Which bike to buy?

Dudleyadam

Hi
Just getting back into the sport and was going to get a bike through the Cycle2Work scheme. I was going to get a Boardman Team - but my employer only allows a maximum of £750. So my choices are:
Carrera Vengeance Ultimate (currently with £270 off)
Carrera Fury
Boardman comp

Alternatively I could pay cash for a 2nd hand bike, and my current budget would be £300-400. What do people recommend?

Pudseyp

The Fury and the Boardman are both great bikes..

dava13

I would go for the Fury having had one myself for many years and it was a very good bit of kit.

Pudseyp

Does the scheme limit you to Halfords ?

Dudleyadam

My understanding is that work only use Halfords with the scheme

slowslowslow

Check that, there are plenty of shops that will do it. Might be that your employer is not aware of other places. If they do might be worth looking in Leisure Lakes in wolverhampton. They have a good variety. Assuming dudley is your location.....

cj11

If you can stretch to £400 you could look at a Felt q series if they are available in your area . I got one on the cycle sceme last year and have upgraded various parts over time. the frame is strong and looks good and despite my best efforts i have only killed the shocks which, to be fair are crap. But im heavy handed and 14 and a half stone.

colinthecamel

I bought a Felt Trail Shot 2010 recently from Wiggle, and although it was a nice bike I didn't feel comfortable on it. I bought it because Halfords put the price of the Fury up to £699.

Then I noticed Halfords put the Carreras on sale again which reduced the Fury to £599, they had a 10% discount on the web last weekend and I went to the Halfords site through Quidco. So I've bought the Fury for £523 ( £599 - 10% discount - 3% Quidco ). Spoke to Wiggle and the Felt is going back under the 30 day trial tomorrow.

Been out on the Fury a couple of times, I prefer the feel of the bike to the Felt any day.

eebygum

if you ask at your halfords branch they can also source a wide range of bikes which they dont stock, but can order in for you.
If you have the time for a bit of research, and a decent halfords you might be able to find anl end of 2010 stock bargin out there.

Ryan Jones

Merry hill halfords is my personal favourite in the area, seemed to have just about everything good halfords have to offer in there. I'm guessing the likes of Wyre forest and Cannock Chase might be the most common ventures, and for them i'd definitely get a look at the carerra fury and the gt aggressors if they're still available, especially the marzocchi equipped variant.

Dudleyadam

Thanks Ryan, it was the Merry Hill store I had been looking at. had been getting a bit nervous about the reports of Halfords set ups! And Cannock and Wyre were the places I was planning to ride. Had not thought of GTs, I am currently still using my old GT Palomar to get fitness levels up a bit before I can get hold of a new bike

Steve_F

eebygum wrote:

if you ask at your halfords branch they can also source a wide range of bikes which they dont stock, but can order in for you.
If you have the time for a bit of research, and a decent halfords you might be able to find anl end of 2010 stock bargin out there.

Halfords certainly can source a wider range of bikes, the only ones you won't be able to get are the brands specific to certain places - ie Focus is Wiggle only so no chance.

But, you will be paying RRP for anything they source that's not from Halfords - they can only source them at RRP. You may manage to find some of their own 2010 stock reduced but I'm guessing the Boardmans won't be.

Ryan Jones

Wow, my telepathic thoughts work

But yeah the gt aggressor series in halfords run (on the better versions) 130mm travel forks and look pretty damn sweet (in white with the white rims and marzocchi forks, niceee), they'd be my first choice to swing a leg over and try for size though i was impressed by the fury too. Boardmans seem to be more xc/race focused and personally i'd avoid that if i was looking to build up my skills and confidence.