Carrera

bcur7

I've been off the bike for 7 years due to an knee injury, having being racing for 15 years before that and am almost at the point of getting on the road again. The Carrera Virago looks a crackin' bike. (I know the CPX22's are a little heavy, like me). I can only assume that the frame is not solely made for Carrera and is probably used by other brands (such as Ribble, Kona, Planet-X, DeRosa, PedalForce.....).
So does anyone know if the frame is actually used by another brand?

For what it's worth, I'm not planning on racing anytime soon. ISo the bike would be used for training spins and sportives - not planning on racing for another year.

ugo.santalucia

It makes sense... especially the wheels...
Only downsides I see are resale value of a Carrera is pretty low and Halfords service is notoriously patchy... if you can service it yourself and don't plan to sell it withing the next 12 months, go for it!

esd

Carrera bikes are ok...I have a virtuoso that I have used for 3-4 years clocking up 20 000 miles plus..cheap and chearful...down side is component wear failure is frequents - headset, bottom bracket bearing, etc etc...not much of my bike is orginal...I either sort or get my LBS to do stuff...but I like it...and it was cheap intro into road bikes for me...but given the money again would not buy...

bcur7

I've no problems with servicing it, thou that's a very good point about the resale value. I'd thought of removing the decals, putting on Basso or DeRosa or whatever, sure who'd know.

ShutUpLegs

bcur7 wrote:

I've no problems with servicing it, thou that's a very good point about the resale value. I'd thought of removing the decals, putting on Basso or DeRosa or whatever, sure who'd know.

Carrera bikes have a very good resale value, as do Boardman bikes.

rake

the frames are made by merida i was told. i know it was a halfords assistant but he seemed like a genuine bike man. he showed me two mountainbikes of medium/good quality said the carrera was the same bike as the merida but several hundred cheaper. my virtuoso is solid and performs well, the only thing is the weight but its only inline with the price.
ive replaced bits, but thats the same weather the same part is bolted to a carrera or a whatever brand. for the cost of sora etc it represents good value in terms of mileage/cost, replacements arent dear and it just works.