Halfords Price Hike!...GULP!

loxster71

Popped in to my local Halfords today to book my free service on my Boardman LTD ED Team Carbon road bike, While i was waiting to be served i took a look around and noticed the Team carbon has gone up from a genuine bargain price of £999 to £1199.
A jump of 20% just like that! After having a closer look and assuming there must be some major improvement/upgrades on it to justify the price, i was shocked to see it was the same spec as last years.
Are Halfords taking a risk here by upping the price that much or is it still a bargain?

I'm fairly new to road bikes so can only base an opinion based on what i read in magazines, Was wondering what you more knowledgeable people on here think??
I'm sure i just read in 1 of the mags i buy that halfords account for 1 in 3 bike sales in the uk (1 million bikes sold last year) and that the Boardman carbon was the best seller ( maybe because it came in under the £1000 C2W scheme). Can't help thinking they are making a big mistake here?

Any thoughts?
:shock:

cooper.michael1

Jumping on the tour de france band waggon, halfords have got to pay for the ITV sponsorship somehow. At £1200 it is not at all a bargain. This was always going to happen with the boardman range.

Take a look a wiggle at the moment Focus Varadio Alu with decent kit and Shimano 105 is only £599 down from £950. If I were you looking for a serious deal on a road bike, for half the price there would be little or no performance detriment in buying that bike, i'd say its at least on a par with the boardman. If carbon is your thing the Focus Cayo is £999.

Ultimately the boardman has fought for ground in a market, in which they have done very well, it is basically halfords premium brand. People see the pros riding carbon framed bikes believe all the marketing hype about carbon being lighter and comfier, go to Halfords and they've got what the consumer wants.

I'm not saying its a bad bike at all by all accounts its good, but even at £999 (and certainly at £1200) its no better than a whole host of others, and at that price I'd certainly look a something like a top end Aluminium frame like a CAAD9, before a Boardman Carbon.

rake

maybe on par with a boardman comp but not the carbon team. the variado's a full 2kg heavier.
agreed though that there isnt mindblowing differences between most bikes and that does look nice as well. could wait till after the tours gone away, some think it will come back down.

odichu

Clever move I think by Boardman. No better spec but more cash, I dont see them putting out another bike before next year. Still a nice bike but not a competitive price point anymore.

2011 ranges out for lots of other brands out soon(ish) which will probably only have new paint jobs but will also want another couple of hundred quid more than they wanted for the same bike last year.

cooper.michael1

rake wrote:

maybe on par with a boardman comp but not the carbon team. the variado's a full 2kg heavier.
agreed though that there isnt mindblowing differences between most bikes.

Point taken, but I was trying to relate it to a 'bargain' ...at £599, that focus is a bargain. Even at £1000, i've never thought the Boardman is that, decent value yes super cheap no.

It has to be noted that its not simply about weight. I rode a 15 year old Steel Colnago with old 9sp Campagnolo Chorus a couple of weeks ago, still in top nick, weights 'at least' 18-19lbs (about 2lb more than the boardman)...brilliant ride, smooth and responsive. I wonder how many of our £1000 carbon jobbies of today will look and ride so nicely in 15years time?

asprilla

If you are buying it on C2W then Halfords will miraculously find a £200 discount for you. Mate of mine got one on C2W last week for £999.

giant_man

I wouldn't go to Halfords for any bike, even less so since the prices have risen! Check out a good LBS to get a good deal ....

bikey2009

It could be that Halfords will be having the bike on "sale" in a couple of weeks. It would have had to be at a higher price for a period of time before they let it go at a bargain price in the sale, which will probably the original price.

cooper.michael1

giant mancp wrote:

I wouldn't go to Halfords for any bike, even less so since the prices have risen! Check out a good LBS to get a good deal ....

You are not wrong, enthusiastic cyclists should support their local bike shops, and local bicycle companies. Leave the likes of Halfords to make their money from cheapo bikes and car stereos.

...I think boardman would have done a lot better with 'his' brand had he distributed it via conventional means, As it stands it is simply Halfords Premium brand, abouve carerra and apollo.

alfablue

cooper.michael1 wrote:

...I think boardman would have done a lot better with 'his' brand had he distributed it via conventional means, As it stands it is simply Halfords Premium brand, abouve carerra and apollo.

