Halfords coolock

vannistelrooy10

the bikehut in halfords has some amazing deals on really good bikes
hybrids from e149.99
full suspension from e159.99 and e80 of accesories of your choice
the best value was a town bike for e319.99 and e160 of accesories of your choice.

alc

vannistelrooy10 wrote:

the bikehut in halfords has some amazing deals on really good bikes
hybrids from e149.99
full suspension from e159.99 and e80 of accesories of your choice
the best value was a town bike for e319.99 and e160 of accesories of your choice.

Holy crap, what would you do with a new 160e full-suspension bike!? I've taken a couple of sub-200e mountain bikes downhill a few of times, but they were secondhand, the kind of bike that retailed in it's day for 1K+. Have seen too many bloody faces at the bottom for this to make sense. For everyday cycling the only way to travel is a bog-standard racer-style road bike with cheap flat-bars, all the extra full-suspension weight (especially when forged from pig-iron) just slows you down.

How long you been working for Halfords then?

SteM

alc wrote:

For everyday cycling the only way to travel is a bog-standard racer-style road bike with cheap flat-bars, all the extra full-suspension weight (especially when forged from pig-iron) just slows you down.

But would a normal racer-style bike's wheels not get buckled to bits with the state of the Dublin roads?

alc wrote:

How long you been working for Halfords then?

Ouch.

Enduro

Alc is exactly right. Those bikes are a load of shiny overweight rubbish, targeted at price sensitive pruchases who look at the bottom line without checking up on the quality/suitability of what they're buying. A lcassic false economy.

They are far more likely to disintigrate on Dublin's roads than a quality racer, as they are built with extremely cheap, extremely poor quality components.

dubal

How long you been working for Halfords then?

looks like July 2005

AlanG

my friend bought one of the halfords bikes and it is perfect for what she wanted - by far the best value for your average user who has to risk leaving a bike locked on the street. Just because they are not targeted at high end users does not mean they are not great value for what they do. These are great value for knocking around on, especiallly if you find racers uncomfortable. Not everyone is a snob who needs to belittle everything that cant do cross country downhills. Some people have the intelligence to buy the quality that suits their needs.

s8n

well said Alan G

Kingsize

slightly off topic but the staff in halfords coolock are a bunch of arrogant tossers especially the Nordie comic book guy
jesus lads ever heard of
a)Customer service?
b)personal hygene

vannistelrooy10

alc wrote:

Holy crap, what would you do with a new 160e full-suspension bike!? I've taken a couple of sub-200e mountain bikes downhill a few of times, but they were secondhand, the kind of bike that retailed in it's day for 1K+. Have seen too many bloody faces at the bottom for this to make sense. For everyday cycling the only way to travel is a bog-standard racer-style road bike with cheap flat-bars, all the extra full-suspension weight (especially when forged from pig-iron) just slows you down.

How long you been working for Halfords then?

from the very start and what stupid thick thought he could go down hill on a e200 bike. i tell people proper mountain bikes start at e700-e800.
people only care about price they dont take my advice thets why i do be stuck repairing e100 bikes under guarantee coz they are used every day for miles when sense tells you the parts are plastic crap.
and steel bikes are heavy, its steel!!!!
you get a aluminium bike for e230 that you can use every day

vannistelrooy10

thanks alan g it customer like you that i have all the time and respect for unlike people who show up 5 min b4 we close and dont take your advice. ignorant ****ers.
and i couldnt be further from arrogant ,kingsize i bet you are one of the aforementioned ass clowns

vannistelrooy10

a racer!!!! have you clycled on dublins roads the pot hoples you must get plenty of buckles in ur wheels a decent gt or carrera or kona or maybe a top end apollo would be far more appropriate or maybe you live on the southside where you have green grass, smooth road and ur crap dnt smell

optiplexgx270

Good god the guy was only telling us about some cheep bikes, im sure he didnt intend on inviting the cycling club into the thread to rip shreads off the OP. For <200 EVERYBODY knows what you are getting a cheap bike for feck all which suits 90% of ppls needs.

Opti.

vannistelrooy10

optiplexgx270 wrote:

Good god the guy was only telling us about some cheep bikes, im sure he didnt intend on inviting the cycling club into the thread to rip shreads off the OP. For <200 EVERYBODY knows what you are getting a cheap bike for feck all which suits 90% of ppls needs.

Opti.

Thanks this is a prime example of the crap i deal with every week i just try to help and they murder you!!!

