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PS and I have no "LBS" in walking/cycling distance but there is a Halfords in town
Rode a Boardman Team carbon (CTW test ride) and yes it has a nice spec but it did ride nice. Wonder if they'll bring it down in price for £999.
I'd rather support my LBS but there is no product I have seen with a similar spec (Excl planetX) if there was I would be down the LBS in a flash.
my local halfords told me they could still do the boardman carbon for £999 on C2W if you'd seen it before the price rise put it at £1200
HTH
Erm.... crap frames? They're made by Merida. In the same factories where they make Specialzed. So the specialized are a better built frame.... why exactly?
Better alternatives for roughly the same money???
http://paulscycles.co.uk/products.php?plid=m1b62s1p2444
http://paulscycles.co.uk/products.php?plid=m1b7s1p1953
http://paulscycles.co.uk/products.php?plid=m1b4s1p2265
http://paulscycles.co.uk/products.php?plid=m1b2s1p1504
etc
If the price is right and it has the spec you want then why not?
Paulscycles has gone bust apparently...
Contrary to the 'bike snobs', are there also 'bike anti-snobs', for want of a better phase?
People who deliberately buy unfashionable or low-end kit, just for 'I'm a real rider, not a bike snob' brownie points?
BTW, I ride Yetis, and i'm ****ing proud of that fact.
TheBunk: You come ask me for long travel at £1k, I'd put you on a used Trek Remedy 7, at £700...
are there also 'bike anti-snobs',
I wouldnt have thought so.
I ride bikes and have fun doing so 😉
joe@brookscycles you selling a Remedy at £700???
Paulscycles has gone bust apparently...
Seriously?
I rung them and that's what the guy on the phone said. I have also emailed them...
soma_rich:
Paulscycles has gone bust apparently...
Start up the rumour mill.....website seems all there with no message. Bit naughty if they have gone pop.
Try ringing the number on the website!
I rung them and that's what the guy on the phone said. I have also emailed them...
Hmmm. Liquidation sale hopefully!
Soma_Rich, I don't really want to do trade stuff on a public forum, it's a bit unfair. But in short, yes, we have a used Remedy (large).
Email me on brookscycles@live.co.uk if you're interested.
I couldnt justify keeping the 'goose Teocali after i bought the Patriot frame and On One frames and built them up, but i missed riding a 5 ish inch travel full bouncer, so i bought a proper dog of a frame and built it up with good spares, XT mechs / shifters, Raceface cranks, raceface stem / bars, pace forks etc.
Its a diamond back S10. Ferkin love it!
On Darts here
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Yes.
My Dad got a Carrera XC Titan and he reckons it's brilliant.
The Carrera brand not longer puts me or him of getting another.
Recommended.
Most of the Carreras are made by the 'Kind Bicycle Corp.', who make Kona, Saracen (!) and a raft of other brands frames. Merida and Halfords had a falling out when merida decided to import direct into the UK, in fact the guy who was the head honcho of Merida UK when it was set up was an ex Halfords head office bloke.
In my experience (including 7 years in Halfords management from'01, mostly in Bikehuts) Carrera bikes offer excellent value as an overall package. The frame won't be the best for the price, the spec won't be either but you'll struggle to match them for value. Remember, Halfords are buying for their whole bike catalogue, there buying power in the far east is pretty big, their margins are a bit healthier than some especially when you take into consideration the lack of middle men.
My wife refuses to be 'upgraded' away from her Carrera branded wsd Merida LRS, she loves it to bits and after 6 years of regular use including Apline trips, it is still on all it's origional bearings and working perfectly.
So what you guys posting the on-sale bikes are saying is that you would have to get ~1/3 discount on other brands bikes before they are competitive with the Carrera?
Basically.. Yeah.
The Wife had a Carrera Kraken HT before i built her the On One, and the thing was simply awesome around trail centres, on a par with my hand built very expensive Merlin i had at the time....
All mid level components on the Kraken, x5 groupset suntour forks, wtb wheels with conti gravity 2.3's etc but it all just came together beautifully.
Some of the comments in this thread are priceless 
I know magazine reviews aren't the be-all and end-all but Carrera (and Boardman) consistently test out at the top of their particular trees. There's a standard mindset that goes "inexpensive bikes with great parts MUST have a rubbish frame", it happens with everything. Teocali frames must be rubbish, Boardman frames must be rubbish... Not because there's any reason to think it's true, but just because it's the only part that remains open to criticism.
Would I buy one? Yes I did, twice, once in 1991 and once in 2008 😉 And in a way I owe everything mountain biking's given me to those 2 supermarket bikes. My Kraken was basic but superb value, perfectly capable of most black routes, and when I replaced the frame with a Scandal I was pretty disappointed to find that there was very little difference despite replacing my "rubbish" frame with a quality named one.
