Newbie asks "what do people have against Halfords bikes?"

TimS996

Hi from a newbie and congrats on a great forum.

I'm looking for an entry level MTB having ridden road bikes for years, I now want to get on the trails and am looking for a reasonable hard tail with hydraulic discs, lockout and a decent frame.
Bit tight on budget, up to £450.

I had a good look at the voodoo Bantu and voodoo hoodoo at my local Halfords and couldn't really see much wrong with them, especially for the price. They both seem to get good reviews on here.
http://www.halfords.com/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/product_storeId_10001_catalogId_10151_productId_786839_langId_-1_categoryId_165499

[url]Http://www.halfords.com/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/product_storeId_10001_catalogId_10151_productId_786865_langId_-1_categoryId_165499[/url]

However after asking a few mountain biking mates, they all seem to turn their noses up at Halfords products. Is it past history, or will these bikes not last well?

By comparison, in my local MTB shop, they have this Focus Whistler which I'm also keen on for £450 and also offer a custom fitting service with rolling road!
http://www.focus-bikes.com/int/en/bikes/bikes-2012/category/mtb-hardtail-11/subcategory/sport/model/whistler-12.html

They're German built and look good. It's also a bit lighter than the Bantu. Not been able to find much about them in the way of reviews though.
Does anyone here know much about them?

Does anyone have any thoughts otherwise? Any advice appreciated.

supersonic

The bikes are generally good value, but the service from the shops can be hit and miss. Find a good one though and you will be rewarded.

You MTB mates sound like they don't have a clue.

The Bantu and Voodoo are far better than the Focus as both have adjustable and well damped suspesnion forks.

TimS996

Does the Focus not have as a good a fork then?

And as for what my mates think, they probably have more money than sense!

supersonic

No, the fork on the Focus is pretty dire and will spoil the ride off road.

The Rookie

There is no point having a fork with bounce unless it's controlled with a damper. Ever had a 'slinky'?

Halfords can be hit and miss, there are 2 issues, first off at PDI their contract with some of the manufacturers means that even if they spot a defect they don't get paid for fixing it unless it goes to a customer who complains and brings it back, so some stores stick to the letter of this, others bend the rules and just fix it anyway, secondly they have some good staff and some ropey ones (in my experience many bike stores have a 'weakest link'), develop some interaction with whoever serves you and your more likely to get a good job.

Finally learn to do routine maintenance yourself, MTB's can't usually go for 2 months between 'services' they need some fettling every ride by the nature of them.

Yes Halfords sell some rotten bikes (trax!), some mediocre (though above BSO) in the Apollo's but generally Carreras and non own brands (Voodoo and Boardman) are good bikes.

TimS996

So any suggestions as to what to get?

The Rookie

Voodoo Bantu, £369 right now, damped air fork and hydraulic brakes.

The Suntour fork on that is 3 levels in the suntour range above the XCT on the Focus, it has hydraulic brakes versus the Focus's cable (and one of the worst cables you can get), it doesn't even tell you how many gears the Focus has! On that basis anyone suggesting the Focus over the Bantu from Halfords is an idiot!

TimS996

Thanks for the info about the fork, that's what I suspected. The components on the Voodoo's do seem to be good ones.

Also the Focus I saw today had Hydraulic brakes but with that XCT fork.

waby1234

You'll find a lot of people have something against Halfords - many with a valid reason, many because they are brand snobs, and many for no valid reason at all. However Halfords have the buying power and economies of scale to prove great value bikes. Like the comments above look at a Carrera, Voodoo, or Boardman bikes and you can pick up some great bikes.

If you find a good store, or can build the bike yourself (or get a decent local bike shop to check it over) you'll have a great bike for a good price.

Stu Coops

Personally I wouldn't touch Halfords as everyone I have spoken to have bad experiences with them

waby1234

Stu Coops wrote:

Personally I wouldn't touch Halfords as everyone I have spoken to have bad experiences with them

But for every bad experience there are good ones.... Like me for example

Chunkers1980

Which was?

JKD

Some MTB mates do like to steer you clear of Halfords bikes. Whether it's down to bad rep, poor bikes in the past or whatever. On paper they look very good and seem brilliant bikes in the flesh too. I'd have bought one only a used Cube came along

bails87

I've had mixed, but generally good, experiences with Halfords. Both in the same store, bought a Boardman MTB, they voluntarily knocked £50 for a scratch the size of a gnats nadger on the downtube. I asked them to get a spare mech hanger, they did and gave it me for free (instead of £25!). There was a problem with the brakes, so I took it in, they looked at it, couldn't sort it so got a truck to take my bike to Boardman HQ to be looked at, couldn't be sorted so they fitted a brand new set of brakes and got the bike back to the store in time for me to pick it up that evening.

When I bought my CX from them they tried to sell me one that was too big, but once I insisted on the smaller frame they got it in, let me 'accumulate' discount codes to save money, sorted out the infamous BB30 problem, trued the wheels FOC after a month or two.

