Assembling a bike - who should I get to do it?

belter

Hi,
Getting a bike through halfords c2w scheme from a supplier which is being delivered to my local Halfords.

I assume it will come needing to be assembled but I have heard bad things about Halfords assembling bikes and have even read sometimes they have been assembled dangerously.

Being a complete beginner, should I let Halfords assemble the bike for me for free or should I get it done elsewhere?

Would LBS do it even though I haven't purchased the bike from them?

nicklouse

what is the bike?

The Northern Monkey

let halfords do it and just check that bolts are tightened. all they do is put the bars on and the wheels in the dropouts. oh and fit the pedals.

Anonymous

let halfords do it then take it to a local bike shop and ask them to check it.

belter

cheers its a specialized rockhopper

thomasali

Which Halfords are you using? Some are great but most are crap. That being said many many LBS / independent bike shops are no better! Make sure they tension the spokes and tighten the cranks, the rest is pretty easy and they shouldnt mess it up. Oh and ask them if they pre-stretched your cables too, and make sure you get your free 6 week service.

PS one the Specialized boxes it says the warranty is void if it isnt assembled by a official Specialized dealer.

Si78

Halfords assembled my Boardman. I only found 1 loose bolt :roll:

Si

dave_hill

Make sure you check it out thoroughly before you leave the store. If there's anything youa ren't happy about, make sure they address it while you're there.

GHill

dave_hill wrote:

Make sure you check it out thoroughly before you leave the store. If there's anything youa ren't happy about, make sure they address it while you're there.

What Dave said (no relation ).

An LBS is certainly going to charge for assembly of a bike bought elsewhere, mine quotes $35 on their website.

Chaz.Harding

Get a Haynes cycle manual, or a Zinn book (both highly praised) and do it yourself!

Cheaper in the long run. Probably in the short-term too!

Glen@LunaticRiders

Let them do it for free, hopefully you get a good comprehensive store. Give a good check over afterwards for peace of mind.

A friend of mine was only telling me yesterday that he bought a bike out of Halfords for his step-son, they handed over after carrying out all of their checks etc. He threw it in the car and set off home, got it out for the boy to ride, and no brakes, so he went to adjust them and found loose bolts all over the place. Took it back and moaned !!! :roll:

When I bought 2 bikes recently, when I arrived to collect they said they still had to PDI my wife's bike, I watched them do it, guy spent about 20 mins on it, checked EVERYTHING, I was impressed. Was not halfords though !

Good luck, hope it all goes smoothly for ya !

k2rider

what is the point of saying `let halfords do it then take it to your lbs`???? why not tell him to take it there in the first place and save the hassle.assembling a bike isnt rocket science most of its common sense with a rockhopper all he probably needs is a 8mm allen key for the cranks 6mm for the padals and a 5mm for everything else, possibly a 4mm if it comes with a hope seat clamp. my advice, do it yourself and learn about your bike.

Daz555

Halfords (Winterstoke Rd, Bristol) assembled my bike and did it perfectly bar a single cable-tie in the wrong place.

Salsa

Specialized are supposed to come in pre-assembled, in reality though some do & some don't.
It even says on the box that if they are built by a non approved Specialized dealer the warranty is void :? If your worried about this take it to your local Specialzed dealer for assembly.
I have had a couple of warranty issues on Specialzeds I assembled though. A customer broke some spokes & wanted the wheel replaced but phoning C2W (who phoned Specialzed) they said it wasn't covered under warranty. The other was a problem with a rear mech iirc & we just replaced it without bothering to contact C2W or Specialized.
The only other problem I had was with a single speed Specialized that developed loose spokes in the rear after a few days, even though the bloke had slagged me off on this forum (complained that the stem wasn't tightened, even though I said I'd left it loose for storage & he said leave it as it's going in the car) I still re-tensioned the wheel for him.

Can't speak for other Halfords stores or employees but I allways build bikes like they are my own, as I have built 100's in my time I feel I do know how to build them properlly.
I work as the mechanic though so don't PDI new bikes unless I get spare time too, I do sort all C2W bikes that come in though as I like building premium bikes.

Northwind

k2rider wrote:

what is the point of saying `let halfords do it then take it to your lbs`???? why not tell him to take it there in the first place and save the hassle.

It's just common sense! Halfords might do a perfectly good job, they're not all idiots, so why work on the assumption they'll do it wrong? Even if they do, it'll still give the LBS less work to do to correct it- it'll make the difference between "Build this bike" and "Check this bike and see if it's OK".

Oh, and use an LBS you trust if you want to go to one, there's this unwritten assumption many people seem to have on here that all LBSs are great, fact is some are just as bad as the worst Halfords, and all too many are going to see new halfords bike + new rider and think £££. "Oh, your thunge sprocket was on backwards so I fixed it, that'll be £100".

Personally I'd build it myself, but if it's a brand new bike and you're not familiar with it, it makes sense to get a good baseline- it's easier to fix a bike when it's gone wrong and you know it has, than it is to figure out if it's working right or not with no benchmark.

belter

Hi and thanks,

Bike has arrived in store.

Phoned Specialized warranty dept and they have said as long as bike has been PDI'd it doesn't matter who builds it. Whether its me or any other bike store whether Specialized dealer or not. I asked twice just to make sure and was told same thing.

If I let Halfords build it (seen as its free) is there anything that they could cock up big time?

I suppose they will be better at it than me cause I've never built a bike and just want to ride it asap.

But is there anything that they could really mess up?

I suppose what I should be asking is if I get Halfords to build it for me what checks should I go through when they give me the bike to ensure everything is correct?

Cause I'd check the brakes were working, check the handlebars weren't loose, make sure the gears change and I can't think of anything else....

supersonic

Make sure Halfords give you a marked, signed and dated PDI checklist.

Then follow that!

belter

ok thanks - do you have to adjust brakes somehow with a new bike - or is it just plug and play so to speak.

belter

Hydraulic brakes I should add (if that makes any difference)

nby

Hydraulic brakes should come ready to go

Ditch Witch

Check this out:

http://bicycletutor.com/new-bike-assembly/

Let them build it, if you want, but double check what they do AND learn a little about how your bike works