Explosive_Cornflake

There would not be a chance in hell of me bringing my road bike to dublin, my wheels would be in bits.
You need a wide set of wheels really for the city, no problems with luas lines on them.
Yes you could jump them and all, but most people would not be that good at doing it.

alc

vannistelrooy10 wrote:

from the very start and what stupid thick thought he could go down hill on a e200 bike. i tell people proper mountain bikes start at e700-e800.
people only care about price they dont take my advice thets why i do be stuck repairing e100 bikes under guarantee coz they are used every day for miles when sense tells you the parts are plastic crap.
and steel bikes are heavy, its steel!!!!
you get a aluminium bike for e230 that you can use every day

OK, I accept my post was a bit arsey in tone, and apologise for same.

My point really was that a 160e full-suspension bike is not a bargain (as in "Bargain Alerts"), it's just cheap, heavy and most likely of poor quality. On top of that cheaper rear suspension that can't be locked out just soaks up your pedal power and is especially useless in a tarmac environment. So, as it would be unsafe to use in a downhill (or even cross-country) situation this bike really has no value to anyone.

Good value would indeed be a decent town bike for 320e with 160e of accessories thrown into the deal, in Dublin you'd need to spend the 160e on locks though.

And so to the racer comment, 150e spent on a good second-hand racer with 100e to put a comfy saddle, straight handle bars and more suitable tyres on is probably what I would do instead. Nice and light and the grottier looking the better. I haven't cycled in Dublin since the last in a line was nicked, but have a few mates who use such cut&paste urban-pedal-machines and swear by it.

Stark

I had a nice second hand mountain bike before and it got robbed even with an excellent (unbreakable) lock. At the moment I have one of the €100 Apollo slammer bikes from Halfords which is great for the short distances I have to cycle to work and stuff, and I can leave it outside without too much fear of loss if it gets robbed. Also it's an easily recognisable cheap bike (every second person has one) so that probably acts as an extra knacker deterrant.

dancin

Whether it's a bargain depends on your point of view...

Yeah, the lower end Halfords bikes are cheap, and the components are in all probability only able to take light usage before giving problems, but that may suit some people down to the ground. If they have a sale or are giving stuff away with bikes at the moment, then this post definitely belongs in here.

I snapped the frame of my Gary Fisher full suspension in Feb. Have had it for 8 years, so couldn't complain. I have no spare cash so was after something cheap and cheerful to pull the frame out of.
Sure all the bike shops i went into had cheap steel frame bikes, but I wanted a frame I could transfer as many of my components onto that I could. Every shop was placing me in the €300+ bracket to get something with standard fittings... except halfords.

Their Apollo Slammer for 149 (in feb) had standard fittings, bought it, stripped everything off and put all my parts onto it.
Great.
Yep it's a steel frame, but it's not noticibly heavier than my Gary Fisher Aluminium frame (the additional weight being the rear suspension stuff).

And Halfords guarantee the frame for 15 years...

It ran fine, cycled it into work every day (30 mile round trip, bike ran fine).

In the meantime saved up enough money to get a full suspension bike (you get used to the suspension), so have moved on from the apollo (sold to lensman last week).

So for me, the apollo was a good bike, it suited my needs to a tee, and was considerably cheaper than the other bikes I was recommended in various dublin bike shops - a bargain in fact.

My experience of the coolock halfords staff has been good too, I find the staff friendly and ready to help (unlike other bike shops). Sure not everyone knew everything, but all the people I spoke with were knowledgable enough. All were willing to tell me the pro's and cons in equal measure.

hussey

Kingsize wrote:

slightly off topic but the staff in halfords coolock are a bunch of arrogant tossers especially the Nordie comic book guy
jesus lads ever heard of
a)Customer service?
b)personal hygene

My dad works there.
He's the silver haired guy about 55

No fucking way is he arrogant

vannistelrooy10

hussey wrote:

My dad works there.
He's the silver haired guy about 55

No fucking way is he arrogant

I dont find my collegues arrogant at all, he prob got pissed off trying to help somone who would not take the advice or was annoying- like taking prices out of the sky and saying the bikes were quoted that price.
e160 is a bargain for a full suspention bike it just depends on your usage.
cycles are like cars.. if you travel in the city you dont buy a 5L turbo jeep you cant handle you buy a seicento or a mini or micra. buy there are some ignorant people who go for the jeep

kasintahan

You can't possibly hope to get anything other than the lowest of the low for €160 - and with suspension? You must be joking.

Don't get me wrong, if it's for the occasional run to shops once a week then fine - just don't leave it in the rain. You'd still be better off getting a cheap non-suspension Al Alloy job for €220 though.

