same time.
On both occasions when the wheels fell off he was catapulted onto the ground resulting in scrapes and grazing to his legs and arms. The only reason I never checked it over before he was let loose was because I was working - 12hr shifts.
I returned to the store and had words with both the bloke who "checked" it and the Manager. I was warned by one of his own staff not to annoy him as he's "quite a big bloke" Aye right :evil:
Neither seemed to be bothered that their much vaunted check had failed to pick up on the fact that the bike was not fit for use. The discussion did get a bit heated at times but in the end they offered to check it again and offered a free service on my own MTB.
I refused both, obviously.

Never again will I even enter one fo their stores.

heez29

oily67 wrote:

My Son bought one of those 3 wheeled bikes - the one with the huge front wheel - from one of our local Halfrauds, with his birthday money.
Three times in the first two days something came adrift - both rear wheels then one of the pedals !
I stood over the guys while they performed most of their "check" :? They seemed to check everything, although they were busy with other things at the same time.
On both occasions when the wheels fell off he was catapulted onto the ground resulting in scrapes and grazing to his legs and arms. The only reason I never checked it over before he was let loose was because I was working - 12hr shifts.
I returned to the store and had words with both the bloke who "checked" it and the Manager. I was warned by one of his own staff not to annoy him as he's "quite a big bloke" Aye right :evil:
Neither seemed to be bothered that their much vaunted check had failed to pick up on the fact that the bike was not fit for use. The discussion did get a bit heated at times but in the end they offered to check it again and offered a free service on my own MTB.
I refused both, obviously.

Never again will I even enter one fo their stores.

One of their stores...

Just because one is crap doesnt mean every single other one is.

oily67

True .................... but I've made my choice.

stumpyjon

One of their stores...

Just because one is crap doesnt mean every single other one is.

Very true, but by the time you add up all the bad experiences relating to Halfords on here, it does seem to indicate that's it's not just one or two bad stores out there, the bad ones seem to be the norm and the good ones the exception.

supersonic

But people are more likely to comment on the bad ones. hHowever I do agree they seem to be getting worse.

Briggo

Me and the missus bought our bikes through Halfords for the C2W scheme.

They ordered the wrong model Carrera for my missus but the shop floor had the right one and size on display so after checking it we had that one instead, no marks on it either.

Both her and my bikes have been trouble free and its been a couple of months.

The staff were slow and not very talkative but the job was done and the bikes are still in one peice!

Saying that I wouldnt go back there again, until next year when I can get some more C2W vouchers that is

SkyBlueKangaroo

What is worse than every other Halfords store seemingly being responsible for some horror story or another, is that their Head Office Customer Service Department also leaves a lot to be desired. I had reason to contact them when my local Halfords gave me a dogs breakfast of a Kraken, but they didn't even call me back after promising to do so.

When I decided to chase them up, they had no record of my complaint, and made no attempt to give me the impression I was valued as a customer.

If Head Office cannot be bothered, what chance to the stores have?