MegaSack DRAW - This year's winner is user - rgwb
We will be in touch
Hey guys newbie here looking for a bike for everyday use torn between a carrera vulcan or a merida big nine 15.. Or something else maybe budget's around 400
I guess it depends what "everyday use" involves.
If its a mixture of commute / trail then I'd go with the Merida - bigger wheels should make it feel a bit better on the road.
If its more off road stuff I've go with the Carrera.
Both bikes look pretty good for ~£400
The hellcat offers 29inch wheels but it's only got 16 gears compared to the vulcan having 18.. I know very little about bikes but the hubs on the merida are shimano where as on the vulcan there just named as black alloy I'm not sure if this is a good or bad thing?? Also the vulcan forks have 120mm travel compared to 100mm on the merida? .. To be honest I'd probably never go off road maybe if one of my friends suggested a trail but I'd probably just use it to commute and travel quite far distances to help my fitness level
To be honest I’d probably never go off road maybe if one of my friends suggested a trail but I’d probably just use it to commute and travel quite far distances to help my fitness level
Go with the Merida then or possibly look at hybrids like the Carrera Subway range
Not knowing either bike I’d say there’s a lot to be said for ensuring it fits well. If one bike fits you better than the other, then that’s the one you will want to ride. Also, if you are drawn equally to both, get the one which is sold by the people you would trust best to help you with anything that goes wrong, ie whichever has the better customer service.
100 mm travel sounds plenty, if you need any at all.
Madeira, I've never even heard of a Carrera cake!
Haha its merida and who said carrera cake lol
Wouldn't even know where to start choosing the right fit or even how to choose, I sat on my friends 20"kraken and couldn't touch the floor properly with the seat post at its lowest but u liked how big it was maybe I should go for 18" saying that.. One would be leasure lake bikes but I've not heard anything about them the other halfords 🙄
I don’t know much about either model, but typically I’d recommend Leisure Lakes and Merida vs Carrera/Halfords any day.
The staff at LL should know what they’re talking about too, so can help with sizing etc. But I agree with the point about from gauss about comfort and service being a priority.
Merida make a lot of the Specialized bikes I believe too in their factory.
+1 for Madeira cake too. That stuff is nice.