Essentially, as an organisation they've got the clout and logistical backup to replace broken bits quickly, but the staff vary and not all have the knowledge you'd hope or the inclination to use the resoruces they've got to help customers.

The bikes themselves are fantastic value for money on the whole, there's nothing wrong with the bikes, it's the people selling them who can cause problems.

waby1234

Generally I've found a good approach is to pop into Halfords during the week if you can and speak to the bike staff. You'll soon pickup whether they know what they are talking about.

I've used two Halfords stores for my bike - one in Bury St Edmunds built and set up the bike, and one in south Birmingham replaced a broken shifter. Staff in both stores were friendly, helpful, and did a good job. I did a few tweaks of brakes, gears, contact points etc, but generally all was set up very well.

The Rookie

Stu Coops wrote:

Personally I wouldn't touch Halfords as everyone I have spoken to have bad experiences with them

EVERYONE you have spoken to EVER, HAS been to Halfords, AND has had a bad experience? I call BS on that mate!

Twelly

I think a couple of people have hit the nail on the head. In general, Halfords is a fairly respectable company with some decent own brand and branded products but there are a few kids with Saturday jobs at Halfords all over the place who let the overall reputation down. Bad news does travel faster than good so any 'bad experiences' will reverberate throughout a group of friends whereas someone who walks into a shop, pays money and receives the expected service done as it should be in return isn't going to go shouting about it as much.

I personally don't have any work done in Halfords because I do the majority of work myself and anything bigger which I can't do or need special tools for I will take to a tiny little bike shop near me where I know the guy who owns the place will do an exceptional job.

As far as 'check all the bolts when you buy a bike from Halfords' goes, would you not give a bike a check over before you ride it whether you bought it from Halfords or the most prestigious bike shop in the world? I certainly would, no matter where I bought it from.

TimS996

Thanks for all the advice so far. I'm still interested in either the Hoodoo or Bantu at Halfords but also had a look at this today....

http://www.evanscycles.com/products/specialized/hardrock-sport-disc-2012-mountain-bike-ec030674

Road it runs for a bike, nice bike and quite interested. Th sales guy did make the point that if and when I upgrade I'd get more back for it secondhand.

It's th same spec as the Voodoos in some ways although I'm not sure if the front forks are not as good on the Specialized.

Any thoughts?

supersonic

The Hardrock has a 50p fork on the front which is worse than awful. The Bantu is far better.

apreading

Tha Hardrock is a good bike for what it was a couple of years ago - a £350 bike with a cheap fork which is heavy and poorly controlled. But since then they have dropped the spec AND raised the price significantly. It is now a £500 bike which also has gear mechs which are really bottom of the range stuff.

If you have £500 then go spend it at Decathlon on a Rockrider - soooo much better than the Hardrock in just about every way and much better than the Voodoo in my opinion. The Rockrider is an absolute steal at £500.

But the Voodo is also an absolute steal at £369.

If you can stretch to more, the Boardman is extremely good from Halfords too.

arcadian

I just got a Voodoo Hoodoo from Halfords - ordered online as it's been down to £450, but had been given a 10% discount code which brought it to £405. Total bargain at that price.

The call centre staff were really helpful in arranging the delivery around when I could be in and let me know there was a backlog at the warehouse (probably due to recent good weather). I gave the bike a full going over before taking out, some bits needed tightening and the air pressure was a bit low for my taste in the tyres and fork.

Brakes on it are a massive improvement on my old hardrock, as is the feel in the fork. First time with hydraulic brakes and when I accidentally pulled a bit hard on the rear brake gave myself a bit of a wiggle and a fright!

The only minor problem I would say about it is the seat feels less comfortable than the one on my friend's bike which I've been borrowing.

Greer_

waby1234 wrote:

Stu Coops wrote:

Personally I wouldn't touch Halfords as everyone I have spoken to have bad experiences with them

But for every bad experience there are good ones.... Like me for example

Me to. Any time I had a problem with my gears I brought my bike in and they reindexed everything no questions asked, gave different pieces of advice and they knew what they were talking about. Its very safe to say though that not all their stores are like this!

TimS996

apreading wrote:

Tha Hardrock is a good bike for what it was a couple of years ago - a £350 bike with a cheap fork which is heavy and poorly controlled. But since then they have dropped the spec AND raised the price significantly. It is now a £500 bike which also has gear mechs which are really bottom of the range stuff.

If you have £500 then go spend it at Decathlon on a Rockrider - soooo much better than the Hardrock in just about every way and much better than the Voodoo in my opinion. The Rockrider is an absolute steal at £500.

But the Voodo is also an absolute steal at £369.

If you can stretch to more, the Boardman is extremely good from Halfords too.

I tend to agree, having looked at a few bikes now. Still need to stick to my budget too though. I'll go and have a look on Decathlon. Which rock rider would you suggest?

Greer_

The Rockrider 8.1 is the one that's raved about most.

