Carrerra Kraken or Kona Fire Mountain

cosgraa

Hi all, this is me 1st postin so hope you can all be of help.
Lookin to ditch me 14 year old raleigh bike n buy one of these two from my local Halfords store
I fancy either the Kona £344 or the Carrerra £299


Any advice would be greatly appreciated

jacktheoc

i would probably go with the fire mountain, both similar bikes but the kona is probably a bit stronger and imo looks better

supersonic

I'd test them. But component wise the FM is poor, with a totally undamped fork. Kraken has a good frame for the money too.

Big n Daft

Kraken if it suits, without any doubt at all here.

Better fork, rebound damped which will make a hell of a difference if you intend going anywhere except on the road.

Better-ish spec for the money as well imho.

cosgraa

Thanks for the advice, i'l certainly take it on board
As you can imagine there's too much choice out there for your cash

bullcross

kraken
get a 10% off token from kellogs cornflakes
get the kraken for £270
bargin

cosgraa

Save 10% at Halfords before Monday 24th September 2007.

Guess the xtra £30 off offer is over unless you know different

supersonic

Still, kracking bike for the money, well worth a little test. Fork much more controlled that that on the Kona.

bullcross

yep its on till end of oct
look on kellogs rice crispies box i got one runs out 31/10/2007

cosgraa

Thanx for trying to save me a few pound, much appreciated
£299 halfords online for the Kraken, gave store a call to see if same price. £399 n wouldnt budge/price match so 10% voucher i believe only valid in stores.
Crazy when you think i will get bike delivered to my home and i could theoretically take it to the store to be built up and also get a safety check after 12 weeks

Time to visit the store for frame sizing n then order online????????
I'm 5'9" tall with 32" inside leg so lookin at 18" to 20" frame i think :?:

Anonymous

Why do you need to order it online?

re. size - go to a shop and try out the different sizes and see what fits.

cosgraa

Online price £299, instore £399
Had a good chat over the phone but no joy,said couldnt compete with online price
Strange i think

supersonic

I know why some stores don't price match web price, but their own website?!

Also the Kraken is usually 359. Look out for a reduction soon.

captainchucky

I used to work in halfords, and can pretty much guarintee that if the bike is now 399, you can be sure that in the next few weeks they will have an offer somewhere along the lines of up to either 1/3 off or up to 50% off.

Kraken will most likely be down to £200, or £266.66.

But i could be wrong, maybe they will deviate from their annual price hike before their annual price reduction...

supersonic

Nah, theyve done it again this year, most bikes have gone up recently.

cosgraa

Halfords seems to be like the stock market
When to buy at the lowest price
Can you honestly see price droppin below £299, online or instore?
Also online you can have upto 5 accessories at 50% off when purchasing the bike
While i'm there, which halfords mudguards would you reccommend

supersonic

They dropped to 266 last year, and some to 200!

cosgraa

Got me thinkin now as bike is for xmas/birthday(january) wether to hang fire a month or so?

Fuzzyboy

I happened to look over the shoulder of a Halfords employee when he was pricing up the most recent sale prices. The book he was getting the sale prices from said they were from now until xmas (as far as I could tell from a fleeting glance).

cosgraa

Great detective work sherlock fuzzyboy
Poppin in 2moro for frame size n checkin out pricing this week
Will be surprised if they drop the Kraken down from instore £399, below web £299
But hey you never know

captainchucky

cosgraa i can pretty much gurantee the price at least 266.66.

As its how they work, always.

And with regards to whether they will reduce down further its hard to say, depending on stock levels they may, if theres loads they deff will, only a few, and they might even go up in price come a few weeks after new year.

cosgraa

£266 i'd snap their hands off, dont wanna get too greedy
Done the hard bit n know what bike i want "Kraken"
Will monitor prices over the next week or 2 so n let you guys know how i get on
Your advice n info has been appreciated Cheers!!!!!!

dawnophile

As for size, tring is the best policy. If that's not possible, at 5'9" you're probably a Medium/17" ish frame (depending on manufacturer). 20" is likely to be too big.

ChickyChick

before i got my hussy i rode a kraken for 10 months, fantastic bike, my dad jus getting into biking got my brothers fire mountain when he upgraded to an avalance 1.0, having ridden both the FM and kraken i'd say the kraken wins over.... it jus felt more sturdy underneath me!! and as mentioned in an earlier post, the fork is much more responsive on the kraken, not the best by any means but certainly better of the two. Happy riding

Fuzzyboy

I bought my Kraken the day after boxing day 2005 for £200. Previouisly it had been £300 & £350 I think.

I think the way it works is.. the 'sale' that is on now is just a marketing hype thing in order to drum up business for xmas. The actual stock clearance starts after xmas (their busy period) when they are getting rid of the last few bits before the new years stuff is out.

I would be fairly confident that prices will drop again.. the question is: Can you wait, and are you prepared to shop around other branches if your local store sells out of the size you want?

I have just ordered a Fury.. I am too imaptient to wait for an extra £50 or so!

BTW, I love my Kraken.. the frame is great.. most of the components are great. A really good bike as long as you aren't a label queen! Good luck!

cosgraa

Some great feedback guys, popped in today to check out frame size
Dawnophile i think you right on 17" frame (if they did one)
Tried both 16" n 18" and not 100% sure which (both felt okay)
20" would def be too big for sure
Will have to try again without me motorbike boots on

I can wait a while as bike is a xmas/2nd january birthday gift

Fuzzyboy

I'm 5'10" and my Kraken is an 18". I definately wouldn't want to go any smaller.. it's all very personal but at 5'9" I would plump for the 18".

cosgraa

Thanks for that advice
I was swayed more to 18" thinking in terms of a more comfortable riding position

cosgraa

Carrera Kraken Halfords online Xtra 10% off £299 price
Now £269.99 plus £9.99 delivery

Not sure if instore prices have dropped below £399 as of yet

Fuzzyboy

It's £299 in store too.

cosgraa

£299 instore must have been from today, £399 yesterday when i wa in measuring up frame size
may also be worth looking on kellogs rice crispies box for 10% off voucher, heard it runs out 31/10/2007.
That'l match it up to online price, except you wont have to pay for delivery