Bike choice and cycle carriers

tse_adam

tse_adam

Micra Attitude
Hi all

I have been quite tempted with the thought of buying two bikes for both myself and girlfriend so we could cycle somewhere nice during the summer. Just wondering if anyone could give us any advice on various makes of mountain bikes (possibly with full suspension) for under £150.

i have done a bit of research on new bikes through decathlon/Halfords/Argos/ebay website etc but there are just too many to choose from. Presumably some will be better than others even though they all look the same to me. fwn

Is buying second hand a good idea? i mean there are no electrics etc to worry about if i could get it on a cheap then i can ask someone from the bike shop to give it a full service etc right?:glance:

next up, i need a cycle carrier for my k12. i have been looking at this:

http://www.halfords.com/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/product_storeId_10001_catalogId_10151_productId_250983_langId_-1_CarSelectorCatalogId__CarSelectorGroupId__varient__categoryId_129474_crumb_33980-129473_parentcategoryrn_129474

any recommendations?

My car has a SX spoiler on, would that be a problem?

just about any advice for biking etc would be welcome. cheers :blush:
 
carrera banshee and banshee X
or
carrera kraken.

dont just buy a cheapy with full suspension as you are paying for it to have the suspension (which in most cases is cheap and heavy) instead of the quality of the other components.

a £150 rigid bike will out perform a £150 full sus bike.

for instance a top notch mountain bike with top class everything with front suspension forks should be no more than £1500 however my second had full sus DH bike was £3400.

halfords is your best bet. 1 in 3 bikes in the uk are baught at halfords and the carerra bikes are awesome, (they are now used by the police)
 
Carrera for the win!!

Depends how much you have to spend, but definatly don't go for a full sus. Adds a load of weight and will take a lot of effeciency out of your pedalling.. And pointless unless your downhilling or something.

Have a look at the fury, that's around the £500 mark.
Bottom end carrera are the vulcans at £280.. You still get a hell of a bike though.

Have a look at GT aggressors too, not as well specced as the carreras, but most stores will have '06/'07 models in at a good price.

Second hand would be alright, as long as you know roughly what your looking at and telling if things are suspect.. Friend of mine bought a frame that had broke and been re-welded and painted over, only for it to snap again the next week. Basic service at halfords is £29.99, or 60ish i think for a proper strip down and rebuild, i'd do that if your buying second hand.

Also, take out a bike care plan.. £14.99 for the year, or three years for the price of two. Basically you'll get free labour charges for the year, and there's no limit on that.
Considering we charge £6.99 to replace an inner tube.. That's bloody good!

How much were you looking to spend?
 
i must admit they look very nice, and quality is indeed very important so that the bike can last a reasonable amount of time. i have looked at those plans from halfords and they are definitely very good value for money.

since i am only a beginner, i'd probably spend £200 or less for my bike and perhaps under £150 for my girlfriend's bike to start with. We are just after some fun in scenic routes like lake district for example.

those recommended bikes are very expensive to be very honest.
 
Just reread your first post and noticed the £150 bit..

I'd say Apollo XC26s.. I think they're £159.99, but well worth that extra bit.. Aluminum frame, quick release front wheel, front disk brake, front suspension, 18 gears with not too bad of a drive train system :)

Oh, please for the love of god don't buy a shockwave.
 
haha, shock wave.... norbert dentresagle drivers just throw them out of the back of the truck and drive off..... gotta love the french.

yes. if you can get one, even a second had one. the carerra kraken is the way forward. but if not then the apollo xc26s is a great bike.

theres allways finance...
 
haha nah i wouldnt go into finance because of a bike, besides this is just a hobby for the summer. I do have a bit of savings to use but since i dont know much about cycling etc (i dont even know if i will like it) i wouldnt like to dish out too much money.

So carreras are generally very nice bikes, is apollo a good make as well? a lexus or honda of the bike world would tick all the right boxes for me. :unclesam: what else?

anyone know about cycle carriers?
 
apollo's are good for the money you spend on them, but obviously you can get much better bikes, just costs a lot more.

Bikehut doesn't deal with cycle carriers, that's a different department.. so can't help with that bit!
 
right since you guys recommend Carrerra, it is what i will go for. if i cant find a decent second hand one thats of reasonable value i will get the new kraken version from halfords.

there are quite a few versions on ebay as well such as fury/subwayone/kashmia etc or shall i just stick with the newer models?

you know the 3 years servicing plan from halfords? does it include everything like parts and labour? so they can fix whatever that goes wrong and replace it with original parts? Its just that if i were to buy a brand new carrera (not porsche unfortunately) i wouldnt like to see the parts get replaced by some cheaper stuff.
 
Fury is better than the Kraken.. Comes with hydraulic disk brakes rather than mechanical, and generally better quality parts. If your going to buy new, look at the Vulcan Disk Spec too, cheaper than the Kraken and a perfect starter bike.

Subway one's are good, but I'd probably avoid it for what you said you want the bike for, they're more of a road commuting bike to be honest.

