Carrera TDF £199 today

[b19rak]

Fugazi said:

The carbon forks really do help to smooth out the vibrations from the road surface and the 500SE hasn't let me down. Other peopele who have the 300 say pretty much the same but best thing to do is sit on the bikes and have a go. The 500 was a better looking bike in my opinion and the Sora chainset tipped the balance as far as I was concerned as I was originally planning on buying the 300.
As for the bars, well that's up to you. I like the drop bars as it gives me a multitude of positions to rest my hands, however I do miss the flat bars when I'm commuting sometimes but I much prefer riding a road bike over my old hybrid.

Edited by Fugazi on Friday 25th July 15:03

I think the 500 has the Sora, the 500se has something else

[Fugazi]

The first 1000 frames came with the Sora chainset, the rest get the Claris. They're still available I believe and I saw a couple of 500SE's with the Sora chainset in Decathlon last week. There was some stock error and rather than delay the release of the bikes they equipped them with what they had in stock.

[b19rak]

Fugazi said:

The first 1000 frames came with the Sora chainset, the rest get the Claris. They're still available I believe and I saw a couple of 500SE's with the Sora chainset in Decathlon last week. There was some stock error and rather than delay the release of the bikes they equipped them with what they had in stock.

That's the one to get then I guess. I'll call them tomorrow see if they got any Sora ones left.

[anonymous-user]

D1bram said:

Did wonder why folks were suggesting swapping the shifters onto an 8 speeder

Would this be significantly better for the Mrs you think?

http://www.halfords.com/cycling/bikes/road-bikes/b...

Play the man maths game - if you're spending £500, the why not spend http://www.paulscycles.co.uk/m7b0s6p5228/CANNONDAL...



a few pounds more

and if you're doing that then, http://www.paulscycles.co.uk/m7b0s6p5220/CANNONDAL...

Which means there's really no big % increase to




I think this is how the conversation went when I bought my wife her eternity ring

[CoolC]

jamiebae said:

So the next installment of Halfords trying to shift a load of excess entry level road bikes after a (from a British general public perspective) damp squib of a Tour is on

http://l.mail.halfords.com/rts/go2.aspx?h=54319&am...

Website seems not to work properly right now, but if you want a cheap commuter/pub bike, or have something with 8 speed Shimano 2300 bits and want to swap the shifters and sell it on for what you paid then it's worth a look.

Put my mate on to this as he was looking for a half decent road bike for his lad.

Ended up reserving a junior version for £199 and the shop will store it for him until Christmas (which sort of defeats the idea of discounting them to clear stocks, but not his problem)

There will be one very impressed young lad come Christmas day 😊

[D1bram]

wsurfa said:

Play the man maths game - if you're spending £500, the why not spend http://www.paulscycles.co.uk/m7b0s6p5228/CANNONDAL...



a few pounds more

and if you're doing that then, http://www.paulscycles.co.uk/m7b0s6p5220/CANNONDAL...

Which means there's really no big % increase to




I think this is how the conversation went when I bought my wife her eternity ring

Nice bikes the Cannondales, considered a Synapse myself when I bought my Giant Defy Composite.

Plan for the Mrs though is see how she like the Carrera then consider a decent upgrade to something 10 speed.

Problem is she needs such a small bike - the carrera is a teeny tiny 43cm - so nabbing a bargain is less easy. Never mind.

She currently has a MTB on cycle to work, but come February she'll be able to apply fot a new one so that's an option