Boardman Bargain...Thanks Halfords!

PhilTheFish

Fancied a new bike for this years commute after a couple of months off over the winter. Had a look online and noticed that Halfords had knocked £100 off the £499 Boardman Urban Team bike. Further investigations showed that they were also giving 10% off all bikes aswell. With the VAT savings it was down to £352.

I reserved online to pick up at a local store. On arrival at the store I was informed that there was a problem. The bike that was showing 'on stock' was actually a customer return and was damaged. I enquired about the extent of the damage and the bloke got the bike out of the back of the shop. It had a chip on the stem about 3mm x 3mm and a very small scratch on the downtube. I asked how much he would discount it for me. The manager offered either another 10% off or £50 worth of free accessories. I agreed to the accessories offer and paid up.

As I pushed the bike out of the shop I noticed a bit of a wobble in the front wheel and returned to the sales counter. After pointing it out, the manager offered to order in a new wheel or give me another £50 of accessories if I wanted to sort the bike out myself. I accepted another £50 worth of goodies and loaded it all into the car.

Took the wheel to my LBS who sorted it in 5 minutes for a fiver!!!

So, a £500 bike for £350 and £100 worth of free goodies to boot!!

By the way, for anyone looking at these Boardman bikes I can certainly say that this particular one is a little belter. Had my first commute on it today and it flew there compared to the Claud Butler Hybrid I'd been using since my Subway got stolen last September. The Claud does however give me the option of going on canal towpaths or roughish trails. I wouldn't dream of taking the Boardman off the tarmac!

UnworthyPapaLazaru

The new one on the front page of BikeRadar is getting a rave review. Its certainly on the radar for me when my work start the C2W scheme!

snakehips

Excellent deal

I got a Subway 1 and £100 worth of accessories for £180 a couple of years ago !

STEFANOS4784

UnworthyPapaLazaru wrote:

The new one on the front page of BikeRadar is getting a rave review. Its certainly on the radar for me when my work start the C2W scheme!

:roll: :roll: :roll: , that was awful, but hats off anyway sir

Vivid

PhilTheFish wrote:

Fancied a new bike for this years commute after a couple of months off over the winter. Had a look online and noticed that Halfords had knocked £100 off the £499 Boardman Urban Team bike. Further investigations showed that they were also giving 10% off all bikes aswell. With the VAT savings it was down to £352.

I reserved online to pick up at a local store. On arrival at the store I was informed that there was a problem. The bike that was showing 'on stock' was actually a customer return and was damaged. I enquired about the extent of the damage and the bloke got the bike out of the back of the shop. It had a chip on the stem about 3mm x 3mm and a very small scratch on the downtube. I asked how much he would discount it for me. The manager offered either another 10% off or £50 worth of free accessories. I agreed to the accessories offer and paid up.

As I pushed the bike out of the shop I noticed a bit of a wobble in the front wheel and returned to the sales counter. After pointing it out, the manager offered to order in a new wheel or give me another £50 of accessories if I wanted to sort the bike out myself. I accepted another £50 worth of goodies and loaded it all into the car.

Took the wheel to my LBS who sorted it in 5 minutes for a fiver!!!

So, a £500 bike for £350 and £100 worth of free goodies to boot!!

By the way, for anyone looking at these Boardman bikes I can certainly say that this particular one is a little belter. Had my first commute on it today and it flew there compared to the Claud Butler Hybrid I'd been using since my Subway got stolen last September. The Claud does however give me the option of going on canal towpaths or roughish trails. I wouldn't dream of taking the Boardman off the tarmac!

Which store did you purchase the bike from?

Boardman bikes when purchased from Halfords have to be built and checked over by a fully trained mechanic, rather bad that they can't spot play in a wheel and resolve it!

Bargain though

passout

Yeah..the bike looks good, shame about the chain/service. Still, you can always get it checked at your LBS.

STEFANOS4784

passout wrote:

Yeah..the bike looks good, shame about the chain/service. Still, you can always get it checked at your LBS.

Actually i've heard some quite good things about bikehut, i think you need to walk in, if they are stoned and couldn't care less then fair enough lbs but some branches, apparently, have pretty good service, let's not use the tar brush

UnworthyPapaLazaru

STEFANOS4784 wrote:

UnworthyPapaLazaru wrote:

The new one on the front page of BikeRadar is getting a rave review. Its certainly on the radar for me when my work start the C2W scheme!

:roll: :roll: :roll: , that was awful, but hats off anyway sir

You know what? I didnt even realise what I had done. I agree, it's awful, but I'll keep it up there so everyone can learn a lesson...

pud77

Re. the wobbly wheel.

I can't believe that they offered you £50 of goodies rather than take the bike back off you and give it to one of the service guys to get the wheel trued up. Surely they have the facility to do this ?

System_1

pud77 wrote:

Re. the wobbly wheel.

I can't believe that they offered you £50 of goodies rather than take the bike back off you and give it to one of the service guys to get the wheel trued up. Surely they have the facility to do this ?

I'm sure they have the facilities, unfortunately I doubt they have the staff capable of using those facilities to sort the problem. Probably much easier for them to offer free stuff than sort it themselves. I wouldn't trust halfords to wipe my arse.

AdiMac

They did 10% of my Boradman Pro Hybrid and £50 worth of free helmet. The bloke in the Bath Road shop in Bristol could have been more helpful.

Although when I got home the stem needed tightening (?) and one of the bolts on the bottle carrier seems to be threaded. And the back brake is honking like a Goose, I got chased by a load of Swans on the way home the other night!!!

It seems a very good bike though, very light and very quick.

gtvlusso

Same on my C2W through Halfords. I got £1000 voucher + £75 of free stuff. However, the store gave me a Team road bike for £750 (as it was on special offer) + £75 of free stuff with the purchase, and another £75 voucher I got with my £1000 voucher.

So, I go £150 off + £150 of free stuff and I will only pay £500 for the bike on C2W anyway! managed build my mountain bike out of the parts I got on voucher and what was left on C2W voucher.

Bonkers!

woodyonthebeach

I know there are lots of people out there you are great fans of the boardman Cycles. I want to know if you can buy the frames as I would like to get my hands on one of his XC frames and build up from there.

Any ideas?

gtvlusso

woodyonthebeach wrote:

I know there are lots of people out there you are great fans of the boardman Cycles. I want to know if you can buy the frames as I would like to get my hands on one of his XC frames and build up from there.

Any ideas?

Been a few on Ebay - lots of people buy the bike and strip for parts (very hish spec on Boardmans) and upgrade a more "known" frame.