£300 bike, this worth a punt?

[Nicko_12345]

http://www.halfords.com/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/...

Any advise?

Thanks

Nick

[Nicko_12345]

Thanks for all the replies, I have though about what kind of riding I am going to be doing and I cannot see a need for a full suspension bike.

I want to buy new just for peace of mind really and I purchased my last bike second hand and its always had a few annoying little problems, I have narrowed it down to these two hard tails:

http://www.halfords.com/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/...

http://www.halfords.com/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/...

Thanks again

Nick

[Nicko_12345]

HereBeMonsters said:

No no no.

Seriously, I know some Carreras can be vfm, but most are utter crap. Go to a few proper bike shops and ask around.

I dont think there are any in Stoke, apart from Swinertons that seem very very expensive.

[Nicko_12345]

HereBeMonsters said:

Anything you like the look of on Chain Reaction or Wiggle?

http://www.wiggle.co.uk/gt-aggressor-10-2012/

That looks OK, I dont know if its worth the £100 over the Carrera bikes though?

[Nicko_12345]

Animal101 said:

I think those Carrera hardtails are ok for starter bikes. I used to ride a Vengeance and it didn't explode or anything. Once I set it up properly it seemed fine out on the trails at Thetford forest. My brother is commuting on a Carrera Vulcan at the moment and that's still working fine after a year.

I ended up buying a Vulcan in the end, went to 3 halfordss to do it though, Stafford were clueless, Newcastle Under Lyme didnt have a Vulcan in, ended up at the Fenton branch where the guy i delt with really knew his stuff and listened to my needs and explained the pros and cons of all the bikes, pick it up on tuesday

[Nicko_12345]

Obiwonkeyblokey said:

I quite like this review of it thugh....

"Hi, bought the bike 2 days ago, done around 30 miles on this bike. Hav'nt been on a bike for 5 months and finding my butt hurts alot.
I used to have a carrera vengence road bike and can say compared to the titan mountain bike, theres a lot more drag riding the mountain bike on the road to the road bike. Alot slower, so if your looking for speed and alot less drag, il say get a road bike. Gears are smooth, plenty of gears to tackle all sorts of hills. Bike i find is quite heavy. To be fair i wish i bought another road bike for what i need a bike for. hope this helps some of you out there before buying a bike."

The full suspension one was really heavy!

[Nicko_12345]

Halfords have rang me and told me its ready, so im picking it up tonight

[Nicko_12345]

MonkeyHanger said:

Just been into Halfords today looking for a bike for my nephew. That "Full suspension" Carrera is awful...the Vulcan is a completely different kettle of fish.

We're getting him a Vulcan at the weekend and i'll be putting it together, not Halfords

I be double checking ever bolt on mine when i pick it up later, it does feel like a well built bit of kit

[Nicko_12345]

Well I picked it up Monday evening and had to play football Monday night so tonight was my first proper ride. This was also the time I found the first problem When I am riding there is movement in the crank, its kind of moving side to side when I am pedalling, I have checked the bolts that hold the pedals on and there tight and looking at it its not the pedals that are moving its more what the pedals sit on - sorry for the complete lack of technical terms here The movement didn't get any worse over the 6 miles I rode it and I didn't hold back. Its annoying me mainly because when I am trying to change up to top gear the chain fell off twice onto the pedal and sometimes it did not change up from the first cog to the second. When looking down I can see it moving, rang Halfords and its closed, didn't notice it was after 8.

Any ideas?

Here are some pics of the bike:



Riding the bike felt really good though, nice and solid and the brakes are amazing. The seat did hurt my arse though!

[Nicko_12345]

Gizmo! said:

I'd take it back, tell them to index the gears properly and fix the loose pedal spindle.

Im going to be taking it back, both pedals move in exactly the same way, there is a lot of grease around the part where the pedals go through, is that normal?

[Nicko_12345]

Gizmo! said:

Well, the spindles should be greased, but too much goo will just collect grit.

The whole of that does move, not just the pedal, its like its not fitted into the frame right? or the hole is to big?

[Nicko_12345]

MonkeyHanger said:

Don't ride it any more until it's sorted. I see a future of DIY servicing & repairs for you...before long you'll be looking for a work stand

Its looking that way, ill be calling them in the morning, i hope its not something that there going to drag out sorting, i only picked it up yesterday

[Nicko_12345]

Gizmo! said:

I'm not trying to spoil your new toy, but that looks like its missing a plastic shroud/ring...

I did think that myself

They have one built up on the display stand so ill have a look at that one when im in there.

[Nicko_12345]

Spoke to them this morning, taking it back tonight.

[Nicko_12345]

Ok, dropped bike off yesterday, they have just rang me asking if i have built the bike or they did! they built it...its missing a part off the bottom bracket thats causing the movement.

