Sadly, according to Halfords, the Subway 8 is beyond repair, I’m far from happy. Russell rang me last Monday, to say that the Nexus 8 was worn out, a new one, would cost me £110, I told him that because of the history of failings with two hubs on the Subway over the past 13 months, I had no intention of paying for a replacement, and I would take the matter to Trading Standards.

A couple of hours later he rang me back, to say that he’d had a word with the store manager, Steve, who was going to have a chat with head office, to see what they could come up with for me. When I asked what they had in mind, he said possibly a swap for a new bike, but that Steve wouldn’t be able to ring me about it till Wednesday.

It wasn’t until after midday on the Wednesday that Steve rang, he offered to give me a new Subway, but with a derailleur gear set-up, as HALFORDS COULDN’T SUPPORT THE NEXUS 8 HUB, BECAUSE THEY DIDN’T HAVE THE TRAINING OR CORRECT TOOLS, I am gobsmacked. We had a brief discussion, I said I’d have to try the new bike, that I’d come to the store for 14.00., he said he’d have one ready for me.

When I arrived at the store, I had to wait 20 minutes or so, but then Daniel brought it out, and I had a go around the carpark. I have to admit I didn’t like the idea of going to a derailleur set-up, but this bike had twist grip shifters, which I found easy enough to use. I agreed to the swap, and Steve agreed that all the accessories would be transferred from my old Subway to the new, as well as tyres etc.. The new Subway would be ready late Thursday, and I arranged to pick it up on my home from work.

So today is the 8th day I haven’t ridden my bike, and I’m missing it dreadfully, but hopefully I’ll be back commuting tomorrow. Since I made the decision, to agree to the swap, I’ve been thinking a good deal about the ramifications, but I’ll have to talk more about all that next time, but be assured things are afoot.