Carrera Titan 650b 2013

ftball22

Hi.
I have a carrera zelos road bike and was looking to get a first mountain bike for some a mixture of road and trail rides. I wondered whether anyone had any experience or opinions on this bike? One of my concerns was the weight of the bike?
Thanks in advance!

ftball22

Here's a link: http://www.halfords.com/webapp/wcs/stor ... 65499#tab3

cooldad

Nasty low rent bits and terrible undamped fork. Never worth even the sale price, let alone the bizarre RRP.

Look at the sticky at the top of this section.

ftball22

Thanks. Are the brakes on the RR good quality?
That was one of the pros of the Titan (although that was according to a sales assistants :P )

ftball22

He also said something the wheel size being that of the future?

cooldad

A sh1t bike will be a sh1t bike, whatever the wheel size. At this price, the fork is the most important single component.
The bikes in the sticky all have decent damped forks, and brakes that will stop you.

You will also generally pay a premium for 650b, it's fashionable.

russyh

Agree with cooldad here, doesn't look like a good buy. Look at the rockrider, listen to some of the advice here and not the spotty moron in halfords

supersonic

There's certainly a whole lot worse for 300 quid, but the Rockrider 5.3 remains the best buy for a little more.

borisonabike

After quite a bit of deliberation I've just picked up one of these. (I paid £270 after some negotiation)

I'm no expert. In fact, just wanting to get back into some lightweight mountain biking to get some exercise. I also have a Scott P5 hybrid and it was the worst bike purchase I every made. Great bike technically but I really don't enjoy the ride. And that's what I value more than the kudos from other people.

Thought I'd chime in and give my perspective on the Carrera. The 650b basically has most of the components of the Carrera Vengance (braking, gears, shifters etc) with the supposedly higher-end frame from the Carrera Vulcan and Kracken. And a 650 wheel of course - which isn't why I bought it. Seems to be a load of hype that IMHO.

Yes it's a bit of a mungeral with a SHAM/Shimano/Suntour combo running the gearing but it runs pretty smoothly. Afterall this is a £270 bike (we all know the games Halfords play on pricing.), there will be cost savings somewhere.

The front fork is basic as mentioned but does the job. So far I am perfectly happy with it. To be honest, I think one can get snow blindness reading these forums and comparing specs, and loose sight of reality a little. I certainly did. An extra £50 always gets a little more. But all those £50's add up. For me, this represented a decent compromise.

Had I been willing to spend £350 I had my eye on a Forme Sterndale 2.0 with all round slightly better specs. If I get more serious I may swap in a few years, but for now I have a nice ride (apart from the saddle which is made from granite) which will help be get fit and not need to re-mortgage the house.

My advise is to go into it with your eyes open and your credit card left at home, along with niggling doubts of bike snobbery. Unless of course you know better then me. Which most of you probably do! Serious riders will want more. Wannabes like me know their place!

borisonabike

...and on the issue of weight, I lifted it over a farm gate earlier and no hernia. It's not the lightest of course, but I can't think it's going to be a major issue. Alloy 7005 frame.

ianstew33

I have one of these and the weakest link is the forks. I'm using this for a duathlon in march and will be making a few changes to make it better.

I'm putting a set of x-fusion velvets on it, along with carbon bars and a ragley stem. This will bring the weight down and give a better ride. The bars and stem have arrived; the forks are coming from the states so will take a bit longer.

In addition I have acquired a Deore 10spd rear mech, 10spd shifters and an 11-34 cassette. Not sure what chainset to use yet or if I can use the existing front mech.

The brakes, well I have no complaints. They stop brilliantly and don't seem to be bothered by muddy conditions. I've tested them on a few tough descents and I like them. Mind you I'm coming from v-brakes on my orange clockwork.

I know it's unfashionable to like Halfords bikes but my first mtb was a 1989/90 ish kraken and my roadie is a gryphon. I went to decathlon and didn't like their stuff, it felt too heavy for me and the discs bent when I pulled on the brakes.

I feel confident that the better and lighter forks, with lighter bars and stem will transform the titan into a really good bike. I could cope without changing the gears but as I sold a few bits on eBay I will make the change. It will never be as light or classy as my old orange clockwork but I have to say the 650b wheels are brilliant.

The Rookie

ianstew33 wrote:

I know it's unfashionable to like Halfords bikes but my first mtb was a 1989/90 ish kraken and my roadie is a gryphon.

It's not unfashionable on here at all, value is value, just the Titan isn't the best value (the 650B wheels and tyres cost more so everything else suffers compared to a 26"), no-one on here suggest many 'big name' (aka fashionable as you put it) brands for buys much below £900 as they don't offer value. That said Halfords Carreras have slipped a bit being passed by the Voodoos they sell as well as the Rockrider twins and the new Calibres for absolute VFM.

My MTB is a Kraken frame, my commuter is a Hybrid Gryphon frame (not a roadie as it's too long for drop bars), both are sub 10Kg bikes (yet to update the thread for the Kraken as I have some new grips still to fit).