I think selling 21000 bikes of a completely new brand on the market would be a very tall order through LBS's - commercially I don't think Boardman could have done better, maybe for brand image and exclusivity, yes, but would this have translated into sales against the standard LBS brands? Probably no, or at least not for a decade.

Each Halfords would have sold an average of 48 Boardmans at an average of about £34000 per store, not bad I would say!

In addition Halfords increased their sales of bike care plans by 47%.

IronHorse100

+1 the above post. Too much anti Halfords snobbery. They offer great bikes (Boardmans) at prices LBS's can't afford to keep up with - and therefore make road cycling accesible to people who might otherwise be excluded because of their financial means. LBS's can survive by offering niche or 'quality' services to the moneyed middle classes who form their major client base.

Ben6899

IronHorse100 wrote:

+1 the above post. Too much anti Halfords snobbery. They offer great bikes (Boardmans) at prices LBS's can't afford to keep up with - and therefore make road cycling accesible to people who might otherwise be excluded because of their financial means. LBS's can survive by offering niche or 'quality' services to the moneyed middle classes who form their major client base.

You mean 'monied', right?

IronHorse100

nope - I mean moneyed.

http://www.thefreedictionary.com/moneyed

alfablue

moneyed: contraction of mono-eyed, those with one eye, cyclops for example.

(made that up).

moneyed or monied is fine.

1. a. Of a person, etc.: having or possessing (much) money; rich, wealthy; esp. in moneyed man. Also as n. with the: moneyed people as a class (with pl. concord).
OED 2010 online

Ben6899

IronHorse100 wrote:

nope - I mean moneyed.

http://www.thefreedictionary.com/moneyed

Just checking. Both spellings are acceptable.

IronHorse100

whatever spelling, I wish I was one of them

petejuk

If I was in the hunt for a new road bike, I would look at Canyon Bikes. I looked at one a few years ago and only opted out because I was getting a bike on a cycle to work scheme. If you've got the ready cash, then they're worth a look.

Ben6899

Haha great stuff, alfa!

Me too, ironhorse. I've been going to a proper LBS and it seems I don't have the 'qualifications'.

IronHorse100

Ben6899 wrote:

Haha great stuff, alfa!

Me too, ironhorse. I've been going to a proper LBS and it seems I don't have the 'qualifications'.

i should add that I'm all for supporting the LBS!!

rake

cooper.michael1 wrote:

rake wrote:

maybe on par with a boardman comp but not the carbon team. the variado's a full 2kg heavier.
agreed though that there isnt mindblowing differences between most bikes.

Point taken, but I was trying to relate it to a 'bargain' ...at £599, that focus is a bargain. Even at £1000, i've never thought the Boardman is that, decent value yes super cheap no.

It has to be noted that its not simply about weight. I rode a 15 year old Steel Colnago with old 9sp Campagnolo Chorus a couple of weeks ago, still in top nick, weights 'at least' 18-19lbs (about 2lb more than the boardman)...brilliant ride, smooth and responsive. I wonder how many of our £1000 carbon jobbies of today will look and ride so nicely in 15years time?

i agree . but that applies to any modern carbon bike including colnagos. no one is giving bikes away including focus.for outright value and lastingness i wouldnt bother with 10 speed, maybe not even 9. i dont feel as though i was done or could have done heaps better when i got my team carbon, i dont care where i bought it, i like the ride i know its not just reasonably light and at the £800 unused i paid im happy for now.
you know deep down that you would really like one with a smart paintjob.

meanredspider

rake wrote:

maybe on par with a boardman comp but not the carbon team. the variado's a full 2kg heavier.
agreed though that there isnt mindblowing differences between most bikes and that does look nice as well. could wait till after the tours gone away, some think it will come back down.

I have the Variado Compact with 105 - bought last New Year as an ex-demo from Wiggle - £375. I'd been looking at the Boardman but I'm very happy with the Focus. And I'm sure for the difference in cost I could lose 2kg off me which would be useful on my Cube Reaction MTB too!

unixnerd

I'm not saying its a bad bike at all by all accounts its good, but even at £999 (and certainly at £1200) its no better than a whole host of others, and at that price I'd certainly look a something like a top end Aluminium frame like a CAAD9, before a Boardman Carbon.

The Edinburgh Bicycle chain of shops are offering a CAAD9 with Tiagra for 999.99 and they do C2W vouchers.

