Halfords Carrera bikes

notanotherhill · May 2007

Guys ive never even seen a Carrera. From what ive read here i'll be popping into Halfords for a look. If there are what everyone says, it will be interesting. I bought my bike (a Giant TCR series 2) 18months ago. Admittidley ive been pretty much off the bike for the last 7 months due to college and work etc (one turbo session every two weeks dosent really count as training does it?), but ive never been as UNHAPPY with a bike as the giant. The shop that sold it to me didnt size me for it, and it squeaks!! Even tho I now shop in a place where the advice is free and plentifull from the staff, i wish i had known about this type of bike when i was buying. As a matter of interest i paid ?1250 for the Giant, roughly about 800 sterling, so not a cheap option considering its a piece of ..............

Unknown · May 2007

"I have a carrera subway 8 and I love it"

Same here. In the Sale last Autumn. Knocked out about 1200 miles so far - no problem, no maintenance except chain cleaning. Tarmac and towpaths/hard trails.
I've had at least 30 bikes in last 5 years, a few Ti, carbon, road, h'tails, full sussers, 'bents...mostly 2nd hand and/or built from special offer bits. Of the new stuff at least the Subway 8 is by far the best vfm "just a bike" of the lot!

d.j.
"Like a true nature's child,
We were born,
Born to drink mild"

alanbeeb · May 2007

I am interested in the Carrera subway 8 too... especially as I HAVE to buy from Halfords. My employer has a tax-free voucher scheme to get people commuting by bike, and its only spendable in Halfords.

So I went today to look at the Subway 8 in my nearest H'fords... and left thinking I want as little to do with these people as possible!

If I buy an unassembled Subway 8, will a local friendly bike shop be willing to build it for me? How much might it cost? Does anyone know of good places in Edinburgh for this?

Unknown · May 2007

alanbeeb - the Subway is good, just note that although your voucher has to be used in Halfords, they will undertake to supply virtually any bike (sourcing it from another bike shop if necessary), so you are in no way restricted purely to Halfords regular stock.

Unknown · May 2007

"an unassembled Subway 8,"

When I got mine I had to INSIST that they did not assemble it! It really is a very easy DIY job. Try it and see. Just follow the instructions, especially re front brake. Don't forget, if the folk at Halfords can follow the instructions...SO CAN YOU. After all, you can read!

d.j.
"Like a true nature's child,
We were born,
Born to drink mild"

alanbeeb · May 2007

I'll think I'll give it a try.... but what tools will I need? As a kid I used to take bikes apart and put them back together no sweat but that was 25 years ago.

peejay78 · May 2007

apollo bikes are made of leftover scaffolding tubing and pudlocks. they weigh more than the titanic. a guy at work has a carrera. it's his third one, the others were all stolen. i guess that makes it a bike that is very easy to resell, thus very nickeable. either or that or thieves have a prediliction for cheap halfrauds road bikes.

winter: http://tinyurl.com/2xkbbs
summer: http://tinyurl.com/2hsagv

Unknown · May 2007

A few allen keys (5 & 6 mm) and a small adjustable should do it as far as I recall! Pedal spanner - or a thinnish bladed one? I'll have a look and try and remember what wasn't attached if you go ahead - just remind me!

d.j.
"Like a true nature's child,
We were born,
Born to drink mild"

2191flint · May 2007

You should get an owners manual with it, this will have basic info on putting the bike together, it really aint so hard, as a previous poster put if they can do it in Halfords so can you. Plus the practice is good fo your knowledge base.For future maintenance, get down to WHS or Waterstones and get a good manual, I have got the Chris Sidwell maintenance book, printed by Dorling Kindersly, œ7.99 from Waterstones, loads of easy to follow written instructions, complimented by clear photographs, sections on all types of bike and all aspects of maintenance/repair, with a troubleshooting guide as well...Bargain!

For want of a nail, the shoe was lost, for want of a shoe the elephant was lost, for want an elephant the battle was lost. My Kingdom , my Kingdom, my Kingdom for...An elephant?

