Carrera Valour...any good?
Discussion
Ok, currently I ride an old mountain bike, it's basic and a bit crap but works well for the limited amount of off road I do, and has served me well for the past 4 months or so since I have got back into riding. However i'm doing mainly road work and therefore looking at road bikes as I fancy a bit of new metal.
Now I dont have a huge amount of cash to spend really (a student) however I work at halfords and they are currently running a 15% discount offer, which can be had on top of my standard 15% discount (works out at close to 30%) which is valid for september, so it makes sense for me to get one now
The Carrera's are generally well regarded and I have been looking at the Carrera Valour which retails at £350, with that discount it comes in closer to £250 which is very tempting and about bang on what I could afford at the moment.
so the question is....what do you lot think, for £250 it sounds like a good deal to me
http://www.halfords.com/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/...CarSelectorGroupId__varientcategoryId_47151_crumb_33980-33957_parentcategoryrn_47151
http://www.bikeradar.com/gear/category/bikes/road/...
Now I dont have a huge amount of cash to spend really (a student) however I work at halfords and they are currently running a 15% discount offer, which can be had on top of my standard 15% discount (works out at close to 30%) which is valid for september, so it makes sense for me to get one now
The Carrera's are generally well regarded and I have been looking at the Carrera Valour which retails at £350, with that discount it comes in closer to £250 which is very tempting and about bang on what I could afford at the moment.
so the question is....what do you lot think, for £250 it sounds like a good deal to me
http://www.halfords.com/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/...CarSelectorGroupId__varientcategoryId_47151_crumb_33980-33957_parentcategoryrn_47151
http://www.bikeradar.com/gear/category/bikes/road/...
It's hard for people to comment because - and this isn't meant as a boast - it's a cheap bike compared to the 'normal' machinary found on here and it's a road bike. The shame.
I've always liked Carrera bikes as they've offered great value and simple straight forward bikes that just work. If the Road bikes are anythinglike as good as the mountain bikes then the Valour will be a well spec'd competent bike and at 30% off it'll be a bargain.
In reality you're not going to get a lot for your money in this sector of the market. My only other suggestion would be to check out Decathalon's and Edinburgh Bicycle Co-op ranges of in house brands. I doubt you'll get a better deal though.
I've always liked Carrera bikes as they've offered great value and simple straight forward bikes that just work. If the Road bikes are anythinglike as good as the mountain bikes then the Valour will be a well spec'd competent bike and at 30% off it'll be a bargain.
In reality you're not going to get a lot for your money in this sector of the market. My only other suggestion would be to check out Decathalon's and Edinburgh Bicycle Co-op ranges of in house brands. I doubt you'll get a better deal though.
aciddrop616 said:
Hi, now i know it will be a bit of a trek, but i work in the wrexham branch, if you want to know anything hit me up on here and i'll let you know, or you could pop into the wrexham branch and ask for Thom. and i'll happily help you out.
PM me for any more details
Thom
Tis a small world really. Wrexham isnt far, I will have to pop in sometimePM me for any more details
Thom
Been mooching around the shop today and we have a boxed 06 year Vanquish in (dont have the Valour in my size anyway so that one is out) which is one of the last in the company and reduced as a result
Now it's a higher spec model, no carbon forks like the 08 range but even so it comes with some better hardware, It's mine for £350 (which is £250 minus the discount) so it's an even sweeter deal, Just need to wait until next week for the offer to become valid and I can collect it (shame there is no £50 accessories voucher aswell at the moment)
Will definately have a few questions for you sometime though...do you have any opinions on the 06 Vanquish think it's the same/very similar spec as the current one minus carbon forks, though not 100%
here it is incase anyone is interested, but i'm not 100% sure on exact spec
http://www.halfords.com/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/...CarSelectorGroupId__varientcategoryId_47151_crumb_33980-33957_parentcategoryrn_47151
Edited by Matthew_Eames on Tuesday 2nd September 21:30
basically mate, the thing youve got to remeber is this, big companies dont always make the best bikes, and newer ones aint aalways the better either.
