MTB from Halfords - Build quality

rosaklebb

Ok so I've ordered my first proper mountain bike from Halfords on the cycle2work scheme (Carrera Vulcan - 2010 disc-spec). Halfords are building it but I have read that the build quality can vary from store to store, some being excellent and some stores embarrassingly awful. I hope I've made a good choice of bike and would like to be sure as best I can they've set it up properly but being a newb would like some tips on what to check before I ride it out of the store. Yeah very funny, two wheels etc etc before anyone says it ha ha! ;-)

The Northern Monkey

Check that all bolts are tight.

Expect the gears to requre adjustments after a few rides due to cable stretch.

Thats about it really... they can do much wrong bacause all they do is put the bars and wheels on and index the gears!

.blitz

There have been some tales about Halfords putting the forks on backwards but they may be apocryphal.

I got a Chucker from the Stafford store in 2007 and the setup was excellent.

shieldsy94

.blitz wrote:

There have been some tales about Halfords putting the forks on backwards but they may be apocryphal.

I got a Chucker from the Stafford store in 2007 and the setup was excellent.

Maybe if they were manitous

sundog

Make sure you get the seat height adjusted correctly. Ride it around the car park and make sure all the gears change correctly. Check the wheels are tight and spin them to make sure the brakes are properly adjusted.

joec1

small things too like brakes being set up correctly, (basically they stop without the lever pulling right upto the bars)

gloriouswanga

The main thing to check will be the brakes and tightness of bolts. The tektro brakes take a little bit of know how to set up nicely so they would be most likely not be set up right IMO...

rosaklebb

Awesome, thanks guys.

CFS

Halfords, Inverness, had the forks on my brothers Vulcan the wrong way round.

Skonk

I bet if you visited a number of random LBS's and checked the build quality of the bikes that exit the stores then you'd find a good number of them also have awful build quality.

But since "LBS" isn't a franchised brand they don't all get lumbered in with each other.

I guess the point I'm making is, where ever you get a bike from, don't just take for granted that the bike will have been put together properly; check it yourself to be sure.

Tartanyak

Aye - some Halfords seem to employ competent and enthusiastic people. Other stores seem to dredge the bottom of canals then form it vaguely into the shape of a person.

lbknuckles

I would try to avoid picking up at the weekend just incase the part timer hung over from his friday sat night out is thrown in the workshop to build them up!!
I would also ride it round the car park and make sure your happy with it, nothing worse than taking it home and finding out later!
Record your frame number and get the details on Immobilise.com registration site.
Have done mine now, just tick the "dont want your spam box" !!! Its free

sundog

You can also take it back there within 6 weeks although they say 3 months verbally for a check up. With most new bikes I don't try and be too ambitious on my first few rides. Just a couple of miles to make sure its all bedded in correctly, set up right and nothing comes loose. Probably worth getting a multi tool or allen key set.

sundog

Tartanyak wrote:

Aye - some Halfords seem to employ competent and enthusiastic people. Other stores seem to dredge the bottom of canals then form it vaguely into the shape of a person.

I find week days you get the 'specialists' and weekends the ones from the canals

submityournentries

if your working on a weekday, chances are you care enough to drag your bum outta bed, so yeah, itll normally be the good staff on weekdays, and all the staff under the sun on weekends, meaning good staff are also hidden underneath the veil of pooey ones.

random man

I bought a Carrera Vulcan Disc last Sunday, picked up Monday. I've been out on it twice - There's a squeak coming from the back wheel which I think is the brake, and the cable to the front gears has stretched so it's difficult to get the granny ring sometimes.
Otherwise I'm really pleased with the bike and these things can be sorted out at the six week service (I hope!).

jasoncsh

Ordered my Carrera Vulcan too, pick it up on Sunday....so fingers crossed it's all ok.

chedabob

random man wrote:

I bought a Carrera Vulcan Disc last Sunday, picked up Monday. I've been out on it twice - There's a squeak coming from the back wheel which I think is the brake, and the cable to the front gears has stretched so it's difficult to get the granny ring sometimes.
Otherwise I'm really pleased with the bike and these things can be sorted out at the six week service (I hope!).

That's not cable stretch. Either the lower limit is set wrong, or you just need to screw the adjuster in on the shifter.

Brake noise is normal. Bed them in before you do anything because a lot of problems disappear after a few rides.

tilt

My wife's Fury would probably have been set-up better if they'd let a team of chimps have a crack at it tbh.

I don't think I have ever encountered anyone at Halfords that actually knows anything about bikes (which let's face it aren't the most complex of machines anyway).

compo

The thing is with Halford is that I've found them either pretty good or abysmal. There's two near me, each about 3 miles from my house so an easy ride. I go to one and thy're very helpful offering to help fit things for free, telling me in detail about things etc. The other one however is dire.
For a start the bikes are upstairs when there is also a downstairs to it :?
Then, last time I went, I asked the bloke about which tire widths they stocked and he didn't have a clue what I was on about yet he was servicing a very trick Boardman FS.

If the management pulled their fingers out and made every Halfords like the first one I described, it would be seen as a really good cycling chain. However, people always focus on the negatives, so it isnt.

random man

chedabob wrote:

random man wrote:

I bought a Carrera Vulcan Disc last Sunday, picked up Monday. I've been out on it twice - There's a squeak coming from the back wheel which I think is the brake, and the cable to the front gears has stretched so it's difficult to get the granny ring sometimes.
Otherwise I'm really pleased with the bike and these things can be sorted out at the six week service (I hope!).