Me and my bike- http://aolpictures.aol.co.uk/galleries/flintosaur9/

snakehips · May 2007

You can have my Subway 1 when you pry it from my cold, dead hands.

Snake

Unknown · May 2007

I bought the Valour in the sale last year (œ280) and it's the best money I've spent. Couple of upgrades being the saddle (Prorace), pedals (Shimano SPD-SL) and front mech (Tiagra). The shifters, chainset and casette will also soon be upgraded to Tiagra. This has/will be done reasonably cheaply (via ebay) other than the saddle which came from ProBikeKit (one of the best online suppliers imho), so still keeping the bike in the 'budget' area. I can not fault the bike in anyway, however, the 'set-up' by the Halfords saturday monkey left a lot to be desired, but that is not really an issue as I always give a new bike the full once over anyway.

So if your on a budget, get a Carrera, they are v.good bikes. At the end of teh day, it's not the bike that goes fast, it's the dude that's pedalling it.

If at first you don't suceed, deny all knowledge of ever trying!!!

_Ben_ · May 2007

The frames aren't bad. The top tube doesn't have that ubiquitous sign of strength of meeting the downtube before the headtube, but mine didn't break doing harsher terrain (llandegla / limb valley / eastern moors etc) than it was designed for (commuting / hybrid). However I felt the need to upgrade the forks, tyres, seat, seatpost, stem, bars and brakes - but then again you can understand why they skimp on components as they're a big company with shareholders to satisfy.
Frame and gearing was great though.

<hr noshade size="1">
This cannot be guaranteed to be more than a half-baked attempt at a post.

_Ben_ · May 2007

<blockquote id="quote">quote:<hr height="1" noshade id="quote">Originally posted by alfablue

alanbeeb - the Subway is good, just note that although your voucher has to be used in Halfords, they will undertake to supply virtually any bike (sourcing it from another bike shop if necessary), so you are in no way restricted purely to Halfords regular stock.
<hr height="1" noshade id="quote"></blockquote id="quote">

alanbeen - READ WHAT HE HAS PUT and take note of it

<hr noshade size="1">
This cannot be guaranteed to be more than a half-baked attempt at a post.

Bopomofo · May 2007

I have a Carrera Valour from about '04, which I bought because I'd just done my first triathlon on my slicked MTB and thought I ought to at least buy someting with dropped bars :-)

Anyway, considering my budget of about 300-400 quid I looked at Halfarsed, then went to LBS to look at a Giant OCRsomething for about œ450. IIRC the Giant bike had carbon forks, same frame as the Carrera and a load of no-name bits bolted to it. The Carrera was œ350 and had Shimano in most of the right places, but a chromoly fork.

I got the Carrera Valour shop display model for œ310 (down from œ350), then realised that they had a special offer on for œ100 of free kit if you bought a Carrera bike, so I got some shorts, bottle cages and some SPD pedals. I use tiny MTB pedals on it, because they have clips on both sides and I don't need to worry which way up they are.

I have done about 2k miles on my Valour, including a dozen or so triathlons. I was thinking about upgrading the forks to carbon and maybe a new set of wheels, but my employer has opened up the Cycle2Work scheme again, and a Planet-X looks nice...

OTOH.... I'm so crap that it might not really matter. Maybe Slunker is right, and I should just concentrate on making myself better and lighter, rather than the bike.

Tri, tri, and tri again.

Buggi · May 2007

<blockquote id="quote">quote:<hr height="1" noshade id="quote">Originally posted by _Ben_

<blockquote id="quote">quote:<hr height="1" noshade id="quote">Originally posted by alfablue

alanbeeb - the Subway is good, just note that although your voucher has to be used in Halfords, they will undertake to supply virtually any bike (sourcing it from another bike shop if necessary), so you are in no way restricted purely to Halfords regular stock.
<hr height="1" noshade id="quote"></blockquote id="quote">

alanbeen - READ WHAT HE HAS PUT and take note of it

<hr noshade size="1">
This cannot be guaranteed to be more than a half-baked attempt at a post.
<hr height="1" noshade id="quote"></blockquote id="quote">

That's very interesting to know. my company does the same scheme.

