Carrera Bikes

Page may contain affiliate links. Please see terms for details.
Didn't think overly much of the junior Carrera Subway 26 when one of the Halfords chaps tried to sell one to me previous week. Have earmarked a Wiggins Chartres 26 as a possible N+1 and wanted to have a good poke & prod before deciding to part with my moolah, but they didn't have one in store.

The junior Subway is nowhere near as well-specced as the adult version of the bike and it's bloomin' heavy, coming in at 3 kg heavier than the Wiggins Chartres in the same frame size. Not particularly helpful when you're my height and want to have a bike set up for rack & panniers.

The Wiggins is £100 more, and for me, well worth the extra spend.

However, if I wanted a cheap hack for urban cycling that no one would nick when I left it somewhere, it'd probably tick the right boxes. But then again, in that situation I'd probably look for something second hand and pocket the difference.
 

Chris Long

Senior Member
i rode john o groats to lands end on a Carrera TDF (the black and yellow one). In terms of bike fit, now I know better, it doesn't fit me. BUT, i have left it in the raid, used it for the turbo, and its indestructable :-)
 
[QUOTE 5214434, member: 45"]When we got Mrs P's Subway they did a very small ladies'-spec size. I think it was the model that Isla Rowntree worked on.

At which point it's worth pointing out that if you want a high quality small hybrid, and can afford it, Islabikes will have one for you.[/QUOTE]

LOL, I had exactly the same issue when buying my roadie. :laugh:

Went for the Wiggins in the end as it offered really good bang-for-buck. And it's proved to be a lovely bike - something of a sleeper IMHO as a lot of folks go for Isla / Frog in that size range. Hence looking at another Wiggins.
 
Youngest son has a carerra mtb.ally frame hydraulic discs but it was a cheap buy new.
Now here is the difference.
Due to the constant abuse a 20 yr old can throw at a bike.And it's used everyday as a commuter as well the drivetrain is truly shot.Front triple is more than well worn rear casette the same.
It's really economical to replace the components so he has now bought a new GT hybrid which has much better components and is a lot better made.
So in reality it' served him well and doesn't owe him anything as it was only £180.00 new and has given him around 6 yrs of pleasure.All in all its been great but in reality can' be upgraded.

Why didn't he just do that?

A new bike is nicer but for commuting I would have just changed the components.
 

keithmac

Guru
I used a Carrera Vengeance Ultimate for work for 3 years with no issues.

Decent Shimano hydraulic brakes, Shimano XT gears, nice aluminium frame.

I've made a hybrid electric bike out of it now (but still haven't riden it yet after conversion!).

Don't have a bad word to say about it really, cost £320 in Halfords new years sale.
 

fossyant

Ride It Like You Stole It!
Location
South Manchester
My son has a Vengeance with SRAM gears and it's been absolutely fine. He's even done trail centres on it.
 
OP
OP
fixedfixer

fixedfixer

Veteran
Thanks, so I have bought a zelos ltd for a bargain price. Needed wheel truing, new cables and a general clean up. Took it out for a spin and yes, I am impressed for the money I have paid it's a good bike. I might almost go as far as saying I like it. :whistle:
 

GuyBoden

Guru
Location
Warrington
Carrera Corsa Record racing bike for sale £50 Gumtree

https://www.gumtree.com/p/bicycles/carrera-corsa-record-racing-bike-for-sale/1295707857

$_86.jpg
 

Alembicbassman

Confused.com
I have 2 Carrera road bikes, Vanquish and TDF LTD, both bought second hand. Try to go for the ones with the carbon forks and 2x8 speed or 2x9 speed gears

The large sized 54cm frame weight with carbon forks is about 2kg, the steel forked models will be heavier.

With some upgraded bits you can get the bike weight to 10kg

The good thing about Carrera bikes is they are usually an impulse buy and purchasers lose interest in cycling quickly, which means you can often pick them up with less than 50 miles on the clock.

Assembly is not the best, very little grease on anything. If they get left out in the rain things will rust up quickly.

An hour with a tube of grease and a bottle of bike oil is time well spent.

If you're patient you can pick any of the Carrera bikes up for about £100 in almost new condition. I have paid as little as £70 , on an ebay auction ending at a silly time of day, for a like new Zelos, which I flipped for £120 ^_^

Consider the Subway or Parva for a city bike, the MTBs seem to be a bit more desirable, but the road bikes and hybrids are less so.
 
Top Bottom