Forum menu
mmmmmm merida
[img] 
[/img]
Why do people put so much emphasis on what factory the frame was made in? It's as if a factory can only make to one standard.
And actually does it really matter where it was made, rather than more importantly the geometry, material and the tolerances/quality control of the finished product?
I have 3 Carrera Hellcats, all made by Merida...it is stamped in the rear-left dropout.
These are very under-rated single-pivot frames; 20" weighing 2850g + shock.
I switched to an air shock on 2 of them, and they have all been trouble-free.
Still on the original (grease-filled) main pivot bearings.
Come try one in Swinley with me...
PaulD
Christ there are some snobs on here! I've had a number of Merida frames and they're great. Amazing value for money. But the people who are turning their noses up probably wouldn't ride a Specialized either.
They used to make Carrera's (in fact the Carrera's were just re-badged Meridas), but no more
If I remember rightly, Merida now own over 50% of Specialized and make all their frames. As well as frames for a lot of other people too.
But they're not made of titanium. In someones shed. I don't know if they do 29ers and I'm not sure if they have sliding dropouts so you can singlespeed them. So of absolutely no interest at all then....... 🙄
The niche bikes thing makes me piss myself....i've never seen these bikes out and about.
When i'm riding i come across the usual array of 27/30 speed mass produced bikes from all the main brands....when i went to a round of the Gravity Enduro this year it was more of the same....Specialised, Yeti, Trek, Orange, Giant etc as far as the eye could see....there was a smattering of steel hardtails which was nice to see but even these were equipped with conventional 20-30 speed drvetrains....
....where do all the niche bikes get ridden?....or are they just built up, photographed to post on the forum and then stood up in somebody's front room?....the latter i suspect!
The Carrera/Merida thing stopped when Merida got a UK importer a few years ago now, and Halfords fell out with them because they wanted exclusivity. Some of the buyers from the Halfords premium bike office ended up working for the Merida importer instead. (I was still working as a manager for Halfords at the time so it must have been at least 5/6 years ago).
Wife has a Carrera/merida LRS, it is a fantastic bike and at 8 years old still going strong on origional bearings,shock etc...
Merida still make Carrera though, no?
If it's not Merida, it's another huuuuge Taiwanese company what probbly makes 'niche' braynd stuff as well.
Can't find anything online to suggest Carerra are made by anyone else though.
The Carrera bikes are fine, as good as owt else at the price point really. The big problem is that Halfords are generally quite useless in terms of providing a decent quality bike shop service. Quite a high churn rate of shop staff (imo it's a crap company to work for, although surprisingly probbly pay more than indy LBS' or Evans etc), and they just can't seem to employ people who actually know sufficient about bikes to be able to offer a proper bike shop style service. IME, and I suspect most others, Halfords are piss-poor when it comes to selling bikes, but then, they are an automotive products retailer first and foremost, and bikes are just a relatively smallish part of their operation And IME and O, they don't have enough people at the top who are sufficiently passionate about bikes to perform better as a bike retailer. I spose their business model works well enough for them not to have to worry about that though really. And they aim at the bottom end of the market mainly; the nice stuff like Voodoo etc will never make up any really significant part of their business.
Shame, cos they started out as a bike shop. Well, not quite, but near enough.
my wife has just got a Boardman team mtb which looks fantastic and i doubt anything can match it for the price. I commute on a carrera subway i got in the sale and i doubt you'd get anything close for what i paid. I got back into biking about 10 years ago with the original carrera gryphon which was an awesome bike it weighed nothing as was really fast did me across the alps and kept up with club riders on carbon fibre boutique bikes
[img] 
[/img]
Bikes are actually a massive part of Halfords' revenue. Certainly the turnover on bikes in my store/s was far higher than the other departments, even if the margins weren't quite so good. Many of the buying team are keen cyclists too. There always seemed to be a passion for it whenever I had dealings with them. I remember when I went to the Airbourne 'launch' event in the Forest of Dean, 2 days in a hotel with the guys from Airbourne, Halfords head office and approx 20 staff from the top turnover stores, riding Airbourne bikes and learning the brand strategy etc. There was far more passion from the guys at the top than from the store based ones. Many (but certainly not all) Halfords staff are working for Halfords, not 'in a bike shop'. It's just a job to them, not something they love. It's a shame as there are some great, passionate guys out there. Just pot luck as to which store is your local....
I'm sure that the (amusingly named) Kind Bicycle co are/were involved with Carrera, I remember getting warranty replacement frame parts in boxes with that name on it....
That's them, I couldn't remember as it was ages ago.Kind Bicycle co
wow - didn't I start something? As previously posted I run 2 Carrera frames that I have built up myself - I think the frames are great but the components on the original bikes sold buy halfords are not brill just ok, but what do you expect for that price!!
Have had no real experience with the staff in Halfords as I would rather go to my LBS!
So to recap from the whole thread, the frames made in Taiwan by a huge company who make other frames for other companies (not a bad thing) and are generally viewed as great value for money apart! The only negative comments come from the people who like products with a nice shiny branded name on it!! 🙂 Can anyonbe substantiate the claims that they "are rubbish" or is it just an unfounded opinion??
🙂
There are plenty of people at Halfords HQ passionate about biking
Many of the buying team are keen cyclists too. There always seemed to be a passion for it whenever I had dealings with them.
Pity that 'passion' doesn't filter down to most of the shops then.
There are plenty of people at Halfords HQ passionate about biking
Yet hardly any on the actual shop floor, where they're needed.... 🙄
The separate Bike Hut thing was a good idea; there was one by St Paul's, but I think it closed down. Shame, cos it really looked like Halfords were finally doing things right, re selling bikes.
Mind you, the uselessness of Halfords to sell properly set up bikes means extra business for 'proper' bike shops when the pissed off owners come in to get their bikes sorted properly by someone who actually knows what they're doing. 😀
My local Halfords is better than my nearest LBS... They've shown occasional incompetence but they've never actually tried to steal from me, so all in all that's a positive.
To be fair, I've had some very good service from Halfords in the past - like others have said, it depends which store you go to.
I went to one in Macclesfield recently and the lad knew what he was talking about and was really keen about bikes.
A lot of proper bike shops, from big chains to local ones have been a lot worse.
deviant - Member
....where do all the niche bikes get ridden?....
In niches?
Umm this is a Merida - and its very good considering how cheap it was! 2009 model tfs900 xt/deore spec (originally!) alloy frame reba sl's and merida's own finishing kit... got it in a clearence sale for £650.. reduced from the rrp of £999!
Just refuses to break!
[url= http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5224/5640285111_48f0c1b3cf.jp g" target="_blank">
[url= http://www.flickr.com/photos/ciderinsport/5640285111/ ]2011-04-21_15-39-45_984[/url] by [url= http://www.flickr.com/people/ciderinsport/ ]ciderinsport[/url], on Flickr
They even used to make the merrida/carrera LRS which was a rip off of the original epic.
This bit always annoys me - it was Bergwerk that first stuck the suspension down the seat stay in a project with merida. Centurion and Spec licensed the position from merida/bergwerk, with spec adding the Fox perpendicular thingy to make the brain. Merida later bought 49% of spec (as reported in the taiwan business news).
In no way did merida rip of spec.