Carrera Zelos Limited Edition

josh_1871
josh_1871 Posts: 27
edited October 2013 in Road buying advice
seen halfords are doing this bike at half price from 600 to 300. looking for a decent first road bike, is it any good?

http://www.halfords.com/webapp/wcs/stor ... yId_165710

Comments

  • lc1981
    lc1981 Posts: 820
    I don't know much about that specific bike, but it's worth knowing that Halfords have these half-price sales on a lot, to the point that I doubt that anyone actually pays full price for these. In other words, this probably isn't a £600 bike for £300, but a bike that usually sells for closer to £300 than £600!

    If you're looking to spend £300, then the B'Twin Triban 3 gets good reviews (e.g. in Cycling Weekly) and is of a better spec than the Carrera.
  • josh_1871
    josh_1871 Posts: 27
    okay cheers for the advice and stopping me getting suckered by their deals
  • pastey_boy
    pastey_boy Posts: 2,083
    The Zelos is a £300 pound bike and not a £600 bike. The Triban 3 has a carbon fork, more gears and better spec all round.
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  • night_porter
    night_porter Posts: 888
    To be honest they are both £300 bikes, built to a price and sold by non bike specific retailers.

    I agree that on paper the carbon fork of the Triban 3 appears better than the alloy fork of the Zelos but as we do not ride on paper the only way to really tell if one is better than the other is to ride them both and see which one suits/feels better.

    I doubt many people on here have had the opportunity to ride both and give a real opinion.

    Carrera bikes are always slated on here but knowing that they are built by Merida (2nd largest bike manufacturer in the world) and having commuted on one for 4 years (>20,000 miles)I know that their quality belies their price. Of course I have not ridden the Zelos but I would go see it at least as you may be missing out on a good bike for the price.
  • lc1981
    lc1981 Posts: 820
    night_porter wrote:
    Carrera bikes are always slated on here but knowing that they are built by Merida (2nd largest bike manufacturer in the world) and having commuted on one for 4 years (>20,000 miles)I know that their quality belies their price. Of course I have not ridden the Zelos but I would go see it at least as you may be missing out on a good bike for the price.

    Yes, I commute on a Carrera Subway and it's been great. I'm not saying the Carrera is rubbish, just to be suspicious of Halfords' pricing.
  • giant_man
    giant_man Posts: 6,878
    or to put it another way, one is $hit and one's not .....
  • mickcee
    mickcee Posts: 46
    I have seen Halfords are doing this again, I am considering a cheap winter bike which I can purchase through Halfords Bike to work Scheme. Unfortunately this is the company choice of scheme so limited to what is on offer and the Mrs complete dismay of me owning a second road bike.

    Anyone had any experience of one?
  • hibster
    hibster Posts: 58
    may be worth noting that you dont have to go to halfords if your work are doing c2w through them, nor do you have to be limited to their range

    i am getting a bike from a local bike shop who are one of halfords partners in the scheme - they have over 400 - through our c2w scheme at work
  • mickcee
    mickcee Posts: 46
    Cheers Hibster, they havnt actually said this to us. Lots here didn't want them to go with Halfords but the company thought because its the best known high street bike seller it offered the best bikes!!! How Wrong!

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