Buggi
my epic adventure: www.action.org.uk/~Antonia

Unknown · May 2007

There's a top end Carrera/Merida road bike on ebay at moment (not a very nice green, but nice bike) if anyone's after a biggish one.

Usual disclaimer.

d.j.
"Like a true nature's child,
We were born,
Born to drink mild"

borisvanhalen · May 2007

got carrera 4 yrs ago (7/14 speed)to get back into cycling... however i recently built a full carbon framed ultegra bike so sold carrera to a mate (beginner), only orig parts left on it are frame, stem and handlebars - rest of components where rubbish and were replaced with a full shimano 105 groupset(9/18 speed), 105wheels, full carbon fork, carbon seatpost and new saddle...
he loves it... he loves it even more because another beginner cyclist went for a ride with him but on a standard carrera... after swopping over bikes they both noted a huge difference on the hills and the generally smoother, faster ride.
conclusion... carrera great beginners bike, frame is good but components are worth replacing

stevechambers34 · May 2007

I have a Carrera Krakatoa mtb (Girvin flex stem) from the early 90's and it's still going strong, Tange butted frame,1 1/8" forks(one of the first I believe)Tioga headset ,full shimano 21 speed Acera /Alivio gears which have been faultless from day 1, wheels built with Bontranger rims which ARE still true despite my best efforts wheeleing/jumping the bike -the rims are about worn through though but after about 15 years regular use I can live with that!
the Shimano hubs are still sweet, but I have worn out 2 casettes and chainsets!
This bike rocks even the paint is still good, it has been looked after but definately NOT wrapped in cotton wool!
I was discussing bikes recently with a very well respected local frame builder who admitted to being impressed by them, he did tell me who actually built them but I forget.

being a reformed stuntdrinker allows pontification

syncro · May 2007

I'm looking into buying a bike to commute to work on. It about a nine mile journey and my full sus MTB isn't really suitable. So i've been looking at the Carrera range and i like the look of the Subway 2 and the Gryphon (disc version) but i'm not sure which will be most suitable. To my inexperienced eye the Gryphon looks to be the better bet (lighter/ faster) Any thoughts?

Moovie · May 2007

<blockquote id="quote">quote:<hr height="1" noshade id="quote">Originally posted by Buggi

<blockquote id="quote">quote:<hr height="1" noshade id="quote">Originally posted by _Ben_

<blockquote id="quote">quote:<hr height="1" noshade id="quote">Originally posted by alfablue

alanbeeb - the Subway is good, just note that although your voucher has to be used in Halfords, they will undertake to supply virtually any bike (sourcing it from another bike shop if necessary), so you are in no way restricted purely to Halfords regular stock.
<hr height="1" noshade id="quote"></blockquote id="quote">

alanbeen - READ WHAT HE HAS PUT and take note of it

<hr noshade size="1">
This cannot be guaranteed to be more than a half-baked attempt at a post.
<hr height="1" noshade id="quote"></blockquote id="quote">

That's very interesting to know. my company does the same scheme.

Buggi
my epic adventure: www.action.org.uk/~Antonia
<hr height="1" noshade id="quote"></blockquote id="quote">
Halfords will source any bike for you under the Bike2Work scheme (I got a Ridgeback Horizon through them as my company scheme meant Halfords had to be the supplier).
However, it is very unlikely that you will get get any discount off a non-standard bike i.e. you wil be charged the RRP. If you go for a Halfords standard bike which is on sale, you WILL get that saving (if the particular shop demands RRP on a Carrera showing discount, try another one).

Bottom Line: If you are buying via Bike 2 Work and Halfords, it is evalualting if the Halfords 'native' range will do the job first, and if not, get them to order the bike you want instead.

________________________________________________________________________
2005 Ridgeback World Horizon Touring
???? Ridgeback MBR

Buggi · May 2007

my carrera came with full shimano 105 bits (basically everything that's silver has it written on it) and carbon forks, ritchey wheels and seat post, nothing's worn out in 4 years except for the tyres and one chain. only replaced the saddle and stem for comfort.

