Halfords badly put together bike

Einstein?

Hey lads,

Was wondering what my options are in this situation. Basically I got a new bike (boardman) in Halfords 1-2 weeks ago. The bike is really nice and I like it but it wasn't built properly imo. I have done two charity cycles on it since. On the first one, spokes on the front wheel had to be tightened as they were coming lose. On the second one, spoke broke on the rear wheel and several others were becoming lose. Have I got grounds to get a new bike? Are the bikes not meant to be fit for the road? Could have caused some serious injury as well. Anyone had any similar experience?

iwillhtfu

I doubt it.

Halfords only assemble the bikes they don't build wheels etc.

You might have grounds for claiming new wheels due to a fault but not a new bike. Go back into them and explain your situation. AFAIK they have to be given the opportunity to repair before they'll replace them or refund.

easygoing39

Spokes coming loose on new wheels would be a common enough event.Ive even got wheels handbuilt for me and was asked to bring them back after 200km for a little tweek.Halfords as bad as they are at building bikes didn't build the wheels,but should be able to true them up for you no problem.Or you could bite the bullet and pay a proper bikeshop to tension and true the wheels for you.

Cee-Jay-Cee

Halfords don't actually build any of their bikes. The bikes come near enough fully assenbled. They fit wheels, straighten handlebars and raise/lower the seat post. They probably tune the gears once everything is assembled but there is no 'building' per se.

Beasty

OP your option is straightforward. If the bike is not fit for purpose return it to the retailer and they would be required to repair, replace with an equivalent bike or refund you. The rules are the same for any new goods

Roger Hassenforder

Doesn't matter whether they built the wheels or not. They supplied them to you.

iwillhtfu

Roger Hassenforder wrote: »

Doesn't matter whether they built the wheels or not. They supplied them to you.

Clearly nobody is denying that. :rolleyes: It was pointed out they don't build the wheels and obviously they supply them. This would be the reason for returning to the shop to allow them the opportunity to repair/replace/refund.

As beasty pointed out they have a duty of care to sell an item fit for purpose. However what's not clear from that post is that you are not automatically entitled to a new bike. They have to be allowed to given the opportunity to repair or replace it first.

Roger Hassenforder

iwillhtfu wrote: »

Clearly nobody is denying that. :rolleyes: It was pointed out they don't build the wheels and obviously they supply them. This would be the reason for returning to the shop to allow them the opportunity to repair/replace/refund.

As beasty pointed out they have a duty of care to sell an item fit for purpose. However what's not clear from that post is that you are not automatically entitled to a new bike. They have to be allowed to given the opportunity to repair or replace it first.

OP might have been confused by subsequent posts.
:rolleyes:
:rolleyes:

TychoCaine

It's fairly common for a spoke or two to work themselves loose on new wheels, especially cheaper machine built wheels. That's because the spokes get twisted during the build, and the repeated tension/compression action of being ridden the first few miles allows them to untwist and loosen. Your experience is at the extreme end of normal, but it's happened everyone. A broken spoke is just bad luck to be honest. I don't know how long these charity cycles you did were, but riding long distances on a wheel with loose spokes is a possible cause of the spoke breakage. You're supposed to tighten them back up as soon as you notice. I've done it at the roadside before.

More high-tech wheel building machines relieve this twist as part of the process, and a good hand-builder would also relieve and re-true a wheel before sale. This is one of the reasons why almost every bike shop will do a free initial service after a few weeks, where they'll re-tighten any loose spokes before the customer notices.

Under consumer law they're obliged to repair the wheel for you for free, but there's no way they'll replace the bike before making at least one repair attempt. At most they may offer to replace the wheel, but the old wheel, correctly re-tensioned, would be the better option.

iwillhtfu

Roger Hassenforder wrote: »

OP might have been confused by subsequent posts.
:rolleyes:
:rolleyes:

Which you clearly cleared up incase there was ever a lack of clarity to begin with :rolleyes:

A Jeffers

Bring it back, talk to them, they can't do anything for you if you don't.

Einstein?

Went in today...such an inconvenience had to put the bike upright on a jam packed luas with the front wheel and pedals taken off.

Out comes Inspector Gadget immediately on the defensive checking out the bike for any obvious signs of a crash in which case it would have been my fault. He asked "did you take the rear wheel off" when clearly there was a new set of tyres on it lol

Anyway I was fairly cool going in and asked them what they could do for me. I am happy with the bike, not with the wheels so I asked them to give me a new set of wheels and they said nope. Then they said " u shouldnt have retightened the front wheel spoke urself and should have come in to us straight away, could mess with ur warranty"

Anyway I did retightened it and 300km later a rear wheel spoke snapped in half. Had I been doing anything else than going straight when it happened the bike could have locked up and I could have ended up on the tarmac along with those that were half a wheel behind me..and Id be asking for a lot more than a set of cheap mavic wheels. They said will be 7 days for them to get a spoke and that a manager or someone who will take a closer look will call me tomorrow.

I have a piece of paper that says Mr Halford assembled it and went through 10 odd points to make sure the bike was safe for the road; one of which was messing about with the spokes to true the wheels. Not cool from Halfords :mad:

Can I not get a refund? I only purchased the bike 1-2 weeks ago..

iwillhtfu

Einstein? wrote: »

Can I not get a refund? I only purchased the bike 1-2 weeks ago..

Why would you want a refund I thought you liked the bike. They should fix or replace the wheels but I see no reason for a refund.

I wouldn't listen to them about retightening the wheels voiding your warranty. Tell them you were on a charity ride from Mayo - Dublin and you were hardly gonna leave the spokes loose.

Roger Hassenforder

Einstein? wrote: »

Went in today...

Can I not get a refund? I only purchased the bike 1-2 weeks ago..

if you went at it yourself they could argue you invalidated your warranty.
You'd have to argue that the goods were of unmerchantable quality, and not fit for purpose.
A compromise is to allow them an opportunity to repair the wheels.

Einstein?

They are getting on my tits... no bike for 7 working days is a massive inconvenience for me ..for a spoke? I do like the bike yeah, but Id like new wheels since they are really not road worthy how they are atm.

Also when I noticed the front spoke was a bit lose, I was in the middle of the great dublin bike ride so I tightened it correctly. It's like saying "the air valve wasnt tightened fully, you went at it so your warranty is void". The front wheel has been fine since but after the back spoke broke I wouldnt trust it.

When the back spoke broke I went on a spare bike immediately.

irish gent

I bought a new bike from Halfords two weeks ago.Second day out on THE BIKE the wheel nut came off and locked into the frame..I brought it back they fixed it and they gave me a new lock for the bike for my troubles..

Wishbone Ash

Einstein? wrote: »

.. a rear wheel spoke snapped in half. Had I been doing anything else than going straight when it happened the bike could have locked up and I could have ended up on the tarmac...

It's highly unlikely that a broken spoke would lead to such an accident. If that was the case we'd have a lot more cycling accidents. I've had a spoke break several times over the years and have always finished the ride. Not ideal, but I didn't have much choice.

Beasty

Wishbone Ash wrote: »

I've had a spoke break several times over the years and have always finished the ride. Not ideal, but I didn't have much choice.

You recycle it?:P

Had one go about 30km into the WW200. Just wrapped it round another spoke and tried to forget all about it....

iwillhtfu

I had one snap coming down Molls gap. Wrapped around another spoke loosen off the brake caliper and gingerly descend.

As WA said a pain in the hole but unlikely to be life threatening.

Are you sure you don't just want a new bike?