Halfords!

benezeir wrote:

" I've got a BB30 which has developed a bit of a creak, only when I'm out of the saddle. Speshrider, do you have to get the bearings out to re-grease, and if so is this easy to do without dismantling them, or can I just take the cranks off and grease around the bearings in place? (I'm nowhere near Kilburn, or I'd bring it in for you to look at!) Thanks

Best way is to remove cranks, clean and lightly sand rough areas back to a shine using a fine sandpaper, clean bearing surfaces and around bearing seals, brush a small amount of grease over all contact surfaces and re-fit cranks. If problem persists after a mile of riding (the grease needs to work its way in) then it's either new bearing time or (less likely but still worth checking) a small fracture in the frame..

Apologies for the lateness of my reply. Hope this helps..

FatDadOnABike wrote:

Seriously? Do Halfords not allow test rides?

CraigS wrote:

That's what I was told and looking on Google it seems to be standard company policy!

I have definitely test ridden a bike from (a fairly small and non-bike specialist) Halfords. I really wanted to see what the Boardman was like. Unfortunately, they didn't set it up properly (at all), so I couldn't actually tell

notfastenough wrote:

I think I'd just pick the bike I wanted (Boardmans are generally very good bikes) then take it to a local mechanic and pay a few quid for it to be checked over.

I did that. Within a month the noisy BB on my £1k Boardman cost me £50 to have repaired at local bike shop. I complained to Halfords who reimbursed me fully,eventually.

The bike's back in the bike shop, after eight months, to get the BB replaced and new crank fitted at a cost of £180-£200 (don't have final bill yet). Halfords won't be picking that up.

But be warned.

I don't know why you spent £50 in an IBD getting the issue fixed. I'm guessing you have the Road team? The bike has BB30 bearings in the frame too right? It's a commonly known issue with BB30 bikes in general that the factory lube used in assembly is often inadequate and not enough so this can show up noises very quickly. A simple 5 min strip, clean, grease and re-torque would have solved it and cost you nothing. In my branch, I do this before the bike goes out so it never becomes an issue for the rider. Assuming there's not another side to this story, I'd say the independant bike shop cashed in on your distrust for Halfords for what was really a very quick and easy fix.

SpeshRider7287 wrote:

I don't know why you spent £50 in an IBD getting the issue fixed ... it's a commonly known issue with BB30 bikes that the factory lube used in assembly is often inadequate and not enough so this can show up noises very quickly ... a simple 5 min strip, clean, grease and re-torque would have solved it and cost you nothing.

I could have taken the bike back under warranty. I expected a £1,000 bike to work without screeching noises coming from it within the first week of use - and without having to strip, clean, grease and 're-torque'. I asked my IBD to inspect it and they suggested a new BB30, although they did explain that this rarely solves the problem. But I asked them to go ahead, keeping my fingers crossed. It didn't work - as others have experienced, according to complaints on forums like this. I can't believe that Halfords, and more so a member of staff with an obvious keen interest in his job, accepts this so flippantly.
Halfords to its credit did pay the £50 without quibble (that tells you something) and so the job cost me nothing. I've been more than happy with the service since from my local bike shop and don't grudge them the money. It's an investment.

I didn't mean to come across as flippant about it. I love my job as you can clearly tell and can also assure you that if you'd have bought the bike in my store, you would never have had an issue. There are plenty of stores who have great people who like myself, ensure that everything is set up perfectly i.e. carbon paste where needed, all bolts set to manufacturer torque settings, fresh grease on all bearings and copper grease on threads etc and the company has an excellent warranty process which ensures that any mechanical issues are dealt with quickly and efficiently. It's our sole aim to make sure that you as a customer, enjoy your purchase and to deal with problems like this effectively and efficiently when they do occur..

I'm all for supporting independent stores too and I use my local IBD as well as my own store as the guys are like minded people who are extremely passionate about what they do. Regarding the new bearings that your IBD suggested, they were right in saying that it probably wouldn't have solved the issue. There are only 2 things that will keep your bb30 running quietly and that's lots of grease and keeping it free of grit. Same goes for any bike with bb30. Grease is far cheaper than new cranks and bearings though so speaking from a mechanics point of view, to me it would have made more sense to try that first.