Why must you do this to me, Halfords??

dr.a

These two bikes are as similar as it gets IMO, there's pretty much no compromise in spec i.e same fork, same brakes, good frames, same crankset, equivalent SRAM/Shimano gear mechs etc, it's now just a matter of what 'feels' right and fits best.

Roll-on Saturday!

Dr.A

compo

When I got my Carrera in October 08 it was £350 in store and we ordered it to be collected and paid for the next week
During that week we saw on the web that it was £250
So when we picked it up we told Halfords this and they sold it us for £250
Not bad service IMO

jayson

If ur lookin at buyin a GT you could do worse than have a look at PAULS CYCLES they regularly have great deals on bikes especially GT.

MarkDon

I was going to say, why do you have to buy from Halfords?

bails87

Physical, local store and value for money I'd guess.

maz19852008

I have a Carrera Banshee X 2009, not let me down once.

dr.a

bails87 is right. I'm not very lucky in the way of bike shops, there's nothing near me except people who do bike servicing from home. And yeah it's value for money and the physical aspect aswell. I am not making the mistake of buying blind, I just can't afford to do that. Imagine I done that, and the bike felt like sh*t when I got on it.

That would suck lol

bails87

Hopefully your local Halfords will be as good as mine with regards to technicians and customer service, then the "real LBS" starts to lose it's appeal even more :P

simply100

i would never buy anything from halfords, have never recieved good service and the staff don`t seem to be bothered and don`t really know what they are talking about. Thats in a number of stores around the country, think its time they sorted it out. I would rather use my lbs to be honest for a more personal service.

I would have a look round on the net for other retailers with sales on and you may well pick up a bargain, much better quality than what they are selling in halfords, just check out the welds! also will get better components. or mite be worth saving up and buying something that will last you longer.

Where are my stabilisers?

Have you asked them to sell it to you at the price you saw earlier yet??

This worked for my sister when she bought a bike rack from them. She said she'd seen it cheaper a few months ago, no big saga, bloke did a quick price check with the boss and they gave it to her for the sale price she'd seen it for!

No harm in trying!

dr.a

I appreciate your viewpoint simply100, but I overcame that hurdle long ago; I was stuck in a right rut, so I was. I was thinking "maybe I can do this, maybe I can buy online, should I save for longer?" etc and it drove me right round the bend. I've decided I shall get a bike now, no question.

And I'd never buy a bike blind, especially not now since It's my first proper bike and I couldn't get £400 anytime I liked, it's taken me a while to save this much.

And besides, I've searched endlessly online and the Kraken/Aggressor and the like come up again and again; It'll be good for the trails and routes I do.

Dr.A

Northwind

simply100 wrote:

I would have a look round on the net for other retailers with sales on and you may well pick up a bargain, much better quality than what they are selling in halfords, just check out the welds! also will get better components. or mite be worth saving up and buying something that will last you longer.

What a load of rubbish. What do you think is wrong with the welds exactly? There's not much you can get for £400 that'll rival the spec of the Carreras, even if you go mail order.

dr.a

Northwind saves the day again! Thank you friend.

Although I haven't bought or had a ride on the Kraken yet, I am 100% confident in all the many reviews, view-points and opinions I've received on the bike. That's what months of re-search does!

The bike's gonna kick ass!

Dr.A

simply100

Whats wrong with the welds?!!! take a closer look at the GT`s! they are very poorly welded.

THATS WHATS WRONG WITH THE WELDS

Northwind

If you can judge penetration and strength by looking at a painted weld, you should consider turning your unique gift to profit.

simply100

yea......whatever.

just telling it how it is.

There are plenty of other bikes out there which have been finished off better, can`t believe they let these bikes out of the factory, standards are quite poor

dr.a

You really are not helping with comments like that, simply100. Stay on topic.

"can`t believe they let these bikes out of the factory, standards are quite poor"

That's seriously bullsh*t friend.

And, just so we're actually on topic, according to Halford's site both the 16" and 18" Kraken's are out of stock at my local store.

I'm going to kill myself lol

Dr.A

cat_with_no_tail

simply100 wrote:

yea......whatever.

Good comeback :roll:

And you are not telling it how it is, you are providing your opinions, then throwing your toys out when someone disagrees.

Please point out some of these other bikes you speak of, I'd be really interested to see them.

Oh, and while you're there, can you please use your x-ray vision to check the welds on my bike.

