What so a Carrera Vulcan is designed and built to last as long as an Indian Fire Trail.I very much doubt that.Just wondering if Halfords had done any calculations about how long there bikes.tend to last
Judging by the amount of high end, high price tag frames that keep appearing on this frame, cracked and beyond repair, and often either just out of (a short) warranty, or the damage isn’t covered by the warranty, often cheap(er) mass manufactured frames and (some) components may well last longer!
Carrera’s are pretty good bikes, don’t let the Halfords connection lead you astray. When you spend more money, what you’re generally getting is lighter weight, possibly better performance (suspension forks, disc brakes etc.), and that’s about it normally. A cheaper bike hasn’t been designed to wear out faster than a more expensive one. Besides which, as has been stated before, it’s the components that will wear, not the frame itself, and on a bike everything is replaceable. In fact, often cheaper components can last longer… Case in point is Deore chainrings which are made from Steel, Vs XT chainrings made from aluminium alloy (though the middle is now reinforced to last longer).
Carrera frames are, or were, made in the same factory as Giant and Specialized frames. I bought a cheap 2nd hand Carrera Kraken for my ex GF when we were still going out, 2009 model iirc. Weighed it in at 32lb stock. Started stripping off the heavy (yet durable) kit, and eventually got down to a bare frame. I was shocked at how good the quality of the frame was, it was way better than I was expecting. I also weighed the bare frame, it was a tad under 4lb! That again really surprised me considering the overall weight of the bike. OK, so Carrera used cheap/heavy wheels and finishing kit to keep the overall cost of the bike down, but underneath was a surprisingly good quality frame. In the end, I sold off almost everything that came on the bike as standard, and spent a month sniping nice bits on the classifieds for cheap on here, or on ebay, and for £350 all up in the end I built her a 27lb hardtail, with Fox TALAS forks in real good nick, 27spd SLX/Truvativ, Answer carbon bars, FSA Stem/seatpost, lighter wheels off a high end Specialized full sus etc. She still rides it today, and even with all that kit on it, the frame is still not the weak link.
