Carrera TDF Limited Edition 2014

dudeville

Hi All

New to road bikes and I'm looking at purchasing a cheap bike to start off on and see me through the winter, if I keep it up i'll be looking at something more expensive, for the price the reviews for the Carrera TDF Limited Edition 2014 seem fine. However I find the sizing info on Halfords website a bit vague. I'm 5'11" and would imagine i'll be a 54cm frame size which Halfords call Large, this model only comes in a 51cm modal (medium) & 54cm model (large). Anyone suggest which size I should go for?

Many Thanks

Dudeville

http://www.halfords.com/cycling/bikes/r ... -2014-54cm

arlowood

The Carrera range is not too bad as an entry level bike.

However at that price point my money would be going on one of the Triban range from Decathlon. For example:-

http://www.decathlon.co.uk/triban-300-r ... nformation

Unless you are particularly stuck with Halfords (eg vouchers to redeem etc) I would pop along to your nearest Decathlon and see what's available.

To deal with your sizing query, I'm not quite sure what the 54 refers to in their sizing guide but I would suspect that at 5'11" you would probably want a Large. However I would seriously suggest that you go along ad sit on the different sizes to make sure. Nothing worse than trying to make a too big or too small frame work for you.

diamonddog

Best to go your local Halfords and try them for size. Be wary of the advice you may be given as some branches do not have the best knowledge re bikes.
As arlowood above mentions take look at Decathlon Triban range if you can push the budget a bit.

cal_stewart

http://www.merlincycles.com/felt-f95-ro ... 72331.html

if the budget can go to it, and if you get into it instead of a new bike, just upgrade wheels and group

matt-h

Cal_Stewart wrote:

http://www.merlincycles.com/felt-f95-road-bike-2014-boxed-72331.html

if the budget can go to it, and if you get into it instead of a new bike, just upgrade wheels and group

This!
Staggering amount of bike for the money

Anonymous

When you say "for the money" are you talking about its actual price of £269, or being duped by its unrealistic £599 list price and big discount?

Its poor value for money at £269 and would be a complete rip off at £599.

Don't kid yourself playing that silly 'if I get into cycling, I will spend more on another bike' game.
Either up the budget now and buy something like the Felt, cut something else out of your life save up and buy when you can afford better, or just don't ever bother seeing if you like cycling.

Elfed

It's a great starter bike but that's it, don't spend a penny on upgrades as it's not worth it.

outtestdo

yes,As arlowood above mentions take look at Decathlon Triban range if you can push the budget a bit.

dudeville

Carbonator wrote:

When you say "for the money" are you talking about its actual price of £269, or being duped by its unrealistic £599 list price and big discount?

Its poor value for money at £269 and would be a complete rip off at £599.

Don't kid yourself playing that silly 'if I get into cycling, I will spend more on another bike' game.
Either up the budget now and buy something like the Felt, cut something else out of your life save up and buy when you can afford better, or just don't ever bother seeing if you like cycling.

20 % off at the moment so by my calculations that makes it £215.20, I think I'll just buy it and play the silly game, I asked for cycling advice, cheers for not really giving any??

dudeville

Elfed wrote:

It's a great starter bike but that's it, don't spend a penny on upgrades as it's not worth it.

thanks

dudeville

arlowood wrote:

The Carrera range is not too bad as an entry level bike.

However at that price point my money would be going on one of the Triban range from Decathlon. For example:-

http://www.decathlon.co.uk/triban-300-r ... nformation

Unless you are particularly stuck with Halfords (eg vouchers to redeem etc) I would pop along to your nearest Decathlon and see what's available.

To deal with your sizing query, I'm not quite sure what the 54 refers to in their sizing guide but I would suspect that at 5'11" you would probably want a Large. However I would seriously suggest that you go along ad sit on the different sizes to make sure. Nothing worse than trying to make a too big or too small frame work for you.

thanks

cq20

It is a £300ish bike being sold for £300ish or less (or a lot less, I now see). My brother uses one as his commuter bike because it is inexpensive, does the job, takes mudguards (Halfords put a set on free) and if it does get stolen then it will cause him lot less pain than losing his £3K bike. This one is his second bike of that type. He ran the first one into the ground (spent nothing on it) and junked it after 2 years. It paid for itself in terms of saved fares after about a year. As for size, I think they come up a bit big; the medium looked like a large to me and the large looked more like XL, but in any event, for a bike of that type, it is good value.

dudeville

cq20 wrote:

It is a £300ish bike being sold for £300ish or less (or a lot less, I now see). My brother uses one as his commuter bike because it is inexpensive, does the job, takes mudguards (Halfords put a set on free) and if it does get stolen then it will cause him lot less pain than losing his £3K bike. This one is his second bike of that type. He ran the first one into the ground (spent nothing on it) and junked it after 2 years. It paid for itself in terms of saved fares after about a year. As for size, I think they come up a bit big; the medium looked like a large to me and the large looked more like XL, but in any event, for a bike of that type, it is good value.

thanks for the advice mate

steg666

I went to a Halford store recently and saw one of these.

The advisor in the shop said they only come in two sizes (both quite small) and the original TDF was a better option. The original comes in more varied sizes (I'm 6ft 4) so had no chance of the ltd edition fitting me.

I have no facts to back this up just what the advisor told me (I've seen him before and he is a decent bike loving fella and doesn't deserve the usual anti-Halfords bias). He also told me that the original TDF bike had a better gears system.

I believe from memory it retailed at £299 but they weren't on the Halfords website last time I looked. Next time you are in store it's worth asking them about the non-ltd TDF bike. See if they can still get one.

kajjal

matt-h wrote:

Cal_Stewart wrote:

http://www.merlincycles.com/felt-f95-road-bike-2014-boxed-72331.html

if the budget can go to it, and if you get into it instead of a new bike, just upgrade wheels and group

This!
Staggering amount of bike for the money

This is well worth saving the extra for. Much better all round bike.