carrera being an up and coming company will put a better spec than say kona, so for the same money a carrera is better.
also, older bikes are when they were still trying harder. so the spec will be a bit better still, hard to notice as they will generlly lower the spec of one section dramatically to increase verywhere else lsightly, meaning the newer ones wont weight up the same if that makes sense.
and im pretty sure the forks on the 08 are just carbon wrap
anyways, its to late to think about this properly.
thom
carrera being an up and coming company will put a better spec than say kona, so for the same money a carrera is better.
also, older bikes are when they were still trying harder. so the spec will be a bit better still, hard to notice as they will generlly lower the spec of one section dramatically to increase verywhere else lsightly, meaning the newer ones wont weight up the same if that makes sense.
and im pretty sure the forks on the 08 are just carbon wrap
anyways, its to late to think about this properly.
thom
aciddrop616 said:
by voucher i assume you mean the 15% off voucher were doing. in which case go in, buy a 99p item, get voucher, use voucher on what ever it is you need. if you dont get given a voucher, ask for onem you HAVE to be given one as it comes with ANY purchase made
thom
No - my mate had his bike stolen & has not got a £1,800 voucher to spend on a bike at Halfrauds, but he only wants to spend circa £1k. He wants to know if he can get further vouchers back or has to spend it in one go!thom
Matt H said:
aciddrop616 said:
by voucher i assume you mean the 15% off voucher were doing. in which case go in, buy a 99p item, get voucher, use voucher on what ever it is you need. if you dont get given a voucher, ask for onem you HAVE to be given one as it comes with ANY purchase made
thom
No - my mate had his bike stolen & has not got a £1,800 voucher to spend on a bike at Halfrauds, but he only wants to spend circa £1k. He wants to know if he can get further vouchers back or has to spend it in one go!thom
if thats now what you mean, then please make your statements clearer
Can you make the numbers work and get the cheapest Boardman road bike? dont know what the RRP of the lower spec bike is but 30% of that would be sweet.
carrera have been around for donkeys years and are fairly well established with a good reputation but they are essentially to halfords, what the "finest" range is to tesco...
carrera have been around for donkeys years and are fairly well established with a good reputation but they are essentially to halfords, what the "finest" range is to tesco...
pablo said:
Can you make the numbers work and get the cheapest Boardman road bike? dont know what the RRP of the lower spec bike is but 30% of that would be sweet.
carrera have been around for donkeys years and are fairly well established with a good reputation but they are essentially to halfords, what the "finest" range is to tesco...
Carrera have indeed been around for donkeys years: however, they seem to think that by making them look less like a 80's throwback with flouro colourschemes, and upspeccing them wherever possible, they can get themselves into the mags, get a couple of decent reviews and then angle themselves at the >£500 market as a competitor.carrera have been around for donkeys years and are fairly well established with a good reputation but they are essentially to halfords, what the "finest" range is to tesco...
I'm afraid, to those who are not so well informed, that all Carrera do is send a product manager to China/Taiwan, source the best price for a standardised aluminium frame, order x amount of them and in their chosen colours based on a fixed price and quantity, and then find the cheapest nastiest components they can hang on the bike, but ensure they upspec the groupset based on the competing brands.
This works effectively - and certainly since the early days, the chinese/taiwanese sourced frames have come on leaps and bounds - resulting in some well deserved magazine reviews.
However, they're not exactly run by cyclists first, beancounters last - you know when you buy a Trek/GT/Kona/etc you'll get a properly thought out bike that doesn't need any immediate upgrading (i.e. heavy/crap saddles, posts, stems, bars etc)
However the bike you see there is probably ace for what it is intended - I wouldn't have a problem riding it to work - but I'd never ever be able to say it 's a quality brand, cos' its not! Its just a product put together for a budget and pricepoint.