Not to happy about how this is going now, when i first dropped it off they asked questions where i had rode it as it had mud on and that sometime people mistreat bikes, now there asking if i have taken it apart and things!

Just had another call, they have replaced the bottom bracket and its ready...the part that was missing was a cup??

[Nicko_12345]

CoolC said:

The cup is the seperate part here:



Shame it wasn't fitted at the factory or noticed by the Halfords staff on assembly.

At least that should be the end of the issues and you'll have a great value bike to ride.

Jesus, thats a pretty big bit to bloody miss!

Let hope i have not lost all confidence in the bike

[Nicko_12345]

OK thought I would update, this is the exact email I have sent to there complaints department this evening:


Hi,

On the 31St of March 2012 I purchased a Carrera Vulcan bike from you Fenton branch for £379.99, I also purchased your 1 year adult bike care pack for £19.99. I had the bike built by the staff at your store and then collected it on Monday the 2nd of April, I did not ride the bike that night as I went to play football. The first time I rode the bike I noticed there was a problem with it, the bottom bracket moved from side to side when I was pedalling, making the chain fall off when I went into top gear. I completed the 5 mile round trip to my mum’s house and on returning home I called your Fenton branch at about 7.20pm, I was told that the bike department was busy and that they would call me back within 10 minutes, after not having a call after 15 minutes I decided to call again, I was told the same thing on this call and I never got a call back at all that night.

I called the store the following morning, I was told that there was no one in the bike department on that morning, but I could make a appointment to bring the bike in later that day which I did, I arrived at the store later that evening and went up to the bike department, I started explaining the problem to the staff member and demonstrated the play in the bottom bracket which he confirmed shouldn’t move like that, what happened then shocked me, the member of staff asked where the mud had come from on the wheels, I thought this was a strange question as I had purchased a MOUNTAIN bike. Delving deeper with his questions he was deliberately trying to put the point across that I had mistreated the 2 day old and less than 6 mile ridden bike, which is totally ridiculous as I had ridden the bike once and only had it two days!! I then left the store leaving the bike there to have the problem fixed.

I called the branch again the following day to see if they had found the fault, they had not had time to look at it yet, the staff called me back a couple of hours later, the conversation was a strange one to say the least, firstly they asked if I built the bike, i didn’t the store assembled it for me, then after that i was asked if i had tried to fix the bike myself, again i hadn’t. He then went on to explain that the reason the bottom bracket was moving was because the “cup” was never fitted to it!! He then went on to say that he needed to check that this was covered by warranty! I found this strange as i had only picked up the bike on Monday!! He then needed to check if they had the part in stock and said he would call me back, upon calling me back he said they had the part in stock on that it had being fitted and was ready to collect. I collected the bike later that day and planned to ride it home from the store, as soon as i got on the bike and pedalled away i turned the handle bars and nothing happened!! Having managed to not crash into a car in the car park i took the bike back into the store and went straight back to the bike department, luckily enough the person who had dealt with me was busy dealing with another customer, therefore giving me time to calm down. I stated the obvious problem and he tightened the handle bars up for me and i left again.

I am totally shocked that one two separate occasions i have left you store with a unsafe bike. I feel that the staff at the store have constantly blamed me for the problems and I feel that the whole experience has being a very stressful and worrying experience.

I am meant to be taking the bike back in 6 weeks for a check, I won’t be taking it back as I do not trust your staff at all, I feel that they are not up to their job! Also I will not be using the £19.99 bike care service either!

I honestly will never set foot in one of your stores again, I am truly shocked and upset with the whole experience.

I do not expect a response to this email, as I expect your customer service is as bad as your in store service.





As you can see, to say I am not happy is a understatement.

[Nicko_12345]

Gizmo! said:

You're a tolerant guy.

After the handlebar event I'd have been demanding compensation...

I was in shock that they would let a bike leave like that, the old women with her children who was getting served when i came back in really did save them from me loosing my temper and also me from going bat st mental!

[Nicko_12345]

deadtom said:

can't fathom why they would have undone the stem bolts to resolve the bottom bracket issue. That's very strange.

Though I'm not surprised they asked you those questions when they rang you, we always had to ask similar questions in that sort of situation aswell; standard procedure if you will.

sounds like you got unlucky with the service you got though, as most Halfords stores are fine, and some are very good.

That is what's really bugging me to, why would the have any need at all to go near the bars, unless it was don on purpose?

[Nicko_12345]

deadtom said:

I hated having to do it, but I often had to ask the same questions when i worked at Halfords, because sadly you would sometimes get people make a mess of repairs then try to claim it was our fault

I understand that, but he must of said it 6 or 7 times and was very blatant about it, my boss came with me to bring the bike back (wouldn't fit in my car) and he walked off after the third time before he said something.