Fury or XTC4.5

Xybadog

I was all set for the Giant XTC4.5 and have now seen the Carrera Fury from Halfrauds.

I know that the service ain't that good from them, reputedly, but the Fury looks so much better than the Giant and the fork are a lot better.

Is the fury a better bike on spec, and worth the hassle I may, or may not get from the retailer, or is the Giant the better option in the bigger scheme of things?
All opinions very welcome. :?

milkywhite

If you're confident checking the bike over yourself then there's no reason not to buy the Fury. Service at Halfords varies wildly from what I've heard. Some places are good, with staff who know what they're doing, and some are just full of barely trained monkeys.

Personally I'd go for the Fury and check it over myself or get a mate to look at it.

The Spiderman

Buy the Fury,if you want something to ride straight out of the box,buy the XTC if you plan to upgrade components later.Fury the better all rounder,but XTC has better upgrade potential,due to its frame quality.

ross_mcculloch

I have the XTC 4.5 and it's a great bike with an excellent responsive frame for the money. The Fury seems good but buyng from Halfords scares me a little!

Xybadog

Thanks for your input guys

ross_mcculloch wrote:

I have the XTC 4.5 and it's a great bike with an excellent responsive frame for the money. The Fury seems good but buyng from Halfords scares me a little!

Ross - Do you have the 07 or 08 model?

Thewaylander

I think when spending below 600 or so its worth really investing in the frame and wheel packages if possible as these have the biggest impact on ride

The Spiderman

I`d say consider the frame first,then forks,then wheels,on a £500 bike.

There`s a big difference in fork performance between say a Dart and a Tora,for a little extra on the bike cost.Wheels are much of a muchness,on £500 bikes,and all heavy on bikes in this range.Its easier to put something like a pair of Mavic Crossrides on,later than getting the fork swapped later.

If you want to make a big improvement on a budget bike,I`d probably even say swap tyres before wheels.£40 on a pair of decent tyres will give you a more more cost effective ugrade.

Xybadog

If I upgraded my forks at time of bike purchase would an LBS normally do a "PX" on the old forks (ie take some of the price of the old ones off the new ones)?

The Spiderman

Xybadog wrote:

If I upgraded my forks at time of bike purchase would an LBS normally do a "PX" on the old forks (ie take some of the price of the old ones off the new ones)?

Yes,and it is the easy option,if you are not mechanically minded.

If not take the ones which come with the bike ,off straight away,sell them on ebay ,as being in as new condition,and buy your forks from somewhere like Merlin.http://www.merlincycles.co.uk/?fn=product&productId=691&categoryId=18

New Tora 302s for £86,and you might get £40-50 back on your old ones.Fork swaps are actually very easy to do.Have a look on the Park tools website,to see how.

Xybadog

The Spiderman wrote:

Xybadog wrote:

If I upgraded my forks at time of bike purchase would an LBS normally do a "PX" on the old forks (ie take some of the price of the old ones off the new ones)?

Yes,and it is the easy option,if you are not mechanically minded.

If not take the ones which come with the bike ,off straight away,sell them on ebay ,as being in as new condition,and buy your forks from somewhere like Merlin.http://www.merlincycles.co.uk/?fn=product&productId=691&categoryId=18

New Tora 302s for £86,and you might get £40-50 back on your old ones.Fork swaps are actually very easy to do.Have a look on the Park tools website,to see how.

Cheers Spiderman. The Tora 302 100's are quite a bit better than the Dart 2 then are they?:D

The Spiderman

Those are the basic coil spring version,but even if they weigh a bit,they sould perform noticeably better.More expensive Toras have more adjustment,and if you opt for the solo/air version they get a bit lighter too.

All are good budget forks.

See if the LBS will do a deal,first though.

The Spiderman

BTW,Whats your budget?

If you want an XTC,Winstanleys are doing the 4.5 for £400.Buy that ,flog the Darts and use the rest towards a fork upgrade.