Carrera Road bikes - any good?
Discussion
as with any bike from halfords, you need to make sure you are happy with the sales staff first, that they know what a bicycle is and that you are happy to buy a bike from them. there are good people and bad people in every store, so it pays to visit the different stores if there are more than one in your area. as one lance armstrong said "its not about the bike" and to a large extent he is right. sure the carrera wont be perfect out of the box, but with some minor tweaks (pedals, bar tape) it will be a very competant road bike. like any bike it will need fettling once a week due to the low quality parts in the drivetrain but thats not to say that they will fail or limit performance.
if its all you can afford, buy it, treat it well and it wil lreward you for a good few miles!
there are good reviews on both these threads.
http://www.cyclechat.co.uk/forums/showthread.php?t...
I have had one for 3 weeks have done over 250 miles on it and it seems excellent vfm.
Its not a particularly strange geometry for a modern racer.
The forks are a bit crap and the brakes are not especially effective in heavy rain other than that it is a great fast bike.
By the way, I dont just ride cheapies: I have high end Marin, Scott and Specialized bikes as well, so I am not just talking from the perspective of someone who only knows Halfords level machinery...
I suspect it weighs a couple of pounds more than a £500 racer, but what do you expect for £200?
So far no buckles, no loose spokes, no mechanical failures, I have ridden it to work and back every day since I got it.
I will probably upgrade the plastic rattraps to spd clip ons and the crap steel forks to cheap carbon ones then it will be a great budget machine.
The drivetrain is Sunrace, but it looks like it is as good as Sora/Tiagra level stuff by Shimano found on more expensive bikes.
Ride is very harsh but I expect that is the case of any aluminium racer on tyres with 100 psi or greater pressure.
I would say its worth getting.
http://www.bikeradar.com/forum/viewtopic.php?p=149...
I've got the 2006 Valour (bought late on in 2006, just as the 2007's were coming out so saved a packet), and it is really a good bike. People say the frame is heavy, it's not that heavy. True it's no carbon lightweight, but then your not paying the money for that. The groupset that was on mine was Tiagra rear, Sora front with Sora shifters and Sram cassette, tektro brakes. As a starting point, it's a good bike. As a mid point it's a good bike. A couple of colleagues have gone all out with five and a half grand bikes with all the bells and whistles, and can't understand why it isn't a flying machine. That would be because the engine is garbage (i.e. them). All I have done to mine is to convert it to a full Tiagra groupset, with a couple of cassette options, and changed the bar tape over to Deda. Oh and changed the saddle, but that, like everyone is a personal thing. Will be changing the tyres shortly, but that is just for looks, to match the blue bar tape, and the blue in the saddle. Basically, for your £200, you can't go wrong, and that's from someone who actually rides a Carrera
if its all you can afford, buy it, treat it well and it wil lreward you for a good few miles!
there are good reviews on both these threads.
http://www.cyclechat.co.uk/forums/showthread.php?t...
I have had one for 3 weeks have done over 250 miles on it and it seems excellent vfm.
Its not a particularly strange geometry for a modern racer.
The forks are a bit crap and the brakes are not especially effective in heavy rain other than that it is a great fast bike.
By the way, I dont just ride cheapies: I have high end Marin, Scott and Specialized bikes as well, so I am not just talking from the perspective of someone who only knows Halfords level machinery...
I suspect it weighs a couple of pounds more than a £500 racer, but what do you expect for £200?
So far no buckles, no loose spokes, no mechanical failures, I have ridden it to work and back every day since I got it.
I will probably upgrade the plastic rattraps to spd clip ons and the crap steel forks to cheap carbon ones then it will be a great budget machine.
The drivetrain is Sunrace, but it looks like it is as good as Sora/Tiagra level stuff by Shimano found on more expensive bikes.
Ride is very harsh but I expect that is the case of any aluminium racer on tyres with 100 psi or greater pressure.
I would say its worth getting.
http://www.bikeradar.com/forum/viewtopic.php?p=149...
I've got the 2006 Valour (bought late on in 2006, just as the 2007's were coming out so saved a packet), and it is really a good bike. People say the frame is heavy, it's not that heavy. True it's no carbon lightweight, but then your not paying the money for that. The groupset that was on mine was Tiagra rear, Sora front with Sora shifters and Sram cassette, tektro brakes. As a starting point, it's a good bike. As a mid point it's a good bike. A couple of colleagues have gone all out with five and a half grand bikes with all the bells and whistles, and can't understand why it isn't a flying machine. That would be because the engine is garbage (i.e. them). All I have done to mine is to convert it to a full Tiagra groupset, with a couple of cassette options, and changed the bar tape over to Deda. Oh and changed the saddle, but that, like everyone is a personal thing. Will be changing the tyres shortly, but that is just for looks, to match the blue bar tape, and the blue in the saddle. Basically, for your £200, you can't go wrong, and that's from someone who actually rides a Carrera
Gazzab said:
Its a cheap bike at a cheap price. If you want a proper road bike then surely you need to keep saving? IF you want something to 'make do' then I am sure its a good bet.
its impossible to define "proper" though as its all subjective, to me a proper road bike starts at around £1K when you are getting carbon forks, 105 (or equivilent) a well designed frame, cartridge bearing wheels and a stiff rear end which can transmit power and wont flex. to someone else a "proper" road bike has a carbon frame, a pair of zipps and campag super record....i think the carrera is better than a "make do" personally, cheaper road bikes are much better than cheaper mountain bikes where things like suspension forks are heavy and vague, drivetrains susceptible to conditions etc... given there is less to go wrong on a road bike, they are a more reliable purchase than the their mtb counterparts of a similar value...
£120 is a bit cheeky though, its probably worth going up to £200. with some tlc and minor expenditure over time it will be reliable. its not worth upgrading so you can start saving for a "proper" bike - whatver that may be!!!!
Gassing Station | Pedal Powered | Top of Page | What's New | My Stuff