Carerra Component Upgrade?

skelkelly

Hi All
I've got a Carerra Vulcan which is about 4 years old, the frame suits me well and feels very solid. However brakes are shocking and gears are not much better.

Is it worth upgrading these bits or is the bike too basic to bother? Should I save my pennies and just buy a new one after running this one into the ground??

I ride over the Chase and through local wooded routes, I'm not a hardcore off roader but do like to chuck it about a bit.

Ta

Neal_

I may be perfectly suited to help you with this as I have exactly the same bike and have recently upgraded it for the similar reasons. I don't have any issues with the drive train though but I do keep it clean, lubed and adjusted so you may want to try that before replacing anything. I'd also recommend Rock n Roll Extreme chain lube, makes a big difference to shifting and keeps the noise down.

New stuff I have is Elixir R brakes (bought cheap in Merlin sale), RockShox Reba SL Dualair forks (bought second hand), Easton EA50 Monkey Bars, Truvative Hussefelt 70mm stem and at the moment Maxxis Crossmark 2.1 rear and Advantage 2.25 front tyres. I also changed the contact points to Lizard Skin Charger grips and Spesh Avatar saddle.

It's now down to about 12.7kg from 13.7kg and the only thing I plan on replacing in the near future is the back wheel as the hub isn't in great condition. I'll eventually get a full susupension bike but I'm happy with it enough for now.

skelkelly

Nice one Neal, thanks for the info.

I've heard mixed things about Carrera quality but the frame feels really comfortable so I'm loathe to dump it just for the sake of it.

Neal_

Carrera frames are fine and it's worth remembering that the vast majority of frames are made in the same few factories in the far east so they're all much of a muchness. The components on Carrera's may not be great depending on which one you get but they are still generally better than bikes from other manufactures at the same price point. I've recently replaced the bottom bracket, and as I said the rear hub is knackered, plus the bottom headset race has no sealing at all so needs regular servicing if it's wet. You'd need to spend a significant amount of money on a bike to ensure all these bits and pieces were top quality so you'll be replacing them anyway.

Northwind

What brakes does it have on it now? Can't remember if that year's Vulcan would have had cables or Tektro Aurigas. Or if it's the vbrake model that might change things a bit...

skelkelly

They are Tektros with cables I think...

Neal_

It'll be Tektro IO cable pull then, I think the calipers are made of rubber judging by how much they flex!

skelkelly

I've heard Avid Juicy are good - are they just a straight swap? Seems to be plenty of good used ones on eBay.

The Rookie

Juicy's are not the best but they are streets ahead of the frankly rubbish IO's that come as standard.

I'm running a 2006 Kraken (same frame really as the Vulcan) with Crossrides/Juicy5's and a manitou Skareb air fork (In fact the only thing left on the frame that is original is the mech hanger!) and compared to an original Vulcan (2009) I've ridden it's much much better (and weighs in at sub 12Kg with pedals)

Simon

Neal_

Avid Juicy's are an old design so if you are going for Avid I'd recommend you get the new 2012 Elixir 1 or Elixir 3. Your forks are IS mount (as opposed to post mount) but all you need to fit a brake sold as post mount is a disc brake adapter which are £4.99 from Superstar Components.

To give you an idea see below.

Elixir 1 180mm front/160mm rear + Type 3 - PM-IS 180F mount = £94.95

or

Elixir 3 180mm front/160mm rear + Type 3 - PM-IS 180F mount = £117.45

As the brakes are from Merlin I've worked out the prices including their 10% discount, you need to log in and enter the discount code VIP10 in the basket for this.