Carrera Kraken Vs Voodoo Hoodoo - Which is the better bike?

Faz786

Hi guys, any thoughts on which is the better bike overall: The carrera kraken or the voodoo hoodoo? Both are currently at the same price of £449.99 at the moment.

Links to both bikes:

Hoodoo: http://www.halfords.com/webapp/wcs/stor ... yId_165499

Kraken: http://www.halfords.com/webapp/wcs/stor ... yId_165499

Spec wise both seem similar. I'm aware the Hoodoo has been downspecced since the previous year.

As I can get around 25% off any bike if I shop at Halfords, I'm not looking to buy from anywhere else. I also looked at the Carrera Vulcan and Voodoo Bantu, any thoughts on whether these give a better bang for buck given they're around £100 cheaper?

Thanks for any help

Faz786

It may be worth me adding - I have been used to riding inexpensive bikes all my life so either of these are going to be a massive upgrade for me.

I'm looking to use the MTB for cross-country, woods, parks, a bit of road etc. I'm not a pro biker or looking to spend anything beyond this price range, but am looking to get the best possible bike for the money..

Thanks

The Rookie

The Voodoo has the better forks (most important single component) and better brakes, the Kraken has very slightly better drivetrain (marginally), personally, while the Hoodoo has been downspecced from last year, it's still better than the Kraken.
Consider also the Calibre two.two from Go outdoors or the Rockrider 5.3 or 8.1 from Decathlon.

poah

carrera

The Rookie

Very helpful without any reasoning at all POAH!

zx6man

of course the cheapest of the lot would be more than adequeate, but thats not the point :-)

poah

The Rookie wrote:

Very helpful without any reasoning at all POAH!

TBF he asked which was better not why so STFU and stop being your usual dickfaced self

cooldad

POAH wrote:

The Rookie wrote:

Very helpful without any reasoning at all POAH!

TBF he asked which was better not why so STFU and stop being your usual dickfaced self

That time of the month again?

Faz786

The Rookie wrote:

The Voodoo has the better forks (most important single component) and better brakes, the Kraken has very slightly better drivetrain (marginally), personally, while the Hoodoo has been downspecced from last year, it's still better than the Kraken.
Consider also the Calibre two.two from Go outdoors or the Rockrider 5.3 or 8.1 from Decathlon.

Thanks for the comparison of parts - this is helpful.

I've seen the RR mentioned a lot on here, unfortunately it's beyond my budget.

Appreciate any more thoughts..

buddy_club

The Rookie wrote:

The Voodoo has the better forks (most important single component) and better brakes, the Kraken has very slightly better drivetrain (marginally), personally, while the Hoodoo has been downspecced from last year, it's still better than the Kraken.
Consider also the Calibre two.two from Go outdoors or the Rockrider 5.3 or 8.1 from Decathlon.

Nought more to be said really!

97th choice

Personal choice but I would argue that the low end alivio stuff from shimano is pretty damn good as budget goes, it's light in action and reliable.

I wouldn't consider X5 much of an improvement if any.

Tiny weight penalty on the voodoo but I would pick it over the Kraken. Neither are bad bikes though

oxocube1

I would go with the Hoodoo. From working with/on both bikes on a regular basis as a Halfords mechanic, the Hoodoo performs much better. As already said, the forks are a model up (Suntour Raidon up from Suntour XCR), and the brakes are considerably better.
The Clarks Skeletal brakes you get on the Kraken often require adjustment on the reach adjust screws as they tend to 'unscrew' themselves very easily, and the Tektro brakes that come on the Hoodoo come evenly bled/better setup from the factory. The Skeletals usually come in feeling totally different on front and rear, and often require some fluid release/re-bleed.
The latter can be sorted fairly easily but I personally don't like the feel and moderation of the Skeletals even when they are setup properly.
Lastly, I'm a Shimano guy and much prefer the Shimano drivetrain on the Hoodoo as apposed to the SRAM (minus the front mech) on the Kraken.

chrisw333

The fork would swing it for me.

ricgreen

Faz786 wrote:

The Rookie wrote:

The Voodoo has the better forks (most important single component) and better brakes, the Kraken has very slightly better drivetrain (marginally), personally, while the Hoodoo has been downspecced from last year, it's still better than the Kraken.
Consider also the Calibre two.two from Go outdoors or the Rockrider 5.3 or 8.1 from Decathlon.

Thanks for the comparison of parts - this is helpful.

I've seen the RR mentioned a lot on here, unfortunately it's beyond my budget.

Appreciate any more thoughts..

I understand that your budget is £450
However from all the information I have been given the Rockrider 8.1 is above all at £549 from decathalon.
£99 more surely you can expand to that ?
Maybe stay on for 3/4 weeks and put the extra on the Rockrider

G-S

I would have a look at the Calibre, as advised above, but from what I gather it's going to be a while before Go Outdoors have them back in stock. Out of the two original models quoted, I would go for the Voodoo, it's a tad on the heavy side, but feels much lighter when you are moving. Overall, it's a very well thought out bike. The Rockriders are also excellent spec, but I personally would still lean towards the Voodoo.