You may want to consider Ridgeback and Trek for hybrid bikes, as they are very well regarded, and are as competitive on price and spec.
neil_bolton said:
pablo said:
Can you make the numbers work and get the cheapest Boardman road bike? dont know what the RRP of the lower spec bike is but 30% of that would be sweet.
carrera have been around for donkeys years and are fairly well established with a good reputation but they are essentially to halfords, what the "finest" range is to tesco...
Carrera have indeed been around for donkeys years: however, they seem to think that by making them look less like a 80's throwback with flouro colourschemes, and upspeccing them wherever possible, they can get themselves into the mags, get a couple of decent reviews and then angle themselves at the >£500 market as a competitor.carrera have been around for donkeys years and are fairly well established with a good reputation but they are essentially to halfords, what the "finest" range is to tesco...
I'm afraid, to those who are badly imformed, that all Carrera do is send a product manager to China/Taiwan, source the best price for a standardised aluminium frame, order x amount of them and in their chosen colours based on a fixed price and quantity, and then find the cheapest nastiest components they can hang on the bike, but ensure they upspec the groupset based on the competing brands.
This works effectively - and certainly since the early days, the chinese/taiwanese sourced frames have come on leaps and bounds - resulting in some well deserved magazine reviews.
However, they're not exactly run by cyclists first, beancounters last - you know when you buy a Trek/GT/Kona/etc you'll get a properly thought out bike.
However the bike you see there is probably ace for what it is intended - I wouldn't have a problem riding it to work - but I'd never ever be able to say it 's a quality brand, cos' its not! Its just a product put together for a budget and pricepoint.
You may want to consider Ridgeback and Trek for hybrid bikes, as they are very well regarded, and are as competitive on price and spec.
i agree with your comments but with regards to Trek, Kona et al, almost all of their frames are now made in the far east too and the quality of any of those bikes with an RRP around the £500 mark is open to scrutiny in my opinion.
granted the Kona/Trek geometry has been better thought out that a Carrera frame but to the lay man on a £500 bike thats probably not going to be noticeable.
pablo said:
neil_bolton said:
pablo said:
Can you make the numbers work and get the cheapest Boardman road bike? dont know what the RRP of the lower spec bike is but 30% of that would be sweet.
carrera have been around for donkeys years and are fairly well established with a good reputation but they are essentially to halfords, what the "finest" range is to tesco...
Carrera have indeed been around for donkeys years: however, they seem to think that by making them look less like a 80's throwback with flouro colourschemes, and upspeccing them wherever possible, they can get themselves into the mags, get a couple of decent reviews and then angle themselves at the >£500 market as a competitor.carrera have been around for donkeys years and are fairly well established with a good reputation but they are essentially to halfords, what the "finest" range is to tesco...
I'm afraid, to those who are badly imformed, that all Carrera do is send a product manager to China/Taiwan, source the best price for a standardised aluminium frame, order x amount of them and in their chosen colours based on a fixed price and quantity, and then find the cheapest nastiest components they can hang on the bike, but ensure they upspec the groupset based on the competing brands.
This works effectively - and certainly since the early days, the chinese/taiwanese sourced frames have come on leaps and bounds - resulting in some well deserved magazine reviews.
However, they're not exactly run by cyclists first, beancounters last - you know when you buy a Trek/GT/Kona/etc you'll get a properly thought out bike.
However the bike you see there is probably ace for what it is intended - I wouldn't have a problem riding it to work - but I'd never ever be able to say it 's a quality brand, cos' its not! Its just a product put together for a budget and pricepoint.
You may want to consider Ridgeback and Trek for hybrid bikes, as they are very well regarded, and are as competitive on price and spec.
i agree with your comments but with regards to Trek, Kona et al, almost all of their frames are now made in the far east too and the quality of any of those bikes with an RRP around the £500 mark is open to scrutiny in my opinion.
granted the Kona/Trek geometry has been better thought out that a Carrera frame but to the lay man on a £500 bike thats probably not going to be noticeable.
I was just pointing out the error of "Carrera is an up and coming brand".
