Boardman team comp, now incl dubious wheels!

graemenm

Well, I picked up a Team Carbn five weeks ago but due to an ACL replacement have only managed to do 50 miles on it since new. Guess what happened today? A rear spoke decided to unwind itself. Got home and dismantled the wheel, tyre off etc to make it easier for Halfords and made a quick trip with the wheel to Hellfrauds. The "bikehut specialist" told me that she knew nothing of this recurring issue and that she could do nothing without first seeing the whole bike "do you have it with you?" she asked. Now this question makes very little sense considering I'd just handed her the rear wheel oveer the counter. So I now have to take the whole bike in tomorrow so that she can make sure I've not wrecked the whole bike and just brought in a wheel. She can then order in a new spoke since "we dont have any spokes in stock".

Is Hellfrauds really the worst place in the world to buy a bike? I'm starting to think so, despite the fact that I love this bike.

Overall, great bike, crummy service and dubious wheels.

giant_man

graemenm wrote:

Well, I picked up a Team Carbn five weeks ago but due to an ACL replacement have only managed to do 50 miles on it since new. Guess what happened today? A rear spoke decided to unwind itself. Got home and dismantled the wheel, tyre off etc to make it easier for Halfords and made a quick trip with the wheel to Hellfrauds. The "bikehut specialist" told me that she knew nothing of this recurring issue and that she could do nothing without first seeing the whole bike "do you have it with you?" she asked. Now this question makes very little sense considering I'd just handed her the rear wheel oveer the counter. So I now have to take the whole bike in tomorrow so that she can make sure I've not wrecked the whole bike and just brought in a wheel. She can then order in a new spoke since "we dont have any spokes in stock".

Is Hellfrauds really the worst place in the world to buy a bike? I'm starting to think so, despite the fact that I love this bike.

Overall, great bike, crummy service and dubious wheels.

Yes it probably is mate!

Leodhasach

They're a bit hit and miss aren't they? My local store were awful but the one in Stirling was impeccable.

graemenm

spooking enough the store in question was Stirling!

Anonymous

I would never buy something that I ride on the road at 50mph with about 1 sq inch of road contact from anything other than from a specialist shop that had a very good reputation.

When the cars at work stopped being serviced and worked on on-site I left the traffic department. From what I have seen as a result this was a good decision...

graemenm

Unfortunately I didnt have any option. The bike was bought through the C2W scheme and we are tied in to Halfords.

Trust me if I had any option i'd have used my LBS.

bellys

i would not let halfords walk my dog let alown service my bike.
but its not the staffs fault there only kids in most halfords stores alot is down to what they have been shown and told.

Leodhasach

graemenm wrote:

spooking enough the store in question was Stirling!

Ha! Really? I spoke to William and Izzy at the store in question, they were really helpful and seemed more than competent. My Team Carbon has been running like a dream ever since it was in with them last week.

Frank the tank

My work place are on about a c2w scheme. If it's one that ties me to Halfords I won't bother. I'd sooner make a bike out of reconstituted cigarette ash.

redddraggon

NapoleonD wrote:

I would never buy something that I ride on the road at 50mph with about 1 sq inch of road contact from anything other than from a specialist shop that had a very good reputation.

You wouldn't trust yourself to put it right? Personally I'd have no issue getting a bike from Halfords, as I could set it up myself anyway.

Anonymous

redddraggon wrote:

NapoleonD wrote:

I would never buy something that I ride on the road at 50mph with about 1 sq inch of road contact from anything other than from a specialist shop that had a very good reputation.

You wouldn't trust yourself to put it right? Personally I'd have no issue getting a bike from Halfords, as I could set it up myself anyway.

That's fine if you know what you are doing, I don't.

redddraggon

NapoleonD wrote:

That's fine if you know what you are doing, I don't.

Oh right, the way Dan was talking about "cheap" ( ) bikes you sneak through the door I thought you did it all yourself.

Anonymous

Errr, no. I only started cycling in 2007 and have only just started to get a grasp on how they work. I am rubbish at anything DIY/Maintenence.

I can adjust brakes/gears and change a chainset and everything but spokes and wheels and bearings and stuff - I leave well alone.

Frank the tank

redddraggon wrote:

NapoleonD wrote:

I would never buy something that I ride on the road at 50mph with about 1 sq inch of road contact from anything other than from a specialist shop that had a very good reputation.

You wouldn't trust yourself to put it right? Personally I'd have no issue getting a bike from Halfords, as I could set it up myself anyway.

If you're buying a bike from a retailer that "specialize" in bikes I.E. not Tesco or Aldi etc why should you be expected to fine tune/set it up yourself?

You should be able to ride it out of the shop in a confident and safe manner.

redddraggon

Frank the tank wrote:

redddraggon wrote:

NapoleonD wrote:

I would never buy something that I ride on the road at 50mph with about 1 sq inch of road contact from anything other than from a specialist shop that had a very good reputation.

