Halfords

In "]news:[email hidden],
JonC <[email hidden]> expounded sagaciously:

Quoted message said:

From a newbie, are any of Halfords bikes worth considering
for off road use ,Or should I look elsewhere ?? Budget
about £300. Anyone with experience of their products ?

I have a Halford's Apollo 10 speed touring bike. It is well
worth keeping off the road, the further off, the better.
During my first few years with it, something dropped off or
came loose every 50 miles or so. The wobble that I had
observed on the chain rings from day one turned out to due
to a collapsed bearing cage which I discovered on day 700 or
so, too late to prevent disabling wear to the BB cones. The
recurring rubbing of the front tyre on the inside of the mud-
guard turned out to be due to the front forks cracking and
breaking. Fortunately, they gave a "lifetime" guarantee
(who's?) on frame and forks, and despite keeping the bike
for 3 weeks in an attempt to find equally crappy forks, they
were forced to replace them with decent, even quite nice,
ones. I have now upgraded it to 15 speed, and fitted various
bits that don't come loose on a short ride, and it's really
not too bad. Moral: You are what your observers judge you to
be. So keep hid.

--
Morton Burner

Alternative Bunsen

Quoted message said:

From a newbie, are any of Halfords bikes worth considering
for off road

use

Quoted message said:

,Or should I look elsewhere ?? Budget about £300. Anyone
with experience of their products ?

Yes,

I have a Carrera Kraken SE and have found it to be a
reliable workhorse. It has basic suspension forks, Tektro
disc brakes and Shimano Deore derraileurs front and back. I
do all of my own maintainance and I replaced the front
chainset in less than a year because I wore out the granny
ring and it could not be replaced separately. I paid £369
for mine at Easter last year and I believe that the price
has dropped since then. There is also the Carrera Kraken
which has 24 gears as opposed to 27 and it's a further £30
or so cheaper still.

Last week I went riding with a colleague who has a Halfords
Apollo mountain bike with 'full suspension'. After an
abortive rendezvous with her at Marsden, I had to meet up
with her at Holmfirts as she could not lift her bike onto
the bike rack mounted on her car boot. I was a bit sceptical
about her claims to punydom but she certainly had a point -
her bike weighed a ton I couldn't have made a heavier frame
if I'd used depleted uranium. To her credit, she forced a
pretty brisk pace through some off road trails with loose
surfaces but ran out of steam on some rubbly climbs. The
bike clearly works though I would not recommend it as it has
low spec components and I am not sure that the components
would last long.

The Carrera has had good write ups in Cycling Plus. You need
to be aware that at £300 you are buying in at the bottom end
of the range of adequate bikes. You might also want to
consider the Ridgeback range of bikes particularly the
Adventure. You would then probably have some change left out
of your £300.

JonC said:

From a newbie, are any of Halfords bikes worth considering
for off road use ,Or should I look elsewhere ?? Budget
about £300. Anyone with experience of their products ?

The Carrera bikes get good reviews and they carry some
quality name brands in some stores. The preparation and set
up is variable and usually poor though.

Tony

"JonC" <[email hidden]> wrote in message
"]news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

From a newbie, are any of Halfords bikes worth considering
for off road

use

Quoted message said:

,Or should I look elsewhere ?? Budget about £300. Anyone
with experience of their products ?

Go to your local bike shop and TALK to them. I bet they'll
fit you up with a better bike, and lower all round cost.
Also, if you use the local bloke, he might still be there in
2 years time to help you sort it out again.

Cheers John

"Wirral John" <[email hidden]> wrote in message
"]news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

"JonC" <[email hidden]>
wrote in message
"]news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

From a newbie, are any of Halfords bikes worth
considering for off road

use

Quoted message said:

,Or should I look elsewhere ?? Budget about £300. Anyone
with experience of their products ?

Go to your local bike shop and TALK to them. I bet they'll
fit you up with a better bike, and lower all round cost.

Also,

Quoted message said:

if you use the local bloke, he might still be there in 2
years time to

help

Quoted message said:

you sort it out again.

Cheers John

Thankyou all for your advice..........J.