Comparing <£500 bikes and frames is hard - pricepoint budgeting and speccing requires some serious negotiating with the Far East, and it can lead to some serious errors - of which ALL of the brands can trip up over (I've seen some shockers in my time from Trek/GT).
Far eastern specced and built frames are perfectly accpetable to many, and based on the budget I don't have an issue with them.
However to try and insinuate that Carrera are a better brand over anything else available is bad advice.
Of anything available in Halfords, I would reccomend either GT or Kona - the frames of the cheaper bikes have always been excellent, and the 'cockpit' componentry always carefully considered. Indeed I ran a GT Avalanche for ages, and loved it as much as my super expensive bikes...
I looked at the bike above and thought the same as Mk1Fan, however I would go so far as to say its 'top notch' - its just well specced.
neil_bolton said:
pablo said:
neil_bolton said:
pablo said:
Can you make the numbers work and get the cheapest Boardman road bike? dont know what the RRP of the lower spec bike is but 30% of that would be sweet.
carrera have been around for donkeys years and are fairly well established with a good reputation but they are essentially to halfords, what the "finest" range is to tesco...
Carrera have indeed been around for donkeys years: however, they seem to think that by making them look less like a 80's throwback with flouro colourschemes, and upspeccing them wherever possible, they can get themselves into the mags, get a couple of decent reviews and then angle themselves at the >£500 market as a competitor.carrera have been around for donkeys years and are fairly well established with a good reputation but they are essentially to halfords, what the "finest" range is to tesco...
I'm afraid, to those who are badly imformed, that all Carrera do is send a product manager to China/Taiwan, source the best price for a standardised aluminium frame, order x amount of them and in their chosen colours based on a fixed price and quantity, and then find the cheapest nastiest components they can hang on the bike, but ensure they upspec the groupset based on the competing brands.
This works effectively - and certainly since the early days, the chinese/taiwanese sourced frames have come on leaps and bounds - resulting in some well deserved magazine reviews.
However, they're not exactly run by cyclists first, beancounters last - you know when you buy a Trek/GT/Kona/etc you'll get a properly thought out bike.
However the bike you see there is probably ace for what it is intended - I wouldn't have a problem riding it to work - but I'd never ever be able to say it 's a quality brand, cos' its not! Its just a product put together for a budget and pricepoint.
You may want to consider Ridgeback and Trek for hybrid bikes, as they are very well regarded, and are as competitive on price and spec.
i agree with your comments but with regards to Trek, Kona et al, almost all of their frames are now made in the far east too and the quality of any of those bikes with an RRP around the £500 mark is open to scrutiny in my opinion.
granted the Kona/Trek geometry has been better thought out that a Carrera frame but to the lay man on a £500 bike thats probably not going to be noticeable.
I was just pointing out the error of "Carrera is an up and coming brand".
Comparing <£500 bikes and frames is hard - pricepoint budgeting and speccing requires some serious negotiating with the Far East, and it can lead to some serious errors - of which ALL of the brands can trip up over (I've seen some shockers in my time from Trek/GT).
Far eastern specced and built frames are perfectly accpetable to many, and based on the budget I don't have an issue with them.
However to try and insinuate that Carrera are a better brand over anything else available is bad advice.
Of anything available in Halfords, I would reccomend either GT or Kona - the frames of the cheaper bikes have always been excellent, and the 'cockpit' componentry always carefully considered. Indeed I ran a GT Avalanche for ages, and loved it as much as my super expensive bikes...
I looked at the bike above and thought the same as Mk1Fan, however I would go so far as to say its 'top notch' - its just well specced.
is it me though or were lower end bikes much better quality around 15 years ago. i had a friend with GT Timberline which was an awesome bike for the money, rigid obviously but a really good bike and well specced. it seems that since the dawn of front suspension bikes being standard on almost every mtb now, the quality has slipped... is that a simple case of factoring the cash for a brand named set of boingy forks or that the market has more companies after the buyers money?
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