Have i bought a good bike? ( i'm not so sure)

snowballonfire

Hi
just bought a carrea vulcan disc,how do you adjust the forks so they are not so spungy the owners manual does not tell you how to do this in fact it does not tell you how to do anything, i am new to cycling and know nothing, i have turned the red and black knob on the forks but it does not seem to make any difference.,plus the gears are crap took it back to halfords after one day of use on the road, i asked the lad there how you make the forks stiffer and he said he was not familer with the bike, but i bought it there the day before,i was sreved by i different guy when i bought the bike, so he was no help, he did sort the gears out but on the way home they messed up again.

supersonic

Ask the shop to provide manuals.

One knob sets the preload of the spring (ie the height/sag) the other affects the speed it rebounds.

Also check the fork guide in the Workshop section for more info.

snowballonfire

Hi
i have had a look on the halfords web site, but it does not say anything about setting your forks, it has chains tyers saddles but nothing about forks, thanks anyway.

supersonic

It won't, it doesn't make the fork - though Suntour, who does make it, has a nice website that will guide you through the functions. The model should be written on the fork.

As for your gears, sound like they need adjusting. Cables often stretch on the first ride, so tension needs reswtting.

Park Tools has a good guide on this. You need to keep the bike maintained, cleaned and lubed to get the best from it.

snowballonfire

Thank you for the quick reply.

The Northern Monkey

According to halfords I think this is your fork manual.
http://srsuntour-files.dbap.de/_public/ ... CTV2_M.pdf

stubs

The Carrera Vulcan disc is a good first bike well worth the money.

Your problems are set up problems Halfords should have done all the setting up properly and really should have taken you through the bike telling you how to look after it but its Halfords they are a big chain and unfortunately they are a bit variable.

Keep asking questions on this forum there are loads of guys on here who will help you and dont worry if you think its a daft question we all have to start somewhere.

Were are you based theres usually someone near you who can help out.

Northwind

The fork issue is going to be partly the fact that it's one of the cheapest forks worthy of the name... It's going to be a wee bit uncontrolled, I mean, a really good fork costs more than the whole bike. But don't worry that this makes it bad, I've seen the exact same bike being absolutely railed down the red runs at glentress. The forks won't feel like a magic carpet but they'll still do the job, and better than a lot of forks like the dart 1 which you'll find on many other similiarly priced bikes.

The gear setup I'm afraid is just the people who've tried to deal with it, the sram kit on it is maybe basic but it does work well when it's working right, and it should be, you've paid for it.

snowballonfire

Thanks to everyone who has replied, i live in paignton devon, my local halfords is in torquay i am hoping to get a little more fit, i workout at the gym 3 times a week but need to work on my cardio a bit more hence the bike, it beats sitting on a stationary bike going no where, at the moment i weigh 15st 7lbs of muscle lol, is that to heavy for off road? i want to lose a few more stone , well at least two.

The Northern Monkey

Nothings too heavy for off road!!

jonnyashworth

Have you solved your fork problem yet??? I happen to have a brand new set of Suntour XCR's just doing nothing which you can have for £65 It might not seem like a huge step up but having used these forks on other bikes I can honestly sat all settings are effective and they do have lockout. All yours for £70 I live over in Newton Abbot

woodywmb

Blimey. Prices rise quickly down there ... a fiver in the space of a few seconds.

ads4

Halfords should have offered you a complimentary first service - usually after 6 - 8 weeks soa s to re-adjust the stretched cables etc. I bought a carrera banshee a few years ago and my local branch serviced mine FOC.