Good Halfords' in London

dynamic52

I'd like to buy a Boardman bike and yesterday went into my local Halfords in Balham to talk to someone about the size i'd need. It was immediately obvious the guy had no clue what he was on about.

I realise there are issues with poor advice / customer service at some Halfords, and was hoping that someone could recommend a Halfords in London which they know to have salespeople who know what they're on about, as I'd really like to make sure I get the correct sized frame

Any recommendations greatly appreciated

Many thanks

Berk Bonebonce

Nah. Can't help you there mate.

sundog

When you go into Halfords seek out those staff with little name badges saying 'specialist'.

furrag

They're certainly all special in Halfords.

weapons

My girlfriend's mum bought a hybrid bike from halfords. She's hardly an experienced cyclist so asked for my help when she said that it took a lot of effort on the front shifter to shift between the rings. On looking at it, I saw the problem - a triple shifter and triple chainset, but with only two of the three chainrings bolted on. That's truly special.

Bunneh

My last few days as a Halfords employee were truely special. I turned up, 5 bikes lined up with no label on them saying what was wrong so I had to systematically go through every single bike looking for problems. One bike had a loose bottom bracket, terribly tuned brakes and handlebars that moved in their clamp. I sorted all those problems and got on with other work.

A guy turns up to pick up that exact bike and asks me if I'd put the new pedals on, as that's what he wanted! I told him what I'd done and he was shocked, was quite adamant he wasn't paying because he never knew there were problems of that nature. Personally I didn't care whether he paid or not, so I put the pedals on and he paid for that.

If I'd been told by a little note what to do I could have saved 30 minutes work on a shed, that work probably saved his ass on the ride home though, or he flew over the handlebars at the next junction 'wow my brakes wooooooooooooorrrrrrrrk...DINK!'

I made sure every bike I worked on was safe to ride out afterwards, even though 9 times out of 10 it was something that wasn't required. Hell I even ran a dry cloth over the frame etc to make sure it looked clean - something a lot of proper bike shops don't do.

notsoblue

Kudos Bunneh

Dynamic, don't know anywhere near Balham, but the Halfords/Bikehut at St Paul's is pretty decent. Went in there when I was toying with the idea of buying a Boardman, and from chatting to the staff there they're quite competent. Bit out of your way though!

bigmat

I've generally found Balham Halfords alright, I think they have better staff there at the weekend maybe. There's an Aussie / Kiwi bloke who knows his stuff.

racingcondor

While I'm sure there are a few good staff at Halfords (one less without Bunneh by the sounds of it!) I wouldn't bet you can find one with any regularity. Could try this though -

http://www.competitivecyclist.com/za/CCY?PAGE=FIT_CALCULATOR_INTRO

Sirius631

I wish the OP had finished the title with either a question mark or and exclamation mark. I read the thread expecting incredulity at the OP actually having found a good Halfords in London. If I'd have known that he was asking for a Good Halfords in London, I would have skipped over the thread because I couldn't have helped.

Damo66

sundog wrote:

When you go into Halfords seek out those staff with little name badges saying 'specialist'.

Don't they get one of those badges if they stay all day...........

seanoconn

Halfords bike hut in Putney, not that far from Balham. Bought my Boardman there. The staff have an interest in bikes and new what they were talking about.

Bar Shaker

James at the Chelmsford store is great and I have no problem with him looking after my bikes.

mousetoo

the Halfords/Bikehut at St Paul's is pretty decent

it closed down a couple of weeks ago

dandrew

Halfords have only gone and closed all of their small shops that mainly sold bikes, e.g. the one in the City near St Pauls. A pity as they attracted staff who were actually interested in bikes

Mark Grant

Balham have only been selling Boardmans for a few weeks.
I bought mine from New Malden. After visiting several I thought they seemed to know their stuff the best, however that was a year ago and I don't know if the same staff are still there.

Mark.

edb999

On a similair note I've been been in the market for some rocking horse manure, if any one can help locate a good supplier

dynamic52

Thanks for the replies

I went to Putney and spoke to a guy called Shaun who was very helpful.

bilirubin

dynamic52 wrote:

Thanks for the replies

I went to Putney and spoke to a guy called Shaun who was very helpful.

Were you in Halfords when you spoke to him though???