That's not cable stretch. Either the lower limit is set wrong, or you just need to screw the adjuster in on the shifter.

Brake noise is normal. Bed them in before you do anything because a lot of problems disappear after a few rides.

Thanks chedabob. I'm not used to discs and that noise was bothering me.

borntobemild

mate of mine bought a nice Boardman bike at a good price from Halfords - but the set up wwas very poor. Brakes were binding badly. I'd echo the advice earlier. Take it to another bike shop or a knowledgeable mate.

Full marks to .blitz for using 'apocryphal' in a post. Had to look that one up :oops:

neddie

I got a Boardmn Comp and I'm very happy

But at the end of the day YOU pay your money so ....

SnotRockets

I got a GT Aggressor xc2 from Halfords today,and the front brake pad seems to be rubbing.
When I picked it up the guy who built it wasnt there,but I would prefer to do my own sevicing anyway.Have a carbon roadbike,a single speed,a fixed gear and a battered old Trek already so not a newbie to the fettling lark.Should I leave it to bed in after a few rides?

chedabob

SnotRockets wrote:

I got a GT Aggressor xc2 from Halfords today,and the front brake pad seems to be rubbing.
When I picked it up the guy who built it wasnt there,but I would prefer to do my own sevicing anyway.Have a carbon roadbike,a single speed,a fixed gear and a battered old Trek already so not a newbie to the fettling lark.Should I leave it to bed in after a few rides?

Yes.

jeremyrundle

I bought all three of my sons and my saracen Mantra and DX's from Halfords, Plymouth was superb but another branch almost couldnt care, go to a branch where they show they know bikes and are not just working there 'cos they have to.

BUY the extra guarantee offered by Halfords, £20 I think, it allows you to jump the queue if you are on holiday say and need help you don't need to book it in, puncture repairs are free and ALL labour is free, it has saved me a small fortune.

I am NOT connecteed with Halfords but the extra gtee is good.

DONT buy parts, items though, they are expensive, upgrading our bikes with Rock Shox, alloy wingbars, lights, pumps and all other items is done from places like chain recation and the good cooperative of shops Edinborough Cycles.

NatoED

not stricktly true , they can get magura stuff much cheaper than CRC

trebor127

compo wrote:

The thing is with Halford is that I've found them either pretty good or abysmal. There's two near me, each about 3 miles from my house so an easy ride. I go to one and thy're very helpful offering to help fit things for free, telling me in detail about things etc. The other one however is dire.
For a start the bikes are upstairs when there is also a downstairs to it :?
Then, last time I went, I asked the bloke about which tire widths they stocked and he didn't have a clue what I was on about yet he was servicing a very trick Boardman FS.

If the management pulled their fingers out and made every Halfords like the first one I described, it would be seen as a really good cycling chain. However, people always focus on the negatives, so it isnt.

Which 2 are those mate? Manchester Road and Bury i'm guessing??

Rob

bigflangesmallsprocket

I've just picked up a bike from Halfords: Carrera Subway, so a rigid mtb style, or hybrid rather than full on mtb.

When the chap wheeled it out to me I could see the front wheel was on wonky. I pointed it out and he redid it. When I took it outside I rechecked it again anyway, as the quick release just didn't look right. It wasn't; he'd clicked it shut up the side of the forks (note that my Carrera handbook states to close the quick release parallel to the fork, so he was only 'following orders'), having done that, the chunky forks obviously obstructed the quick release mech and stopped it from closing fully. After that I obviously redid the back wheel, which was better, but not much. The stem was out of line, though I didn't initially notice (it just made pulling away feel a tad off and wobbly), and at home I noticed a little clicking noise which seems to be an oh so slightly loose steerer column. I don't consider myself an expert with modern stuff, discs / aheads etc, but I'm going to give it a bloody good looking at before I take it out again.

Oh, the inner pad of the disc brake rubs up quite firmly against the disc all of the time. I'm assuming that this should either be clear, or only JUST touching, so that's something else..and I forgot, there's also the..... :roll:

NatoED

the inner pad should be just rubbing (if it's a cable brake) it should just make a "zinging" noise as you spinn th ewheel but shouldn't slow it down . If the front wheel was not put in staright the calliper may need to be re-centered on the rotor.

DiscoStink

I sent a long winded email of complaint to Halfords at the start of the week in regards to the Bury store. I wasn't happy with the service.

I noticed while i was out of the bike that the back wheel had a kink (sorry for not knowing the technical term for this) in it when the wheel spun round. After checking the rear rim there was a straight crack from one side to the next under a sticker.

I only had the bike 3 weeks and hadn't really pushed it so it came as a little surprise that a mountain bike wheel would be damaged so easily. They offered to change the wheel as they agreed it didn't look right.

Anyway. I got my bike back after 2 weeks! I've no idea if this is the norm as I've not owned a bike since i was a kid, but my car needed a new clutch and other minor work doing to it earlier in the year...which took one day to do!

It wasn't just the two weeks. It was the service. If someone says they will ring me to keep me up to date or to find out what is happening, then i expect a phone call. I always had to make the calls as they never got in touch and when i did they never knew what was happening.

Poor show really.