Chopper the ex Copper
Alpinestars Fan
That picture shows they ain't really changed. I mean, that bike they're selling has got too many wheels!
what do we think of Halfords
- Thread starter Alison
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silverclaws
Senior Retro Guru
cyfa2809":2bxblifg said:
Wondering about the history, you seem too close.
But it seems Halfords still exists because where they exist they are good, bad or mediocre, now obviously the pay award could help matters, but nowadays high pay does not necessarily mean skill, so it is down to those involved and the level of interest they have that might define good or bad service, not what they get paid, but was there ever any money in the cycle trade ? That being, get some actual cyclists in there are things might be good, get some bike fashionistas in there expect carp
But as always everything comes down to
Money.
And today perhaps more so than in the past where everyone seems to believe they are worth more than what they actually are.
Boy, it's gonna hurt when we wake up.
Thing is, places like Halfords have probably (for as long as I can remember, anyways) catered for middle-of-the-road. As enthusiasts and people that maybe know more about bikes than the average Joe, places like that seem fair game for criticism - and on a certain level they are - but the majority of the public who use them, aren't looking for steely-eyed-missile-men - they're just looking for people that are experts relative to them.silverclaws":1r0r60pe said:
Now that may be a somewhat ambitious expectation - but all the same, with a bit of bluff and bluster, and a sideline in hand-waving, probably is enough to convince more normal customers - and it's a step up from buying a bike in the big supermarkets or toy chains.
As somebody who tends to try and be informed about most things I need to look after, I'm invariably disappointed by the expertise and / or thoroughness of places like bike shops or garages, these days.
In past times, it didn't used to be like that - I'm not saying there were no mediocre places, but that there were places that did do good jobs and took pride in what they did. On the whole, though, society doesn't seem to want, respect, or be prepared to pay for that sort of thing, these days. Society seems to thrive on mediocrity - I blame the market economy - you can say what you like about always being able to pay for better service - but that's far from comprehensively being true, these days. You can pay more, but it doesn't bring with it any true guarantees of quality, just fancier facilities.
I always find them very helpful when I need a bike box...
They serve a purpose in serving the general public, leaving us more capacity at our local shops which also have to become more niche to survive...
I can see the counter argument to that statement, but your never going to stop the big boys, Halfords, Evans etc...
They serve a purpose in serving the general public, leaving us more capacity at our local shops which also have to become more niche to survive...
I can see the counter argument to that statement, but your never going to stop the big boys, Halfords, Evans etc...
In some ways I feel some sympathy for local shops.ringo":38zrs5y6 said:
Some of me thinks what they need to do, is really target that part of the market that supermarkets and big chains don't - the enthusiast. The problem being, I've always thought that narrowing focus isn't a very robust business model, long-term, and that even attempting to address the expertise probably demanded by the enthusiast demographic, is probably not best served, long-term, by returns. Given that most of them will probably still buy stuff from the cheapest place available, which is inevitably online.
The LBS I went to, I've noted for some time, has the aging guy working there, who I've known of for decades, who had has own little LBS some years ago, where I had a fair bit of spanner work done, when I was first into mountain bikes (late 80s, very early 90s). But he had a very small shop, in an unlikely part of the town where a bike shop would thrive, and mountain biking was becoming very popular, and a large, MTB focused bike shop was probably only about a mile away from his shop - and even that closed down some years later (late 90s / early 00s at a guess, when the MTB bubble burst).
His shop closed down about 95 / 96 - I remember buying an old fashioned (then) MTB frame (an unbranded 531 tubed frame, with 501 forks - with an unusual paintjob, there's a pic in my gallery) in his closing down sale, and it's an odd thing to see him being a hired hand in another - albeit larger - LBS some years later.
The LBS he's at now, is a fair size, stocks a reasonable range of bikes, and a good selection of parts. I'd probably trust them with most jobs - maybe even threading of forks, if he did it - but I doubt you could rely on that being the case. They seem to do some mail-order, and perhaps internet orders, so perhaps they'll be OK for a while.
Thing is, though, as some thing of an enthusiast, with several bikes, and a preference for being able to do jobs myself and be self-sufficient, I'm more inclined to do work myself, and learn / buy tools if need be for things I haven't done before - because if I had to pay for somebody to do most jobs, having a number of bikes on the go, it would cost a small fortune - plus, invariably, most places let you down one way or another, these days, sooner or later.
I did do my part, when it was time for my eldest's first bike, I went there had a look, and bought one there (Ridgeback MX-14) - which was worth spending around £100 on, because compared to other, crappier, kids bikes, I haven't had to buy another one for my youngest - as this Ridgeback is still in perfect condition. My eldest's second bike wasn't bought there, though, because I'd decided to get him an Islabike - which (unless you buy 2nd hand) is direct from Islabikes.
Realistically, for me personally, I may go to either a Halfords (very local to me) or another LBS for the odd tool or part I need, if I'm not to bothered about the price difference between them and online - or if I'm in a hurry - usually, though, when I am in a hurry, they don't have what I want anyways.
So where is / are the demograph(s) for decent LBSs, these days?
gerryattrick
Retrobike Rider
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Chopper1192":2qmqgfe4 said:
A trike just like that was my first cycle, followed up some years later by a Raleigh Trent Sports "racing" bike with 4-speed Sturmey Archer gears (the shame, when I wanted derailleurs). Both bought from that same shop, which operated from that site for decades.
I think the point made earlier about enthusiasts generally going to different shops and being a bit patronising about Halfords is true. Halfords is middle-of-the-road, but then any normal distribution chart of groups of people, including the cyclist population, will show that most of the particular population is middle-of-the-road. So Halfords meets their needs.
The cognoscenti will continue to sneer, but Joe Public will continue to buy their bikes there.
Me as well! Which makes that another failing in the model... I think a really clever thing LBS's could do is rent time out on there workstands... teaching enthuisiasts and generally building relationships...
Believe it or not... this happens at the Cyclesense bike Park at Leeds station... and I believe the workshop there is run by Evans... A colleague has had an offer to spend some time building up his Woodrup road bike there...
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