Cheers

the jap

Hi there if you go to the halfords website and register online which is one of the options at the top of the page,they will send you a 10% off voucher by e-mail, by return i have done this a few times with my different e mail accounts and had no problems in using them. Hope this helps and they still do this my last one was in november when i purchased a workstand and had £9.00 off the instore price.Steve

simply100

[/quote]



Oh, and while you're there, can you please use your x-ray vision to check the welds on my bike.

Cheers[/quote]

funny

As you say, i`m just voicing my opinion. if you look at the majority of the GT range that halfords supply, they do come with poorly finished welding.

Briggo

simply100 wrote:

As you say, i`m just voicing my opinion. if you look at the majority of the GT range that halfords supply, they do come with poorly finished welding.

The welds on my XC2 look alright to me, I think you be talking outa your rear end my boy.

Infact they dont look much different to my Spesh stumpy.

Not that you can tell how strong a weld really is by simply looking at it.

dr.a

I wish I had the power of persuasion, so as to get any bike for whatever price I command.
haha If only =/ I seriously think destiny does not wish for me to have a bike.

Every bike I've went for has either became discontinued, out of stock or raised dramatically in price.

What the f**k is going on?
:evil:

Briggo

Is it availability regarding the Krakens? If so they're available in Norwich, and Halfords will ship store to store...

dr.a

Yeah, it's availability.

I'll still go in on saturday and see what's what, perhaps the site is talking crap.

Dr.A

diy

Personally I wouldn't shop at Halfords unless it was sunday and I was stuck for tools. But thats not why I post..

There are some basics of procurement that you can apply to getting the right deal you want.. you don't need to clock face them or anything as complex, but you do need to find basic leverage to get the price down.

Firstly you need to commodities the purchase and not get excited or emotional. There are many halfords and many sales people so in your mind at least you need to be relaxed. Its up to the sales person to convince you to do the deal today.

Do's
- I've seen something better at a lower price what can you do on the list price
- what sort of discount can you give me on this to make me buy it
- I've seen this bike cheaper, I really need you to do a deal to convince me
- be very nice and polite to the seller (people do nice things for nice people)
- de-value features and attempts to value sells (e.g. I'm not really fussed about that)
- compliment him to his peers (e.g. you really know your stuff thats been helpful)
- be prepared to walk out if he wont meet you on the price (you can go back on another day)

don't

- I can't afford x, can you do it for y (you lose power)
- demand to speak to the manager, (you can negotiate with the spotty youf he will seek approval if necessary.)
- be rude - he wont want to do it
- set your heart on that bike on that day.

Buckled_Rims

Or buy a Felt at Wiggle...much better spec and only little bit more.

http://www.wiggle.co.uk/p/cycle/7/Felt_Q720_2009/5360038904/

bails87

simply100 wrote:

i would never buy anything from halfords, have never recieved good service and the staff don`t seem to be bothered and don`t really know what they are talking about. Thats in a number of stores around the country, think its time they sorted it out. I would rather use my lbs to be honest for a more personal service.

Then you've been unlucky. But you can't say that all LBS are good.

The brakes weren't working properly on my bike, so took it in for a check as it was only a couple of weeks old. On the morning of the day I was meant to be picking it up they had a look, couldn't figure out what was wrong. So they got a truck from head office to collect it. Sent it to head office for the Boardman techs to look out. They couldn't sort it either, so I got a brand new set of Juicy 7s fitted. The bike was ready to pick up as agreed that afternoon. Pretty good to me. This is along with the free mech hangers, free little jobs they've done on mine, and my brother's bikes, and then throwing in plenty of accessories when I bought the bike.

simply100 wrote:

much better quality than what they are selling in halfords, just check out the welds! also will get better components. or mite be worth saving up and buying something that will last you longer.

Utter Bollocks! How are the Tora's or SLX kit on a Carrera any different to the one's on a Santa Cruz?!

dr.a

I ain't buying blind.

What if it doesn't feel right and I hate the ride? Then I've just blown my long-awaited £400.

diy

Dr.A wrote:

I ain't buying blind.

What if it doesn't feel right and I hate the ride? Then I've just blown my long-awaited £400.

nope you do what everyone does - blow another 400 quid upgrading it

dr.a

lol enthusiastic

I wish I could be that enthusiastic, but at this stage I really can't afford it.

Dr.A