2011 Carrera Vulcan

danposs86

Firstly, yes I know that some may see this bike as some piece of crap that Halfords sells, however I wanted a cheap new bike so this one ticks the boxes.

A bit of back story, after taking an office job I have been getting very little exercise so decided to do something to loose some of the weight I have put on. I used to ride bikes a lot when I was younger and living on a farm, so now I am back living in the same area I grew up, it made sense to get back on a bike. I didn't want to spend a fortune in case I didn't enjoy it as much as I used too, gave myself a budget of around £350.

My requirements were that it had to be a hardtail, disc brakes and front suspension with lock off. I spent a good month or two searching sites trying to find something that caught my eye and this came up for a good price. I looked at it in the store and loved the look of it, plus it had hydraulic brakes and some review searches showed it got 5 stars on BikeRadar. On the Halfords website it was up for £380, but there were a couple of good offers on, including 3 for 2 on bike accessories and £60 off on orders over £400. So for £370 I got the bike, a helmet, bike lock and some lights (accessories cost £25 each).

Some photos for you.











Some specs (from the Halfords website):

Chainset: SRAM S200 3.0 chainset
Forks: 120mm Suntour XCM-V3 hydraulic damping and lockout with adjustable damping
Frame-: Lightweight 7005 T6 aluminium
Front Brake: Clarks SX hydraulic disc brake
Front Mech: Shimano FD-M190
Gear Shifters: SRAM X4 trigger shifters
Handle Bars: Alloy oversize riser bars (30mm rise) (31.8mm diameter)
Headset: Semi integrated
Hubs: Alloy with Q/R
Number of Gears: 24
Pedals: Wellgo alloy platform with toe clips
Rear Brake: Clarks SX hydraulic disc brake
Rear Mech: SRAM X4 rear mech
Rims: Double wall alloy rims
Saddle: Carrera
Stem: Ahead aluminium stem
Tyre size: 2.1"
Wheel size: 26"
Approximate Weight (KG): 14.7

chez_m356

danposs86 wrote:

Firstly, yes I know that some may see this bike as some piece of crap that Halfords sells

absolutely right, how did you know ? only joking mate, a great bike you have got yourself there, well worth the money, glad your enjoying it

danposs86

You know what, I am enjoying it so far.

I try to get out 2/3 times for an hour or so after work during the week, do some longer rides at the weekend.

I live in Sedbergh, which is in Cumbria, just inside the Yorkshire Dales. So I have a huge amount of places to go and enjoy, although I am not quite cut out for pedaling going up the hills but I am getting better.

Zimmerman

Very nice! Excellent value for money.

70\ʹspenguin

I think you made an excellent choice for the money! I really like the calipers on those brakes - nice and minimal.

oxocube1

Good choice of Carrera there dude! we always try to upsell the Vulcan in the shop, especially when people are looking at the more expensive Kraken. The Vulcan is much better value for money and all you get on the Kraken is very slightly better forks and x5 instead of x4. I'm glad you went for this one instead of some of the others.

danposs86

Thanks

A couple more pics.



Not done much so far, only really going to be replacing items if they break or something catches my eye.

So far added a bottle cage, a mount for a GoPro and a headset Lizard Skin cover. I have ordered a Lizard Skin chainset protector today.





Made in the UK

danposs86

oxocube1 wrote:

.....we always try to upsell the Vulcan in the shop, especially when people are looking at the more expensive Kraken.

Surely it's not upselling if you sell the cheaper item :P

snotty badger

The lizard skin needs to cover the bearing (slightly lower down) to be doing its job.

Carreras are always cracking value, looks the part too!

danposs86

Where the fork exits the frame? Tried it, doesn't stretch round.

snotty badger

It needs to move down about half an inch. It's not doing anything where it is except looking pretty!

It should stretch a bit, you might be able to work it down a bit.

bwfc4eva868

Nothing wrong with carrera vulcans. I have the older version and the bike still out performs my skill level. I binned the suntours and stuck some Toras on it and its a brilliant bike. It mops up Gisburn and Lee quarry :-)

danposs86

snotty badger wrote:

It needs to move down about half an inch. It's not doing anything where it is except looking pretty!

It should stretch a bit, you might be able to work it down a bit.

Moved it down now

The Rookie

Carrera's are good bikes, the frames are better than most realise - beware of expensive copies (that'll be a Spesh!), my 2006 Kraken frame (same as an 06 Vulcan) weighs 7g heavier than the same year Rockhopper, probably within production tolerances....

Most on here would rather you bought a Vulcan and rode it than a Spesh and didn't for certain, so get out and enjoy!

No need for the lizard skin, those bearings are indestructable, my fame came out of a ditch, forks rusted right through yet the headset bearing is in my commuter (Carrera frame) and still going strong!

See my link below for inspiration (or to put you off - up to you!)