First Bike - Carrera Virtuoso / Vanquish - Price?

[dustalex]

Hi, so i've been scanning the forums over the last few days, which has been extremely helpful in learning some basic knowledge about bikes.

Basically I am looking for my first road bike for exercise, general enjoyment and commuting in the relatively near future, and the Carrera Virtuoso seems like a fairly popular and well-respected safe option for my experience level

I have been into halfords and tried a virtuoso and it felt extremely nice, travelled the few yards space i had to move in without even feeling like i had moved my legs. One main issue I struggling with though, is price. there seems to be such a wide range of prices, for example I have just seen what looks like a virtually perfect condition second hand virtuoso on ebay for £140, and various others on gumtree etc for £200-250, yet the one in halfords i looked at was a wince inducing £380 - adding in helmet, jerseys equipent etc is going to be a hefty amount as well.

I like to think i'm pretty sensible and so going second hand isn't out of the equation, I am based in Devon so would travel a reasonable distance in the south west to pick up, but is buying second hand for a first bike risky?

No bike riding mates, so any advice would be extremely helpful. Am i just being too cheap, is £380 from Halfords that bad? Am I being too narrow as well, are there any other models I should be looking at?

Thanks in advance for any help.

 

[Trumpettom001]

Unfortunately there are no absolutes when speaking in terms of second hand bikes. For example.. I had my Carrera Virtuoso pinched last month.. the police did a spectacular job, and got it back to me within a month... however, the person that stole it had changed alot of the parts around on it, and had done the most pathetic job of it (i.e. shimano 8 speed wheels with a Campagnolo 10 speed shifter).... but having said that, the pictures of it on eBay looked quite nice - I'd have said it looked in good condish from the pictures, but seeing it in person, it took me less than 5 seconds to see what a hash job they'd done.....


Anyway - £380 does seem like alot for a bike, however, you pay a large premium for a new bike, in the same way that you would for a car. If you can view the bike in person, second hand is a much cheaper, and often 98% as good, option. (you obviously don't benefit from the warranty and whatnot though...)

Someone else will come along now and warn you about Halfrauds... I'll just mention that they have an odd tendancy to put the forks on backwards.... I've seen quite a few halfords bikes with the front end of the bike looking distinctly wrong... then realised that it was a halfords jobbie.




Lastly, I'll mention that a Carrera Virtuoso is a great bike to start off with.... mine has been a very faithful steed for the last few years.

 

[cyberknight]

I have a Carrera Virtuosso that i picked up off this forum brand new for £250.
The seller bought it brand new and hardly rode it but it was to small for him and i had bought a Vanquish second hand that was to big for me so we did a swap (effectively costing me the amount i paid for the 1st bike )

My Virtuosso is a great entry level bike that compares favorably with bikes costing another £100 or more, Cycling Plus reviewed it a few years ago and gave it very high praise.

Comparison bikes..

trek 1.1 £400+ for last years model with limited sizes

Specialzed allez 16 (carbon fork ) £400 for last years model, £550 for this year

Giant defy 4 -last years model again around the £400 mark, £550 for this year

Review here ...
http://www.bikeradar...tuoso-09-34691.

I also have a Carrera TDF 2008 which i use as a commuter that i picked up off ebay for £100, but i viewed it first as i would rather travel 40-50 miles and try the bike before i made a commitment to lay out any cash as any reputable ebayer should not have a problem with you looking at the bike if you have the time to do so.

For your 1st road bike i would definitely say that you need to be sure of what you are getting and this means either paying a premium for a new bike ( gaining after sales guarantee) or making an extra effort and do some hunting of ebay etc but be aware that once you have bought it then you have no comeback if it turns out to be knackered..

I really like my virtuosso, it has mounts for gaurds and a rack if i want to use it for commuting ,the equipment is well specced for the price and the components although at the cheap end of the range do their job effectively and are fairly cheap to replace compared to bikes with more gears etc etc.
I am about to replace my gear block and that will cost me around £20 + £10 for a chain whereas a 10 speed cassette would cost round twice that for both.
the only things i have changed are the tyres as i cycle on some poor roads and wanted some better tyres for puncture resistance and changed the pedals for clipless ones .

If you can get a good bike for less good luck !! i hope you find the right one and have many miles of enjoyment.

 

[cyberknight]

These are my bikes...click the picture for a bigger view
.

 

[Trumpettom001]

what light is that CK? on the yellow bike....?

 

[TheBoyBilly]

Buying second-hand can be a minefield if you don't know diddly-squat about bikes. £380 for a new bike may seem a lot of money to you, but in real terms, and I mean long term, it won't be too expensive if you use it regularly. It has to be cost-effective.

Bill

 

[dustalex]

thanks everyone for the responses, i know none of you needed to take the time to help a but like i said, don't know a single person interested in bikes so am grateful

it's not so much that £380 is too much for a bike full stop, but for an entry level half-decent model i was a bit surprised.

and yes i take the point about looking about it as an investment, that would of course be the sensible option, but at the same time with not much money, and the fact that i "could" get an identical bike with a few scratches for £150 less is niggling. but yes i'd probably be punching above my weight with limited knowledge and experience.

The virtuoso does seem like one ill keep coming back to, I'll think i'll just have to take a breath and have a proper look round before i make any decisions about second hand or biting the bullet, and surpress the itch to go out for a ride a bit longer

cheers guys

 

[nightoff]

I nearly bought a Virtuoso last year following advice on here. I read up on it and went to Halfords to see one in the flesh. The only reason I never is my work took up the cycle to work scheme which increased my budget.

It looks like a good bike for the money.

 

[Alembicbassman]

Bought a 2nd hand Valour (similar to Vanquish) unused by original owner for £160. The bike hadn't been set up by Halfords properly so I had to do it myself. Bike rides well for a cheapie and is solid.

The Halfords frames are plain guage 7005 whereas most of the big makers use 6061 butted tubes which give a lighter frameset.

Halfords do some good deals every so often so watch the web closely and sign up for their e-mails.

The Vanquish dropped from £529 to £324 last year for 1 week only.

The TDF regularly comes on offer.

The web prices are cheaper than in-store so use the reserve and collect option.

 

[cyberknight]

what light is that CK? on the yellow bike....?

You mean this?

http://www.dealextreme.com/p/mj-808-ha-iii-ssc-p7-c-sxo-3-mode-900-lumen-led-bike-light-set-44459

And a screenie (not mine) in use

 

[dustalex]

Bought a 2nd hand Valour (similar to Vanquish) unused by original owner for £160. The bike hadn't been set up by Halfords properly so I had to do it myself. Bike rides well for a cheapie and is solid.

The Halfords frames are plain guage 7005 whereas most of the big makers use 6061 butted tubes which give a lighter frameset.

Halfords do some good deals every so often so watch the web closely and sign up for their e-mails.

The Vanquish dropped from £529 to £324 last year for 1 week only.

The TDF regularly comes on offer.

The web prices are cheaper than in-store so use the reserve and collect option.

thanks a lot, i'll definitely do that

 

[cyberknight]

The Halfords frames are plain guage 7005 whereas most of the big makers use 6061 butted tubes which give a lighter frameset.

The TDF regularly comes on offer.

The web prices are cheaper than in-store so use the reserve and collect option.

My TDF is 6061 but is let down by cheap components, when money allows i intend to upgrade the rear mech+ shifters then make that into my nice bike.
It currently has sunrace r 80 components which are made made sturmey archer ans are clunkier than the st2300 on the virtuoso, i have a sora rear mech and some sora brakes so i just need to get some shifters and maybe some nicer wheels, carbon fork etc etc etc...........