Halfords

Bike or car?

I ask because I was in my local(large) Halfords today, followed by a
report in The Times

http://www.thesundaytimes.co.uk/sto/...cle1562477.ece

and my local is 50/50. Do we consider Halfords a bike shop now?

"Tosspot" wrote in message
...
Bike or car?

I ask because I was in my local(large) Halfords today, followed by a
report in The Times

http://www.thesundaytimes.co.uk/sto/...cle1562477.ece

and my local is 50/50. Do we consider Halfords a bike shop now?

http://www.toysrus.co.uk/toys

"Tosspot" wrote in message
...

Bike or car?

I ask because I was in my local(large) Halfords today, followed by a
report in The Times

http://www.thesundaytimes.co.uk/sto/...cle1562477.ece

and my local is 50/50. Do we consider Halfords a bike shop now?

I would say so - I wouldn't trust them to touch my car.
But with a bike- well, it doesn't really matter, does it?

On Sat, 06 Jun 2015 21:50:38 +0100
Tosspot wrote:

Bike or car?

I ask because I was in my local(large) Halfords today, followed by a
report in The Times

http://www.thesundaytimes.co.uk/sto/...cle1562477.ece

and my local is 50/50. Do we consider Halfords a bike shop now?

I think it still depends on the attitude and skills of their bike
people, on a shop by shop basis. It's clear that they've been given
more floor space than they had a few years ago, and more to spend on
stock, but that doesn't necessarily make them better bike shops.

On Saturday, 6 June 2015 22:50:40 UTC+2, Tosspot wrote:
Bike or car?

I ask because I was in my local(large) Halfords today, followed by a
report in The Times

http://www.thesundaytimes.co.uk/sto/...cle1562477.ece

and my local is 50/50. Do we consider Halfords a bike shop now?

Last time I went to Halfords, it was for them to fit a new car battery. Last time I had a new frame built up into a complete machine it was at a LBS, as it would be beyond Halfords.

On 07/06/15 07:38, Alycidon wrote:
On Saturday, 6 June 2015 22:50:40 UTC+2, Tosspot wrote:
Bike or car?

I ask because I was in my local(large) Halfords today, followed by a
report in The Times

http://www.thesundaytimes.co.uk/sto/...cle1562477.ece

and my local is 50/50. Do we consider Halfords a bike shop now?

Last time I went to Halfords, it was for them to fit a new car battery. Last time I had a new frame built up into a complete machine it was at a LBS, as it would be beyond Halfords.

Tbf, that is beyond there remit, and I suspect a lot of bike shops
(Evans?) won't do that either, they are just retailers.

On 07/06/2015 09:18, Tosspot wrote:

Last time I went to Halfords, it was for them to fit a new car
battery. Last time I had a new frame built up into a complete machine
it was at a LBS, as it would be beyond Halfords.

Tbf, that is beyond there remit, and I suspect a lot of bike shops
(Evans?) won't do that either, they are just retailers.


I've not built a bike for over thirty years but I wouldn't think it is
that difficult. The most difficult thing I would think is fitting and
adjusting the gears, which I have recently had done by a bike shop when
a brake/shifter failed on a new bike.

On 06/06/2015 21:50, Tosspot wrote:
Bike or car?

I ask because I was in my local(large) Halfords today, followed by a
report in The Times

http://www.thesundaytimes.co.uk/sto/...cle1562477.ece

and my local is 50/50. Do we consider Halfords a bike shop now?

The psycholists won't consider it a 'proper' bike shop because it isn't
expensive enough.

On 07/06/15 13:04, Nick wrote:
On 07/06/2015 09:18, Tosspot wrote:

Last time I went to Halfords, it was for them to fit a new car
battery. Last time I had a new frame built up into a complete machine
it was at a LBS, as it would be beyond Halfords.

Tbf, that is beyond there remit, and I suspect a lot of bike shops
(Evans?) won't do that either, they are just retailers.


I've not built a bike for over thirty years but I wouldn't think it is
that difficult. The most difficult thing I would think is fitting and
adjusting the gears, which I have recently had done by a bike shop when
a brake/shifter failed on a new bike.

It isn't trivial. I build all my bikes from the wheels up. Gearing,
chain lengths (mine are all hubs), chain lines, stem lengths, seat post
offsets all have to be worked out one way or another, and that's before
you even get to the work of cutting cables, bleeding hoses and cleaning
powder coat out of braze-ons.

I allow about 16 hours of work end-to-end. It's surprising how much
time even getting the cable runs neat takes.

On 07/06/2015 13:25, David Lang wrote:

On 06/06/2015 21:50, Tosspot wrote:

Bike or car?

I ask because I was in my local(large) Halfords today, followed by a
report in The Times
http://www.thesundaytimes.co.uk/sto/...cle1562477.ece
and my local is 50/50. Do we consider Halfords a bike shop now?

The psycholists won't consider it a 'proper' bike shop because it isn't
expensive enough.

In the meeja today, there's a story of a cyclist arrested for assault,
who continued by assaulting the police (by his own admission, BTW: he
said he didn't think it was wrong).

His bike: an £8,000 Italian machine (as reported).