Best cyclocross bike under £1000 and other CX chat

It's Brixton Halfords. They are open later than BC, so I'm tempted to head to BC first and see what they have to say about it. There's evidence that they did take off the crank, but the bearings failing so quickly makes me wonder if they really did inspect them, or just have a quick poke around.

Brixton fixed it there and then with no charge. The bearings were installed a bit loose, so they've put them in properly and bunged in a washer necessary for frames manufactured to less than ideal tolerances. Great service, especially as it was after half five when I went in and they were about to settle down for their post-closing beer

Thanks BC!