The Rookie

TwellySmat wrote:

As far as 'check all the bolts when you buy a bike from Halfords' goes, would you not give a bike a check over before you ride it whether you bought it from Halfords or the most prestigious bike shop in the world? I certainly would, no matter where I bought it from.

The carrera's are built in the same factory by the same people who build most Specialized HT's yet no-one suggests you nut and bolt check them.....

cooldad

Yes but the spotty teenagers who sell Specializeds work for 'real' bike shops. Obviously.

oxocube1

Hehe i saw this topic and just had to get involved as I am a bike mechanic in a Halfords store.

First off i think it is more a question of what people have against Halfords as a Bike shop rather than the bikes themselves because I have done a fair amount of research into looking at bikes that compare to the higher end bikes we sell i.e. the Boardman and Voodoo bikes. And i can't say that i have found anything that is the same price as say, a Boardman HT Pro (£999.99) that has the same spec. As i think someone already mentioned, because they sell products over the all over the UK and are a very large company, they can afford to drop the prices of the bikes because the profit margins do not need to be as big compared to a LBS for example.

I fairly often get bikes in for repair that have been bought from LBS becuase the customer has had a bad experience/service etc. but that is not to say that it does not happen the other way around because i'm sure it does.

The problem i think that Halfords has is that there are a number of different staff on the Bikehut. For example in my store it is 9, Only 2 of them are full time and the rest are part-timers some working full time hours and some only working 7 hours a week. If you ask for some advice from a part timer who works 7 hours a week, the likelyhood is that they will not be bale to give you comprehensive info about repairs/workshop and tech info etc. It is also likely that they might not know so much about the bikes being sold and therefore create a bad experience.

You have to remember that as Halfords is such a big company, they have a Customer services deparment that can take feedback from people who visit their stores. If someone has a good experience it is very rarely relayed to customer services. However, if somebody has a particularly bad experience, they will most likely notify customer services. Local bike shops do not have such customer service departments and so often do not find out about any bad customer experiences.

It is these bad experiences from Halfords that people post about on forums/tell their friends that are generalised across every store in the UK. As most LBS are only one store, there is no other stores to generalise the bad feedback too.

I see myself as a very competent bike mechanic and can answer/fix 99% of problems and questions that arise. I do however know that that is not the case with some other members if staff that i work with and yes i can definitely see how people can have bad experiences. You just need to ask for the head mechanic or one of the members of staff who knows their stuff about bikes and you will most likely be happy with the service.

In reference to the choice you are making, the Hoodoo is very good spec for the money, a little on the heavy side but if it is a first bike that should not matter too much. I definitely prefer it over Bantu as the forks are better, i prefer the colour and it has better brakes and drivetrain. Obviously its more expensive but i think the rise in price is justified by the upgrade in spec.

TimS996

Great reply oxocube1, and thanks for your honesty. I've now been in several Halfords, Evans and some LBS. At my local Halfords I got very frank helpful advice and the same at a nearby branch, both from a "youth" and from a 65 year old semi retiree. Both were happy to point to some of the stock and say " don't touch it" and both in my opinion recommended me the right bike for my money. Neither of them tried to pressure me into something more expensive, unlike Evans, whose first comments were that I wouldn't get anything decent for £450. The bike he pointed me to, the Specialized had much more inferior components, especially the fork. Ditto my LBS who offered me more expensive but poorer specced kit.

As a result I've now ordered the Hoodoo. With £450 online, a £10 voucher for spending over £50 and something like 2700 Nectar points, I reckon the bike will cost me £425. I completely agree with your comments on it, good spec good starter bike and for me at this stage the fractional extra weights not important. Sticking to my budget is.

Yes I've had some shocking experiences at HalfordS before, the car seat fitting expert who wasn't, sticks in my mind, but then you will have bad experiences at any chain stores, even the vaunted Jon Lewis. In this case I've had good service and honest advice.

bellys

The only bike I would get if spending £500 http://www.decathlon.co.uk/81-2011-id_8168695.html

waby1234

bellys wrote:

The only bike I would get if spending £500 http://www.decathlon.co.uk/81-2011-id_8168695.html

You're not though... TimS996 is and be bought a Voodoo for £75 ish less!

dhobiwallah

Nothing wrong with Halfords or its bikes. When my Brother in Law was looking at his first MTB a few years ago the generally agreed best buy for £500 was a Carerra and for £700 was a Voodoo, both at Halfords. After explaining my thought processes to him as to why he went to Halfords and asked open questions. He received very good advice, was steered towards the bikes I had already told him about and sold the previous years model with a better spec for less money than the current one.

Having said that I have been into the same branch looking for a bit of advice and been dealt with by a complete chimp who couldn't do anything more than read the packaging silently (while his lips were moving); then repeat it.

Its not the shop or the product, its who who are served by and its a huge chain with massive variability. Due economies of scale they are constantly good value at the lower end of the budget (although for £500 Decathlon seems to have the prize at the mo).

i would suggest those who are turning their noses up at Halfords bikes ain't in the £400-£800 bike region