Newbie advice

toploadertom

Hi all!

New rider here and Im after a bit of advice. I brought a carerra kraken from halfords a few weeks ago and just recently I have noticed a shudder or vibration on braking from the front. Also the front brake seems to be catching/rubbing.

I went back to halfords who inform me that this is 'normal', I should expect vibration on braking! It is even there at low speed. also they tell me my pads are quite worn and will require replacement, Ive only ridden about 50 miles on the bike! Any suggestions gratefully recieved

supersonic

They may need readjusting - download the manual and see what it says. Though a slight bit of rub is not uncommon.

Check the bolts are done up tight too, and the rotor is straight.

Greer_

Check for play in your headset as well. My front end vibrated for a while, while braking, until I tightened it up. Wasn't so much vibrating as knocking though

waby1234

Something else you can try is a couple of big stops - your brakes won't even be bedded in properly that new so get some heat into them.

IT66T

Theirs a few Halfords stores out there that aren't very good at setting bikes up i'm afraid so if you follow the advice already given you should be ok lol .

grl

Halfords are not great for anything more sophisticated than air fresheners unfortunately. There's no excuse for your bike to vibrate on braking, irrespective of the speed you are doing. Sounds like blocks are not set correctly and if there are only slightly out, wear and tear would correct that over time but given you've purchased your new pride and joy from them I would suggest takingit back in a politely, but firmly making them fix it.

Best wishes
grl

waby1234

grl wrote:

Halfords are not great for anything more sophisticated than air fresheners unfortunately. There's no excuse for your bike to vibrate on braking, irrespective of the speed you are doing. Sounds like blocks are not set correctly and if there are only slightly out, wear and tear would correct that over time but given you've purchased your new pride and joy from them I would suggest takingit back in a politely, but firmly making them fix it.

There are good Halfords out there, I don't think a sweeping statement like the one above is particularly constructive or helpful, so if you don't want to take it back to the original store try and find a good one. Go into Halfords during the day in the week and try speaking to the bike staff - you'll soon pick up whether they know they're stuff and seem ok.

toploadertom

Thanks for all the advice guys, it's booked in tomorrow for 'a good going over' the brakes and headset...we'll see what happens! :roll:

grl

Waby1234 I am merely recounting my experience of the company after having bought a wide variety of good and services from them. I am sorry you think my comment is neither helpful not constructive but it is my opinion.

Greer_

grl wrote:

Waby1234 I am merely recounting my experience of the company after having bought a wide variety of good and services from them. I am sorry you think my comment is neither helpful not constructive but it is my opinion.

You usually here more about the bad stores, but I haven't had a problem with mine. There's good and bad stores just like anywhere! I did laugh though whenever I was reading a recent survey (can't remember who by) and noticed halfords were ranked last with 50% overall customer satisfaction

learnerDave

think you might have a point there, not to be nasty but would only go to halfords to get a stereo and boom box fitted to my bike and still pay over the odds