London bike shops closing

Heh. A friend bought a cheap bike in a box from Halfords when the lockdown started and did the assembly herself.

1. Front tyre pointing backwards
   
2. None of the break pads properly aligned (either wearing holes in the tyre or only half touching the rim)
   
3. Handlebars loose
   
4. Saddle much too low
   
5. Left pedal constantly falling out because she didn't know about the left-handed thread and just tried to force it in (amazingly, she didn't destroy the thread)
   
6. Kickstand not properly tightened
   
7. Misaligned kickstand was pinching the gear cable so that she couldn't change gear
   
   

Unusually, she was suitably embarrassed. Most people seem unwilling to accept that there's some skill to assembling and maintaining a bike and that they didn't put the effort in.

Nearest bike shop has closed its doors and is only doing pre-booked repairs/maintenance/bike-building this week, to cope with the demand.