For going down actual mountains, which is what full suspension is designed for - forget it, a cheap frame and poor suspension would be suicide, literally.

vannistelrooy10

kasintahan wrote:

You can't possibly hope to get anything other than the lowest of the low for €160 - and with suspension? You must be joking.

Don't get me wrong, if it's for the occasional run to shops once a week then fine - just don't leave it in the rain. You'd still be better off getting a cheap non-suspension Al Alloy job for €220 though.

For going down actual mountains, which is what full suspension is designed for - forget it, a cheap frame and poor suspension would be suicide, literally.

actually the pro downhill riders mostly use hard tails(no rear suspension)
you will only start to get real good dual suspension with the gt i-drive which is around e1000 last time i looked. any other dual suspention you will bounce down hill unless you can stop the rear suspension.
anyway e160 and e80 of accesories you could buy the bike for the kid nd upgrade your own bike. for e80 you will get shimano deore brake levers and gear shifters or a rear deraileur.

vannistelrooy10

kasintahan wrote:

You can't possibly hope to get anything other than the lowest of the low for €160 - and with suspension? You must be joking.

Don't get me wrong, if it's for the occasional run to shops once a week then fine - just don't leave it in the rain. You'd still be better off getting a cheap non-suspension Al Alloy job for €220 though.

For going down actual mountains, which is what full suspension is designed for - forget it, a cheap frame and poor suspension would be suicide, literally.

i have never told anybody that the apollo range will stand up to downhill riding
first thing i ask is what are you going to use it for apart from cycling ,what distance and frequency. they say downhill i go straight to carrera then kona

dwaned

Don't mean to intrude on you guys but can anyone(even the nasty staff)(what's that all about??) tell me if Halfords only do bikes???I used them in the UK and they sold great stuff at great prices for cars.

vannistelrooy10

dwaned wrote:

Don't mean to intrude on you guys but can anyone(even the nasty staff)(what's that all about??) tell me if Halfords only do bikes???I used them in the UK and they sold great stuff at great prices for cars.

yes we do car parts, then in car entertainment and modifying stuff.
we do child seats,buggys a few kids toys incl a bouncing castle.
we can order in spacialist parts

Irish-trucker

is the 3 for 2 deal still on , on the cans of spray paint can you tell me ?

thanks ,
J

vannistelrooy10

Irish-trucker wrote:

is the 3 for 2 deal still on , on the cans of spray paint can you tell me ?

thanks ,
J

sorry j i dont know as i spend the day upstairs with the bikes but if the deal was on weeks ago its prob over best thing would be to call the shop and ask for the parts desk they will tell you what the story is with it

parsi

vannistelrooy10 wrote:

yes we do car parts, then in car entertainment and modifying stuff.
we do child seats,buggys a few kids toys incl a bouncing castle.
we can order in spacialist parts

Well shop around for the car seats - they're robbery in Halfords....saw them selling a Britax Freeway at "1/2 price" and it was the same price you'd pay anywhere else for it.

eyebrows

donno what the hell everyone on about here. I used a piece of shít mountain bike to go downhill mountain biking. done the job nicely. didn't come back with bloody face/broken arm or anything. the only times i got hurt was through my own stupidity ie. going way too fast to go around a corner so ploughed through a ditch, hit a friggen big rock and went head first into the forest. Nothing to do with the bike. What do ya think is gonna happen. The front wheel will fall of or something. Once ya have good brakes all is well(and secure wheels of course )

vannistelrooy10

eyebrows wrote:

donno what the hell everyone on about here. I used a piece of shít mountain bike to go downhill mountain biking. done the job nicely. didn't come back with bloody face/broken arm or anything. the only times i got hurt was through my own stupidity ie. going way too fast to go around a corner so ploughed through a ditch, hit a friggen big rock and went head first into the forest. Nothing to do with the bike. What do ya think is gonna happen. The front wheel will fall of or something. Once ya have good brakes all is well(and secure wheels of course )

you wernt going proper downhill as most time you have the brakes on to control the bike. cheap bikes dont use brake rubber they use a plastic compound so they melt i know from experience.
do it a few more times tour axles will break, bearings seize unless it a enclosed bottom bracket, and your gears must keep jumping.
either that or you got a amazing bike really cheap

vannistelrooy10

parsi wrote:

Well shop around for the car seats - they're robbery in Halfords....saw them selling a Britax Freeway at "1/2 price" and it was the same price you'd pay anywhere else for it.

if it was same price everywhere else how was it robbery????????