Carrera Kraken 2007 Where do I start

blakey79

Hello

I've recently purchased a Carrera Kraken 2007.

I have'nt ridden in a while and hope that my fitness levels are adequate, it's just that after a Scott, Hooger Booger ( Very Rare ) and a saracen from my youth this Carrera feels slow and heavy. It's alright when you've got the speed going but from standing start ( I know it's not a car ) it's very slow.

Where do I start, what upgrades are benefical for under £100 for starters. Any decent bike shops in and around Basingstoke??/


Regards

supersonic

Tyres - they are notoriously heavy on the Krakens and slow to get going.

Splash 50 quid on something like Continental Speed King Protections and you'll shed a load of weight.

blakey79

Brilliant just ordering some, here's to speed !!!!!!!!!!!!

Northwind

The tyres are a joke, 1050 grams! The front tyre is heavier than the front wheel! And not even very grippy despite being fairly slow (though good on roots with low pressures, because they're hard to pinch flat and have nice wide knobbles).

Other than that it's pretty solid. You may want to lower the bars a little, as standard they're very high- long-ish fork + lots of spacers + fairly high rise bars. I found that hard to live with on climbs, though the long stem does help that. Just move the spacers to above the stem.

And look after the forks, they work well for the price but they need TLC, cleaning and re-oiling the stanchions after every damp ride (and doing the bump-clean, ie oiling the legs then bumping the forks down, this draws muck back out of the seals) will help keep them smooth and operational- the seals aren't good enough really and the bushings wear fast if you let them.

Good choice though! Lovely low-speed handling, very maneuverable. I ended up with a cheap Tora 130mm fork on mine which really let it live up to its potential.

blakey79

Thanks for the advice, do you recommend changing the saddle, and what bar do you recommend. I like the bike just at the moment find it hard work and only enjoying it going downhill....

Realsitically how much do I have to spend to get it rolling quickly ?

Northwind

Not much at all, if I was going to put mine back into regular service I'd just fire a set of small block 8s on it for summer, or kenda nevegals or maxxis highrollers for allround use, a pair of any of those will be under £50 and that's it, job jobbed. it's not light but it's not very practical to change that without spending a fortune, so best not to worry about that too much.

Oh, and budget for a new bottom bracket! If it's not gone yet, it will soon, bloody powerspline rubbish. People slag halfords off but the worst part on the bike is Tioga and the second worst is Truvativ. I think, if I keep mine, I'll replace the whole crankset with something more reliable, it's a shame as the cranks are absolutely fine but the BB is so shortlived.

I'd say leave the bars alone for now, unless you find they bother you... Knowing what I know now I guess I'd fit a set of low risers and a slightly shorter stem, but that's personal taste. The bars are strong and decently wide, I just found them too high considering that the front end's already high. But then the bike was quite big for me

Saddle was fine for me till I destroyed it- it's not strong, I did a wee gentle flip and one of the rails collapsed. But that's OK, I'd say just keep it as long as it lasts.

All in all... It's not a great upgrader's bike, because out of the box the package is very well considered other than the tyres. It's not like some bikes where there are obvious weaknesses that you can fix, the whole thing is decent.