You wouldn't trust yourself to put it right? Personally I'd have no issue getting a bike from Halfords, as I could set it up myself anyway.

If you're buying a bike from a retailer that "specialize" in bikes I.E. not Tesco or Aldi etc why should you be expected to fine tune/set it up yourself?

You should be able to ride it out of the shop in a confident and safe manner.

You shouldn't have to set it up yourself, but it's such a bargain, that ignoring it because it comes from Halfords would be foolish.

redddraggon

NapoleonD wrote:

Errr, no. I only started cycling in 2007 and have only just started to get a grasp on how they work. I am rubbish at anything DIY/Maintenence.

Ahh, I'm mechanically minded, like building stuff, I started off on a cheapo bike and broke it/repaired it/broke it/etc myself as I couldn't afford to pay the LBS to do much. I built my first entire bike after 6months

The LBS charges scare me being a poor student so I learnt to do it all myself (but not the Willhub way)

Frank the tank

I wouldn't refuse a bargain out of some kind of inverted snobbery that would be stupid. But you should be able to ride the bike away from the shop safely.

Bikes should be no different to any other commodity, you buy them "fit for purpose".

Infamous

Frank the tank wrote:

But you should be able to ride the bike away from the shop safely

erm, you can with halfords.

To the OP: You can't blame the staff for a loose spoke, they didn't build the wheels. And you can't blame the staff for the fact that you don't know how to tighten up a spoke. Why not get them to ride it for you as well?

graemenm wrote:

Is Hellfrauds really the worst place in the world to buy a bike? I'm starting to think so

For people like yourself, it's the perfect place to buy a bike. Because you can just take it back whenever the slightest thing goes wrong and they wont charge you for it.

moray_gub

Frank the tank wrote:

My work place are on about a c2w scheme. If it's one that ties me to Halfords I won't bother. I'd sooner make a bike out of reconstituted cigarette ash.

If youre buying a bike through the Halfords Cycle to Work scheme tbey can source you almost any bike going, just phone the CTW team number and they will tell you what they can get. For instance when my work brought it in last year guys got Specialised and Giant and Cube bikes no problem so youre not really tied to Halfords as such.

wakemalcolm

Not quite. I'm not sure if it's a new thing but they require the bike to go through a safety check funded by the manufacturer. Means that I'll be buying a Boardman rather than the Ribble I quite fancied.

mgcycleguy

If you wanted, you could always take it to your LBS and get them to re-set up the bike

graemenm

ok, for the record can I just explain that I am not some kind of ungfrateful eejit that wants to whine about my bike.

I do pretty much all of my own spannering and am more than capable of tightening a spoke. Unfortunately my skills dont extend to haveing magical foresight to determine when a spoke is going to come loose. Especially when this is a known issue with these wheels and even the journo's were caught out with it.

My issue is with the level of customer service offered at my local Halfords branch when I did want to discuss the issue with them.

In fairness to the shop they did call me today to say that they'd fixed the wheel. Will pick it up tomorrow and see if they have managed to extricate the nipple and refit it. I will also be checking every spoke in both wheels just in case.

G

ianlash

The title says "Team Comp" but the OP says Team Carbon. I don't think there is a Team Comp (although there is a Comp), so is this the Team Carbon? I'm asking because I am thinking of buying a Comp and have not heard of problems with the wheels on these, but have heard of problems on the Team Carbons.

Cheers.

Hobnails

Moray Gub said...If youre buying a bike through the Halfords Cycle to Work scheme tbey can source you almost any bike going, just phone the CTW team number and they will tell you what they can get. For instance when my work brought it in last year guys got Specialised and Giant and Cube bikes no problem so youre not really tied to Halfords as such.

Of course that sounds good but.....what about the warranty...would'nt you have problems with that if you bought any brand from halfords that they weren't main dealers for. :?

graemenm

ianlash, for clarity it is the team carbon that I have had the issue with. I think it might be the same set of wheels on the alu team bike though

G

madandybell

Just so happens I have had exactly the same problem on my Team '09 (not carbon), initial crap service from Halfords and a loose spoke!

Did'nt even bother taking it back to Halfords for the spoke, went straight to the LBS who sorted it for me. Trued the wheel and removed the flats??

Anyone know what 'removed the flats' means??

bodisgod

This is a known issue. Best thing to do is dab a little tread lock onto each nipple/spoke. Won't solve the issue but may slow it down enough to allow you to check the wheel after each ride.

'Removed the flats' probably means the wheel was not quite round, the rim will rise and fall a one or more points. It would show up on a wheel jig more clearly.

rockster100

i was at a mates house with his kid, when his mrs turned up with their kids brand new, bought from halfords, birthday present. the bike was ready to ride having had the much publicised scrutineering beore it left the shop....! except the fact it didn't have a chain on it......!!!!!!!!

don't think i'd be buying from halfords....!!!!