That Stinky is going to weigh around 40lb though probably!
I'd consider a Carrera if funds were tight. Some people can't afford to be snobbish. Would probably go secondhand instead though.
Had my Fury about 5 years now. Done thousands of miles, weekend epics and commute off road daily. Upgraded most things over the years but the frame is still solid. Geometry may not be to your taste of course but to imply the frames are badly made is misleading.
Overall quite heavy but they are a certain price point. You will struggle to get the level of components for the money elsewhere, I did months of research. You'll quickly notice where they save money, poor bottom bracket, cranks etc but shifter / mechs x7 / x9 and uturn 302 forks.
Did someone mention out of date suspension systems? Should I ditch my Orange?
I've got a Carrera Vengeance. It has a pretty bog standard hardtail frame. The parts on it are not super fancy, but for £300, it works, and will ride down stuff without breaking.
So what you guys posting the on-sale bikes are saying is that you would have to get ~1/3 discount on other brands bikes before they are competitive with the Carrera?
At the point I bought it for £300, the 2nd hand bikes that were on here for £300 were things with a much lower component spec, and very similar frames (and mostly quite a bit heavier, despite the 2.3" tyres and chunky rims on the carrera). I originally intended to buy 2nd hand, just because I prefer to go 2nd hand generally, but I wasn't willing to pay extra to get a 2nd hand bike with a lower spec. I think looking at the name brands, you'd be talking almost 50% off before they start to get similar.
The downside of the carrera is that you do have to check all the bolts, set up the gears etc. yourself as they are put together by monkeys, but I think that is probably worth doing for a saving of hundreds of pounds.
Joe
Isn't the Banshee the one where the tyre hits the seatube when it bottoms out?
Anyway, expensive bits, low price= cheap frame. Less R&D, bought out of a taiwanese catalogue, cheaper bearings, substandard back-up. I refuse to believe that frame is a genuine quality article.
MBR chose the Giant Trance X5 over a Halfords bike. It's a great bike with a quality frame and some lower specced bits.
What a lot of nonsense. I got a Fury new for under £500 and it's been great. Rides nicely, frame not heavy[i] for the price[/i] and spec. much better than anything else for the money. I'm planning on selling and replacing with something nicer now that I've got into the whole off road riding thing, but the replacement will cost more than [i]twice as much[/i]. If I needed another bike at that price I'd get another without hesitation. If it does what you want and the price is right I would not let the brand put you off - they seem as good as anything else out there at the same price point...
As pointed out, the Carrera is probably made in the same factory as other fancier brands, so |I'd doubt there is any perceivable difference in quality. Put a 'better' brand name on that frame, and someone would probably rave about it and say it was much better than X etc. Truth is, people will pay a premium for a recognised leading brand, as they do with food and all sorts of other products, because they are fooled by slick marketing into believing that the more expensive brand is better. If you travelled to several different countries where mtbing is popular, you will find that same Banshee frame with different colours/decals and different brands. Halfords merely select parts from bike manufacturers' catalogues, as do many other companies. The 'R+D' guff is often just bullshit. The factories will make subtle changes from one model year to the next, to keep stimulating demand. Ideas are plagiarised from a few smaller innovative manufacturers, but large scale manufacturers will have their own designers testing new stuff too, and keeping an eye on the latest trends. Bikes aren't cutting-edge technology, they are relatively simple machines. The 'difference' is all in your mind.
As someone once said, 'Don't believe the hype'.
I think the carrera banshee is a revolting bike and if you buy it after about 3 months it will be worth 20 maybe 30 quid.
I would buy a frame that suits you and chuck anything you can find on it then upgrade when you can.
That said I didn't even bother reading most of the thread because I don't give a sh1t 😆
ridefree!
Lots of products in the world and lots of bikes in the world come from the same factories.
This is how mass production and capitalism works fundamentally.
These factories can produce various levels of quality from the same production lines based on what the price has to be to the buyer.
Same factory does not equal same quality.
Cheapo bikes usually means you have to upgrade everything including eventually the frame.
Buy a good used frame and upgrade when you can
isnt it a kona frame .
I was under the impression they were cheaper because they used big brands old frames, therefore spending nothing on development, which is where the saving is made - not by skimping on quality?
Wasn't it the carrera dh team that used a rebranded intense a few years ago?
benji_allen - Member
"I was under the impression they were cheaper because they used big brands old frames, therefore spending nothing on development, which is where the saving is made - not by skimping on quality?"