_____________________________________________

To infinity... and beyond!
my epic adventure: www.action.org.uk/~Antonia

stevechambers34 · May 2007

re this thread, has anyone any experience of the Subway 7 my Halfords has them on offer at the moment at around œ260 and my mate wants a reasonable first bike, the lad can already ride is 15 but has always had cheapish 'clunkers' before, are they a good buy?

being a reformed stuntdrinker allows pontification

Unknown · May 2007

Hi there,

interested in the sound of a Carrera of around the œ400 mark, does anyone know if Jalfords tend to have their sales at certain times of the year, or is it totally random?

Thanks

Dan

Mister Paul · May 2007

Subway 7? I thought they only did 1,2 and 8?

My wife has a Subway 1. I would definitely recommend them. If you can get the 8, which has hub gears and brakes, all the better.

__________________________________________________________
Road Safety Expert

coops1976 · May 2007

hiya

i am looking into getting a bike to ride to work on. i currently have a full suspension halford MTB but have only ridden it twice and have fallen off it twice!![xx(]

Figured that full suspension maybe wasnt my thing! am looking to get as good a bike as i can afford (approx œ200 give or take) which will get me to work and back (approx 6 miles round trip) in one piece and in a comfortable fashion.

am i best to go for the old biddy look of the traditional girls bike? everyone here seems to be very happy with the carrera range. is this one of the better ranges for the price? or is there anything else you can recommend?

coops1976 · May 2007

hiya

i am looking into getting a bike to ride to work on. i currently have a full suspension halford MTB but have only ridden it twice and have fallen off it twice!![xx(]

Figured that full suspension maybe wasnt my thing! am looking to get as good a bike as i can afford (approx œ200 give or take) which will get me to work and back (approx 6 miles round trip) in one piece and in a comfortable fashion.

am i best to go for the old biddy look of the traditional girls bike? everyone here seems to be very happy with the carrera range. is this one of the better ranges for the price? or is there anything else you can recommend?

DLB · May 2007

Have you considered the range that Decathlon do? Their bikes are quite highly regarded and some are cheap(ish)

*** Whether you think you can or think you can't, you're probably right ***

overmars · May 2007

<blockquote id="quote">quote:<hr height="1" noshade id="quote">Originally posted by slunker

Just picked up my new Trek 1400 from the lbs and went for a 35 mile ride on the bike. This bike replace my trusty Carrera Valour which cost œ270 where as the Trek cost œ900. The conclusions I have reached after riding the new bike is so:

1. The difference is negligible, it certainly isn't œ600 better than the carrera.

2. Either we buy bikes (average cyclist) just for show or vanity.

3. Halfords Carrera is the best bargain out there.

Yes I got to admit the newer bike is better finished but it doesn't justify the price difference, not imo anyway. So to all those posts with what to buy for œ1K save your money and buy a less well known brand.
<hr height="1" noshade id="quote"></blockquote id="quote">

So how much would it cost to upgrade a Halfords Carrera to the same specs as a Trek 1400?
(eg. the 105 specs)

________________________
The obstacle is the path

slunker · June 2007

105 Groupset is around œ300.

wai · June 2007

I purchased a new Virtuoso from Halfords on Saturday (œ260) as my first foray back to biking.

It really is a case of buyer beware. The shop assistant was completely clueless - he couldn't even pump up the tires as he didn't know he had to unscrew the inner valve first.

Also, they will only let you try/buy the bike that they have on display. If you need to try a bike which they don't have your size in, then it will take them 3 days to build one up for you, which they're reluctant to do unless you say you'll definitely buy it.

In both branches of Halfords I tried, they only had small or large sizes of the Carrera bikes. Luckily, flicking through the Carrera catalogue that they had lying around while I pondered my choices on whether to buy the small frame '06 Carrera Valour they had on display or wait for a Medium one to be built up for me, I noticed that the cheaper Virtuoso only came in Medium and Large sizes and the Large size frame was very similar to the Medium size Valour.

So I had a try, fitted myself to it and it was perfect.

Job done - except I mistakenly bought a shock pump instead of a real bike pump. Shop assistant had no idea and just rang it through the till.

Halfords Carrera bikes

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