Carrera branded bikes

wijcc

Is there any truth/weight to why Carrera branded bikes are not looked on favourably by some people. Are they less reliable than other big brands or is just to down to some people just not liking halfords??

navrig2

Bit of both. Probably heavier frames and components so overall a heavier bike.

Lower end components meaning, potentially, less smooth operation (gear change), more maintenance, less effective braking.

Less money spent on marketing so obviously less sexy and desirable.

Then there is the Halfords' factor which, from posts on here, seems to be hit and miss with some stores being better than others.

N0bodyOfTheGoat

They have a rep of function over form, sacrificing low frame/bike weight that will make a difference up hills, for bikes that often have high max rider tolerances.

Must confess I like the look of the new red Carrera Vanquish Disc for £400, as much as I hate mechanical disc brakes. While it's a heavy beast, it's good to see the Hellcat finally gets hydraulic brakes and is part of the very limited range that keeps 29er/700c wheel, so many now have another of my pet hates (27.5" wheels).

wijcc

What is it about the vanquish

N0bodyOfTheGoat said:

They have a rep of function over form, sacrificing low frame/bike weight that will make a difference up hills, for bikes that often have high max rider tolerances.

Must confess I like the look of the new red Carrera Vanquish Disc for £400, as much as I hate mechanical disc brakes.

What is it about the Vanquish that you like if anything other than the way it looks?

oxoman

In the past some of their bikes weren't bad. Carrera fury was one of the best MTB,s they did and the virtuoso road bike wasnt bad. Their service and cheaper stuff they did didnt do their rep any good.

Sutton_Rider

I have a virtuoso that I've had for 5 years, its the winter bike. It's heavy (around 10kg) and a bit like pedaling a tank, but its reliable and I'm not so bothered if I throw it down the road.

wijcc

Are all budget road bikes (around the £300-400) not about 10kg or so???

cruff

Carrera are no better or worse than other budget brands. The weight is a red herring for a bike like that - it's the components and build that make a bike that cheap 'worth it' or not. Generally the build standard with Carrera is worse than others as they'll have been put together in Halfords by someone who knows as much about bikes as I do about reality TV (ie: nothing). Even with a cheap bike at Evans or Decathlon the build is likely to be better than Halfords. Component wise, nothing below Tiagra will last very long, especially in the winter, but the drivetrain components are generally cheap enough that this doesn't really matter.

In short, they're censored bikes but generally no worse than others of the same price when built properly and looked after/cleaned regularly

wijcc

Is that the case for more expensive brands sold in Halfords too.. poorly put together?

joe_totale-2

Boardman Bikes certainly come with better quality components and frames but they're still put together by the same people at Halfords.

Personally I'd happily buy a Boardman bike but would double check everything on it before riding it.

cruff

joe_totale-2 said:

Boardman Bikes certainly come with better quality components and frames but they're still put together by the same people at Halfords.

Personally I'd happily buy a Boardman bike but would double check everything on it before riding it.

Ditto. There's nothing specifically stopping me from buying a Boardman but I'd have to factor into the equation the probable need to at least partially strip and rebuild at home and whether or not that's worthwhile when I can probably get a similarly sized and specced bike from my LBS who will do the job properly in the first place.

N0bodyOfTheGoat

The new Limited Edition Boardman SLR 8.9c looks tasty for £1k, 105 7000 upgrade over the old Tiagra model, swap out the dodgy FSA chainset for a Shimano Hollow tech II and a pair of nice tyres and you then have a nice bike... If the seat post doesn't slip on this new model!🤣

Andy

joe_totale-2 said:

Personally I'd happily buy a Boardman bike but would double check everything on it before riding it.

Why wouldnt you double check everything on a new bike no matter where you got it from?

joe_totale-2

Andy said:

joe_totale-2 said:

Personally I'd happily buy a Boardman bike but would double check everything on it before riding it.

Why wouldnt you double check everything on a new bike no matter where you got it from?

On a new bike I'd certainly check over the bolts, you're probably adjusting things anyway to get your fit. Brakes as well.

On a Boardman, as Cruff mentioned I'd be stripping the thing and checking the cabling and BB area.

mankybianchi

What would you be stripping off the bike? And what would you expect to find in the BB area?

The boxed bikes come from the manufacturers 90% already assembled - just pedals, bars, seat post and front wheel to complete it. Then final brake and gear checks/adjustments.

oxoman

You would be ideally checking everything is tight, routed correctly, free turning, gears indexing correctly, brakes set up correctly, tyres inflated.