Nah... They do take "inspiration" but the modern Carreras are all standalone designs. No need to look around, they're cheaper because they have good economies of scale, strong and longterm relationships with suppliers, and their own, enormous distribution and retail chain. Basically every cost is reduced at some point. Same reason apples are cheap in Tesco.
Didn't pretty much every DH team use restickered Intenses at some point
[i]Anyway, expensive bits, low price= cheap frame[/i]
Better get rid of my Cube then, cos the sum cost of the parts fitted basically means the frame must have cost a fiver.
Not convinced that all these £1200 plus frames are that much better than the cheaper ones.
Would I buy a Carrera? No it doesn't have Santa Cruz on it. Not that I am a snob. I still remember the times when Santa Cruz really only made single pivot frames with poor paint quality etc.
I am brand-loyal which is a different kettle of fish.
[i]I am brand-loyal which is a different kettle of fish.[/i]
a new pair of RockShox forks every week without fail. 😉
Yes until I picked it up and realised that my back was about to go.
Bought a Carrera base model with disc brakes for 200 quid on sale. Went to get it and when picking it up realised that there wasn't a chance I was lifting it onto the car roof everytime I went away, so had to walk away.
Shame as I really wanted it, but I also learnt a lot more from building my own bike.
Would I buy one still, probably buy a Subway or a Banshee second hand.
the r&d point is an interesting one. A carrera will obviously have a tight budget for R&D, but it's probably 10x the size of a niche brand - ie those titanium 'jones' bikes - I doubt he's got much budget for r&d, and those 'man in a shed' brands (on one, ragley, etc) have the input of what, 1 rider? and probably little scope for testing prototypes as they're all made on the other side of the world, yet they seem to do ok?
some pics of the welding on a carrera below - i've not seen joins that neat on anything other than a cannondale, and the machined plate looks pretty nice..
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BR review..
The Carrera Banshee is one of best examples we’ve tested of a £1,000 bike built for riders who like to ride into and through stuff instead of around it. Longish-travel bikes built for aggressive carefree riding are always going to be hard work on the ups, but it’s worth all that pain when downs are as much fun as they are on the Triple X.The Banshee’s heat-treated 7005 tube frame boasts a nicely designed four-bar linkage set-up that – in conjunction with the RockShox Monarch 3.1 air shock and sealed bearings – provides a plush action. Your ride can be tuned by altering the shock’s air pressure and by making adjustments to the rebound damping and Floodgate dials.
The Floodgate system is designed to isolate pedal forces and weight shifts that you don’t want to compress the shock. It’s a useful way of making heavier long-travel bikes manageable on unforgiving climbs.
Structurally, the frame tubes are reinforced in all the right places, with a large open-backed gusset bridging from the base of the strengthened head tube to create a box-like section on the upper part of the down tube.
The top tube is also bridge-gusseted to the upper seat tube, with a forward facing slot and Allen-bolt clamp held out of the spray. The seat and chain stays offer lots of room for mud around big tyres and the whole rear sub-frame assembly, including the rocker linkage to the shock, is well constructed. So while the shock and fork do all the hard work, you just steer
a new pair of RockShox forks every week without fail
Until I tire of continuous product/design ****ups. Now I'm with Fox. 😀
That's a chuffin' nice looking frame I reckon. Lovely colour and looks well made too.
Isn't the Banshee the one where the tyre hits the seatube when it bottoms out?
Isn't the Santa Cruz Heckler the one where the chain hits the pivot if you use a 36t ring for double and bash? (Yes)
Aren't Cannondales the ones that used to snap all the time? (Yes)
Aren't Trek the ones that have had a problem with seatstays snapping (Yes, thread on STW!)
Aren't Fox the ones that wear the stanchions out in less than a year? (Yes)
Aren't USE the ones that made the lights that packed up all the time? (Yes. It took them 3 generations to get it right)
etc etc......
Until I tire of continuous product/design ****ups
Nowt wrong with any of them. Those Lyriks you sold me are superb! 🙂
The only reasons I wouldn't buy one are a) they don't yet make a drop barred 29er and maybe b) resale value due to uninformed idiots.
I do wonder how many of those who moan about rims being 100 grams to heavy are at a percet body weight them selves.
How many of them can really tell the differecne in suspensions designs. As the manufacturers all go differnt ways there must be different versions of correct or none at all.
Pure snobbish stupidity. Maybe the exact model doesn't have exactly what you want but realistically 99.9% don't realy know anyway.
Ironically those Lyriks are one of the things I bought off STW that were damaged and actually worked.
Previously Lyriks- 2steps failed twice and coil Lyriks (bought new)- Moco failed. Then theres the Pikes...