The Bike Care Plan covers the labour side only, any parts fitted you would need to pay for.
 
well as i am now the deputy manager of halfords lincoln (as of today) i can safely say. cycle carriers are a mine field. but go for the high mount 3 bike carrier, it will fit most vehicles and will allow you to get away without a number plate board.
 
dont go halford! go to a specialist bike shop and stay clear or full suspention! but definatly get front shocks :D thats all i have to say
 
Adam said:
This May Help - Bike Carrier test(Y)

http://www.autoexpress.co.uk/products/products/222774/halfords_rear_mount_3_cycle_carrier.html
Click to expand...

cheers for that. but wont it create drag and increase fuel consumption by having a high mounting one? :blush:

well as i am now the deputy manager of halfords lincoln (as of today) i can safely say. cycle carriers are a mine field. but go for the high mount 3 bike carrier, it will fit most vehicles and will allow you to get away without a number plate board.
Click to expand...

so any of those sold by halfords are not safe? :down:

dont go halford! go to a specialist bike shop and stay clear or full suspention! but definatly get front shocks thats all i have to say
Click to expand...

wont a bigger chain like halfords have better deals and after sales service? how much in price difference are we talking about? fwn

cheers everyone
 
Bike carriers are safe, but fitting them can be a pain.. They're usually fitted with a few straps.. I'd rather stick a bike in the boot.. I've fitted a 26" mountain bike and a bmx in my boot before.

A bike specialist shop may well be better, but you'll spend a lot more. It will depend on the store you go to, but a lot of the bikehut staff will probably ride themselves, and know what they're talking about.
 
just been out on my dirt jumping, specialized P2, VERY pleased with it but not what you are looking for. if you are not going to rag it and go jumping then just about any bike will do. i would go to frauds, you will be screwed on price but you get a resonable bike. second hand wont come with a warrenty.
 
pap29 said:
dont go halford! go to a specialist bike shop and stay clear or full suspention! but definatly get front shocks :D thats all i have to say
Click to expand...

hahahahaha, halfords is a specialist bike shop. thats what we specialise in. bikes.

1 in 3 bikes in the uk are baught at halfords.

just cos the stuff on show isnt all that great. we deal with kona, Foes, Saracen, Schwinn, Koxx, Azonic, Hope etc etc etc.

but on a budget what would you rather get a carerra with aluminium frame, ahead set, rock shox forks, avid brakes, sram gears etc. or a claude butler or raleigh with steel frame, threaded headset, sr suntour forks, shimano brakes and shimano (cheapo) gears? for the same price? only the carera has a 6 weeks check with over 500 stores to visit for it, mountains of parts available,

i dont realy need to say any more.
 
tse_adam said:
so any of those sold by halfords are not safe? :down:
Click to expand...

no, where did i say that?

they are all perfectly safe and one of the areas we spend most of our development with mont blonc and Thule. no one else in the uk can say that their carriers are tested to tuv and eu specs and are manufacturer in the thule factory.
 
just popped down to halfords and had a good look, the apollo bikes seem to be quite attractive whereas the carreras look understated but i can tell it is made from high quality materials.
i quickly had a word with the staff at bike hut and in no time he started to diss halfords' own brand Apollo and praised carrera with ulmost respect. which is exactly what you guys have mentioned! :grinning:

i looked on ebay found this:

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&rd=1&item=260249734043&ssPageName=STRK:MEWA:IT&ih=016

is this ok to buy? and perhaps get it serviced by halfords experts? price is very attractive.
 
yes, but carrera is also halfords own brand, its just the premium spec stuff.

that kraken is ok, its a fairly old one. but the specs arent all that bad. you can however get an apollo with better components now, but yeah that bike is ok. i would save up for some new wheels and a decent set of cranks though as the ones on that bike are made from cheese...lol


andrew page was mind numbingly boring repetative and just boring..lol so i came back. admittedly i have to travel 39miles to work every day but hey ho.

and thank you. im enjoying it so far.
 
Oh no - really? That somehow puts doubt in my mind! Lol

In that case are there any brands out which is classed as premium, on the par with Carrera if not better, make great sub £300 bike and not made by Halfords? Or shall I just get the best Apollo bike there is which I think is £199.99 at the moment and it definitely looks very attractive though unsure about built quality or reliability. It is sort of like a dilemma between getting a top spec Jap car or a crappy BMW! Hehe

I remember the staff at Halfords mentioned something about GT as well…any good?

Cheers guys.
 
Yup GT's are good.. Look at the aggressor models :)
But to be honest, for the same price i'd get a carrera and have a higher specced bike.

The XC26SE, i assume your talking about? Yeah that's not bad, the disc brakes aren't particularly good though..
 
dont get a gt, the number of returns due to broken cranks, snapped forks or eve snapped frames just doesnt put any faith in me at all about GT

yeah the top spec apollo is perfectly fine matey. the brakes are ok if adjusted correctly. but thats an easy upgrade if you ever need to.
 

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