I was in Halfords recently buying Mobil 1 oil for one of my cars, 49.99 for 5 litres! Was 12 quid cheaper at the motor factor down the road. I had a look at their range of luggage and was very surprised at how dear it was, even the track pumps were around double the internet prices. Halfords has never been a cheap store, it's just perceived to be. Great marketing if you can get away with it!

asprilla

unixnerd wrote:

I'm not saying its a bad bike at all by all accounts its good, but even at £999 (and certainly at £1200) its no better than a whole host of others, and at that price I'd certainly look a something like a top end Aluminium frame like a CAAD9, before a Boardman Carbon.

The Edinburgh Bicycle chain of shops are offering a CAAD9 with Tiagra for 999.99 and they do C2W vouchers.

Can they get them though?

I was pushing my mate towards the CAAD9 but he couldn't source one from anywhere.

fastbatard

bikey2009 wrote:

It could be that Halfords will be having the bike on "sale" in a couple of weeks. It would have had to be at a higher price for a period of time before they let it go at a bargain price in the sale, which will probably the original price.

+1. This is a favouite tactic of theirs. Some of Halfords bike prices fluctuate more than the stockmarket!

rake

meanredspider wrote:

rake wrote:

maybe on par with a boardman comp but not the carbon team. the variado's a full 2kg heavier.
agreed though that there isnt mindblowing differences between most bikes and that does look nice as well. could wait till after the tours gone away, some think it will come back down.

I have the Variado Compact with 105 - bought last New Year as an ex-demo from Wiggle - £375. I'd been looking at the Boardman but I'm very happy with the Focus. And I'm sure for the difference in cost I could lose 2kg off me which would be useful on my Cube Reaction MTB too!

nice deal there mate. good buy if you can find em. 1 years difference is no big deal really.it pays to shop around. im not made of money so its a rare occasion when i strike to buy. a good deal can tip the balance on anything.

cooper.michael1

Oh yeah indeed, I agree, the £3000 Carbon Colnago's are more or less the same in terms of longevity (although they are better built than a generic frame), we live in a much more of the throw-a-way society today. All lead by marketing, and you see it time an time again on here, people 'upgrading' for no reason.

Buying a bike from Halfords is just like buying a TV from Tesco. You get what you get, and its resonably decent for a decent price, just don't expect much support from them in the long term.

I original post referred to taking a bike into halford for a service, personally I think you could get to the same competence as a halford mechanic with the aid of the park tools website and an allen key. I use my LBS all the time and last time I visited after my headset cracked into two pieces they fitted a new one within 10mins on a Saturday morning, free of charge, as the guy knows me....keep it local so to speak.

When LBS no longer exist and we are left with the internet and halfords, people will certainly miss them then.

cooper.michael1

meanredspider wrote:

rake wrote:

maybe on par with a boardman comp but not the carbon team. the variado's a full 2kg heavier.
agreed though that there isnt mindblowing differences between most bikes and that does look nice as well. could wait till after the tours gone away, some think it will come back down.

I have the Variado Compact with 105 - bought last New Year as an ex-demo from Wiggle - £375. I'd been looking at the Boardman but I'm very happy with the Focus. And I'm sure for the difference in cost I could lose 2kg off me which would be useful on my Cube Reaction MTB too!

Indeed, seriously you'd be better off spending the money on better wheels and tyres, rather than a whole new bike....or a new MTB to play around on!

loxster71

Yes, i did say at the start of my thread that i'd popped in to sort out the "FREE SERVICE" they give you usually after the first 6 week period.
But seeing as i took delivery of my LTD ED Carbon mid december and due to the poor weather never got to use it till mid April, was quite surprised when they said they would honour it.
I've read/heard all the horror stories about the Halfords "mechanics" incompetences but i must be one of the lucky ones who's local store seems to have some people who know what they are doing! So credit where it is deserved i say!

When i went to purchase the bike i made it quite clear ( at the risk of offending the staff) about all the horror stories about their lack of knowledge/skill and about the stories of the rear wheel spokes coming loose and popping into the rim, To my suprise the bike came set up well, all gears indexed as they should and everything as tight as it should be.
So i can only speak highly of my local branch ( Mansfield).

When the bike needs anything doing in future or any upgrades/replaced parts i will source the parts myself(online) then go to my LBS and let them do the work, i Thoroughly agree with keeping the LBS's operating and only purchased originally from Halfords because Boardman is exclusive to them.

To conclude i am more than happy with my purchase, and would recommend Boardman bikes to anyone who is on the look out for a new bike.