Boardman team carbon ride.(halfords setup rubbish)

chiefgod

Hi.

Seems like a familiar story but I could do with a little help.

After dipping in and out of this forum for a while, I today plumped for a Boardman team carbon, asked halfords to put on some spd's for me which they kindly fitted for me. Off I ride.

I rode it a few times around the car park out the back just to get used to the SRAM rival as they are new to me.

I started the ride back to the office feeling confident, 3/4 of the way there the chain slips badly and I almost get myself a date with the underside of a bus, clipped in of course... a bit shaken I decide to cycle home after work and basically the whole gearset from the start of the journey to the end, about 8 miles was a disaster. clicking, grinding,popping not shifting properly, slipping all the time. I barely made it home.

I am livid. I am no bike mechanic and dont know where to start and dont think it a good idea to start tinkering.

I dont want to take it back to halfords. I dont have any trust in them, they let the bike out of the shop unsafe to ride in my opinion.

Any suggestions for city bike stores who might setup the gears properly would be great.

Cheers

toontra

If I was in your position I'd go back to Halfords and get them to do it for free, preferably while you wait (you should also be able to get them to do a 3-month service FOC). Only if they mess this up would I pay someone else to set the gears up, and then I would take the bill to Halfords and ask them to cover it.

gabriel959

I would ask for some freebies as well!!! You should have a go really at them. I would expect at least £10 or £20 in vouchers.

redddraggon

chiefgod wrote:

Any suggestions for city bike stores who might setup the gears properly would be great.

Bike Factory in Chester

Bicycle Doctor in Manchester

You didn't say what city

chiefgod

Oops, I did initially write the name of the store, then changed my mind about it. Then I changed it again. st pauls London , anywhere near that would be great.

Thanks

sturmey

Sadly,it seems that Halfords are renowned for having very poorly trained mechanics.

In fact, I would be surprised if most of them have had ANY formal training whatsoever.

There is probably ONE competent mechanic at every Halfords store who knows what he is doing, but when he is off, God help the hapless punter.

Your experience is all very predictable but the truth of the matter seems to be that Halfords do not give a hoot about the standard of workmanship by their cycle mechanics and are only interested in selling bikes in numbers, largely to people who don't know one end of a bike from the other.

In my experience of buying from them I would frankly have been happier to receive the bike boxed from the factory it was made in than let a complete moron in a Halford's uniform go anywhere near it.

Why they let these people near £1000+ bikes with a toolkit they can't even use is beyond me.

Homer J

Take the bike back and ask for your money back. Statuary rights and stuff?

skyd0g

:idea: You could try one of the ex-Bike Hut branches of Halfords - the guys there are usually 100% better than the "standard" Halfords people.
Plus they will fix it for free.

Worth a try, especially as you may have damaged/knocked something out of kilter in your tumble.

Possibly try the St Pauls branch again?

huuregeil

chiefgod wrote:

I am no bike mechanic and dont know where to start and dont think it a good idea to start tinkering.

By all means give halfords grief and get them to sort it, but I think it's always an excellent idea to start tinkering. Fixing a bike isn't too hard, it's immensely satisfying, and not only do you free yourself from the constraint/stress/cost of having to use potentially incompetent mechanics but it's almost inevitible that at some point in your cycling career, you'll end up on the side of a road on your own with a broken bike having to fix it in order to make it home! Lots of videos and guides on the internet...

bompington

Never mind all that, where the heck did you find a team carbon?

amaferanga

Obviously Halfords should have set the bike up properly, but it sounds like all you need to do is twiddle the adjuster knobs for your derailleurs to either tighten or loosen the cables a bit. Plenty of guides on the internet or any basic bike maintenance book will show you how to do this. It's hardly rocket science....

chiefgod

@bompington - The stocks have improved dramatically and i know lots of London Halfords that do stock the bikes have them in a range of sizes available for order. took about 3 days.

@amaferanga - I will have a look at that.

@huuregeil - Thanks. excellent advice.

When its setup properly I am sure this will be an amazing ride.

Thanks all for your help/advice.

dinosaur

I'm guessing that you went to Bike Hut / Halfords in St Pauls - I have been there before, they are a proper bike shop (or at least they were before the announcement that Bike Hut was closing) so will have plenty of competent mechanics. I would take it back there.

Otherwise, Bike Fix on Lamb's Conduit Street have a good reputation. Or if you pass through Hakcney on the way home try Bike Yard East on Hackney Road.

sneakerfreaker

Jeez, how many more of these threads I love my team carbon and to tinker with the indexing a little to get it the way I wanted. Halfords aren't incompetent, ask them to resolve the issue or have a go yourself.