A little education please...

RedRazz

I have read a lot of posts where people are considering the Carrera Fury as I am also limited by the cycle2work scheme going thru Halfords it seemed like a good bet. But I am interested to know what the benefits are of spending a little extra eg:

GT aggressor XC2 - £450
GT aggressor XC1 - £550 - why is this better?

Carrera Fury 08 - £480
Carrera Fury 09 - £530 - only more expensive because it is newer model?

Voodoo Bantu - £580 - thrown this in as in same price bracket. looks awesome but I know nothing

Not sure what increase in spec you get going from £450 ish to £550 ish and if it is worth an extra £100


Thanks

ads4

IIRC the Voodoo Bantum came 1st= in the WMTB top £600 hard tail test (with the Spec Rochhopper).

Skonk

As the price goes up, the quality of the components goes up.

So generally you see improvements in the front/rear mech's, brakes, crankset, front shocks, headset, shifters etc.

Obviously as long as you have a good frame, then all these parts can be upgraded later but the retail cost is always more than what the bike manufacturers pay so in the long run it's probably cheaper to get the higher end bike of the series if you can afford it (eg the GT XC1 rather than the XC3) rather than getting the cheaper end bike and upgrading it later.

Northwind

Ads4 wrote:

IIRC the Voodoo Bantum came 1st= in the WMTB top £600 hard tail test (with the Spec Rochhopper).

Though I don't think they reviewed either the Fury or Aggressor, from memory.

Out of all that lot, I'd have the 08 Fury- great forks, good wheels, decent allround spec. Bit heavy but very sturdy, it's a good trail-basher but no lightweight XC racer. The new one will be good too, probably, but the old one's fork wins it for me- great performer and reliable. The Suntour on the new one might be good too, need to wait and see I suppose but the Tora's a known performer.

The Voodoo looks good but there's some shortcuts in the spec. But it'd depend on your intended use, it's lighter than the Fury and a bit more cross country oriented.

RedRazz

Northwind wrote:

The Voodoo looks good but there's some shortcuts in the spec. But it'd depend on your intended use, it's lighter than the Fury and a bit more cross country oriented.

Thanks for the reply. Can you explain what 'shortcuts' you refer to ? Just trying to learn what to look for in terms of specs. At the moment all the above bikes look very similar to me

ScottMcUK

I started off at this price range, and really liked the look of the Genesis Core 20. You should be able to pick one up on a price match for £550. The idea of buying a product actually manufactured in Britain was a novelty itself these days.

Northwind

ScottMcUK wrote:

I started off at this price range, and really liked the look of the Genesis Core 20. You should be able to pick one up on a price match for £550. The idea of buying a product actually manufactured in Britain was a novelty itself these days.

Genesis frames aren't made in the UK though. At least, the Core certainly isn't, it's as british as all the other bikes in the range. Looks good though.

RedRazz wrote:

Thanks for the reply. Can you explain what 'shortcuts' you refer to ? Just trying to learn what to look for in terms of specs. At the moment all the above bikes look very similar to me

What I noticed when I was looking at one in the shop was that it's all X5 shifters and mechs, which are fine but basic and a wee bit stingy on a £600 bike (it's the exact same kit that comes on the £380 Carrera Kraken, for instance). But the rims are what jumped out- and it's quite a sneaky costcut as well, those 117 rims, they're not very good but because they're Mavic people assume they're quality. Not terrible criticisms mind, but when you look at the Fury which manages to use better components throughout, it starts to look a little sad.