Faz786

Fantastic responses guys - many thanks. The Voodoo appears to be the clear winner too.

I'm limiting myself to Halfords bikes because I can get a Halfords bike heavily discounted through a combination of things which brings the price down to around £300. A RR would cost me £550 so a £250 difference which is massive compared to any potential gains in spec.

G-S

Use the money you save to invest in a new saddle. Word of warning on Voodoo's, is that the saddles are really uncomfortable. Get yourself a Charge Spoon or Scoop.

Faz786

Cheers I'll bear that in mind once I've got my hands on the bike and start tinkering with it!

ricgreen

G-S wrote:

Use the money you save to invest in a new saddle. Word of warning on Voodoo's, is that the saddles are really uncomfortable. Get yourself a Charge Spoon or Scoop.

G-S. So you put the voodoo hoodoo ahead of the Rockrider 8.1 ?

I understand voodoo slightly cheaper
But Rockrider 8.1 is better ?

G-S

That isn't a criticism of the Rockrider, however, having ridden the Voodoo, it's a much better bike than the sum of it's parts suggest. If you see one out and about, ask for a go, it may surprise you. On paper the Rockrider should be the hands down winner, but I maintain that I would go with the Voodoo, albeit, not with the stock saddle.

supersonic

The rockrider is better. No doubt about that. But the Voodoo is is a better bet than the Kraken, overall.

zx6man

Faz786 wrote:

Fantastic responses guys - many thanks. The Voodoo appears to be the clear winner too.

I'm limiting myself to Halfords bikes because I can get a Halfords bike heavily discounted through a combination of things which brings the price down to around £300. A RR would cost me £550 so a £250 difference which is massive compared to any potential gains in spec.

Do you live close so you could buy me one?

PBNinja

zx6man wrote:

Faz786 wrote:

Fantastic responses guys - many thanks. The Voodoo appears to be the clear winner too.

I'm limiting myself to Halfords bikes because I can get a Halfords bike heavily discounted through a combination of things which brings the price down to around £300. A RR would cost me £550 so a £250 difference which is massive compared to any potential gains in spec.

Do you live close so you could buy me one?

Anyone can get discount in Halfords, buy a £20 british Cycling membership for automatic 10% off.

zx6man

PBNinja wrote:

zx6man wrote:

Faz786 wrote:

Fantastic responses guys - many thanks. The Voodoo appears to be the clear winner too.

I'm limiting myself to Halfords bikes because I can get a Halfords bike heavily discounted through a combination of things which brings the price down to around £300. A RR would cost me £550 so a £250 difference which is massive compared to any potential gains in spec.

Do you live close so you could buy me one?

Anyone can get discount in Halfords, buy a £20 british Cycling membership for automatic 10% off.

Not quite 50 % though :-)

PBNinja

zx6man wrote:

PBNinja wrote:

zx6man wrote:

Faz786 wrote:

Fantastic responses guys - many thanks. The Voodoo appears to be the clear winner too.

I'm limiting myself to Halfords bikes because I can get a Halfords bike heavily discounted through a combination of things which brings the price down to around £300. A RR would cost me £550 so a £250 difference which is massive compared to any potential gains in spec.

Do you live close so you could buy me one?

Anyone can get discount in Halfords, buy a £20 british Cycling membership for automatic 10% off.

Not quite 50 % though :-)

He has already stated he gets around 25%, even from £450 to £300 is a third, I don't think 50% is doable.

If you do a bit of hunting on the net you'll figure it out.

I got my Voodoo Bizango from £600 down to £450, plus the £20 British cycling membership made it £470.

In relation to the OP's question, I can't speak for the Carrera but the Voodoo is excellent

zx6man

I did mean 25 % , No idea where I got 50% from :-)

Faz786

For anyone interested in how to get 20-25% off a bike sold through Halfords, there's a discussion over at Hot UK Deals which explains how: http://www.hotukdeals.com/deals/22-off- ... ds-1603626. It's a little long-winded, but it depends how far you want to go (at the simplest level - 10% off with british cycling membership)

Hope this helps any potential buyers!

sgtpepper1969

PBNinja wrote:

zx6man wrote:

PBNinja wrote:

zx6man wrote:

Faz786 wrote:

Fantastic responses guys - many thanks. The Voodoo appears to be the clear winner too.

I'm limiting myself to Halfords bikes because I can get a Halfords bike heavily discounted through a combination of things which brings the price down to around £300. A RR would cost me £550 so a £250 difference which is massive compared to any potential gains in spec.

Do you live close so you could buy me one?

Anyone can get discount in Halfords, buy a £20 british Cycling membership for automatic 10% off.

Not quite 50 % though :-)

He has already stated he gets around 25%, even from £450 to £300 is a third, I don't think 50% is doable.

If you do a bit of hunting on the net you'll figure it out.

I got my Voodoo Bizango from £600 down to £450, plus the £20 British cycling membership made it £470.

In relation to the OP's question, I can't speak for the Carrera but the Voodoo is excellent

I got my brand new Voodoo Bokor for £375 RRP £675 so can be done

The Rookie

Friendly member of staff with staff discount card = 25% off.....