Halfords finally selling off their GT stock

Dubzy

I notice that my local Halfords is finally selling off their GT stock at reduced prices up to £120 off some models. Grab yourselves a bargain and watch out for manager's specials, which usually have big discounts.

Stuy-b

be for you get ahead of your self these are the same prices halfords have been selling the gt's for for a while. not a new sale!!

Shotsaway

My local store has a Aggressor XCR in stock on the shop floor. For the last 3 months (It may even have been longer) it has been minus a rear brake (Calliper, Hose and Lever). It is also missing the rech mech cable and a grip end plug. The Bomber stickers are also peeling off the fork. The bike just looks is a very sorry state yet it is still sitting on the shop floor. Why would anybody want to buy this bike? If Halfords really want to shift the GT stock, they should at least make the display models presentable. Very poor!!!

Mary Portas would have a field day, if she was to pay them a visit!

Northwind

Not really- that bike's been raided to fix a customer's bike, which is a brilliant thing to do but does leave ugly display bikes. Nice that they put their customers first though.

Deputy Dawg

My local halfords has a few bikes like that. The difference is they have been reduced in price as ex-display/incomplete.

If I were in the market for one of them with an eye to upgrade it'd be the obvious choice.

MountainMonster

Shotsaway wrote:

My local store has a Aggressor XCR in stock on the shop floor. For the last 3 months (It may even have been longer) it has been minus a rear brake (Calliper, Hose and Lever). It is also missing the rech mech cable and a grip end plug. The Bomber stickers are also peeling off the fork. The bike just looks is a very sorry state yet it is still sitting on the shop floor. Why would anybody want to buy this bike? If Halfords really want to shift the GT stock, they should at least make the display models presentable. Very poor!!!

Mary Portas would have a field day, if she was to pay them a visit!

I would buy it, because it would be cheaper than the normal price, and would only need a rear brake and an extra 20 pound of work. I'm fine by that as long as the price reflects the work.

Shotsaway

But the point is that the bike isn't any cheaper! It is the same price as the other bikes that haven't donored parts. Yes it is great service that they have taken parts off the bike to repair customer bikes but they now have a display bike that is in a poor state. Surely the customers bike would have been repaired under guarantee. So did they order the replacement parts?

They should either sell it as sold as seen with a bigger discount or order the parts to get it back to a saleable condition. I know I am generalising here but most halfords bike customers would be occassional cyclists, who would not have the experience or skills to get the bike on the road.

The easiest way to sell it, would be to get it fixed. Afterall it has been in this state for at least the last 3 months.

You wouldnt buy a new or used car from a dealer that was missing a gearbox or brakes?

submityournentries

ah yes but it will cost halfords more to fix it, than it will to just reduce it down to a price where some1 will take it. and as its an XCR, its not likely to be bought by some1 just going to the shops every week is it?

Bar Shaker

Shotsaway wrote:

But the point is that the bike isn't any cheaper! It is the same price as the other bikes that haven't donored parts. Yes it is great service that they have taken parts off the bike to repair customer bikes but they now have a display bike that is in a poor state. Surely the customers bike would have been repaired under guarantee. So did they order the replacement parts?

I suspect it has the parts waiting to be fitted from the customer's warranty job but agree it's poor to display it incomplete. Either sell it as a one off, incomplete bike as a very reduced price, or get it sorted.

If it doesn't have the missing parts, I am sure you could pick it up for very little money.

MuddyMarky

When I was looking recently for a new bike, a friend who has an interest in an LBS (not selling GT's, by the way), told me there are GT's and there are GT's.....going onto explain about the Halfords specials they sell couldn't really compare to the 'proper' ones.....he doesn't have anything against Halfords, just commented that the quality wasn't really there, from what he'd seen, having had various ones in for servicing, etc

Please don't flame me for the above (not my opinion, etc), just interesting what was said.

supersonic

Your friend is a bit mislead lol. But is a very slight grain on truth in there.

Halfords agreed to stock GT back in about 2000 with a ten year deal. But it was just for frames - Halfords specced them. The frames are manufactured by GT and are usually the previous years Avalanches, or IDrive. And given the specs are usually better, you can actually get a better bike for the cash.

MuddyMarky

Ahhh, I see. I didn't realise that was the GT/Halfords deal. He did also mention that they (GT) have now started to pick up their game again(whatever he meant by that) and the 2011 onwards bikes should be good bits of kit.

supersonic

They have always been good bits of kit lol. Had a slightly barren spell around 2003, but sice then have produced some superb bikes.

The Spiderman

My local Halfords in Luton was selling off a spare Agreesor XC1 frame for £50.I assume it had been stripped for parts.Pretty good price for an as new frame if someone fancied a little project.

Anonymous

Happy enough with my i-drive and it's really quite an impressive spec for the price.

Upshot is they get a fairly recent frame from GT and spec it up with parts to hit exactly a certain price point (e.g. £999 in my case).

Not one single Halfords manufactured component on mine and the main components are SRAM, Shimano & Fox.

Certainly has been the case in recent years anyway, and I can't see how quality is any different to any other big name bike.

The main problem comes from Halfords employees assembling them. Just take the box and build it yourself or get someone else to do it, or get it checked by the LBS before taking it out (and that includes checking for really daft things like the forks on backwards!).

To me, Halfords were just the people who stocked the bike. Other than that to me it's a pretty good GT frame with well known and respected components. Everything else people think about the bike is just down to the image of Halfords, but they really have very little else to do with it.

hounslow

voodoo 2010 also on clearance, right bargains there.