Carrera TDF se Road Bike

[darkfootfairy]

Am currently thinking about buying a carrera tfd se road bike second hand, but am failing to find ANY information about it AT ALL online.
Im wanting something to commute from stoke newington to camden, not too many hills, nice roads and all....was just wondering if anyone had a ny opinions on this bike and what it's good/not so good for./

Thanks

 

[RedBike]

I've not heard of the Carrea TDF but I have heard of the Apollo tdf.

The old Carreas used to be great bikes. They used to have 6061 Merida frames. They were often poorly built by Halfords so they gained an unfair repuation for bits falling off them. Once assembled correctly theres no real qualtiy issues though.

The newer models seemed to have gone downhill somewhat using 'unbranded' 7005 frames and cheaper parts.

The Apollo, well they're just designed to be ridden twice then parked in the garage for the next 5 years before being sold. - I wouldn't have one if they were free.

 

[Berger and Chips]

It seems to me there are at least 3 TDFs

1. Apollo TDF: all yellow with big black graphics, circa 2006 or earlier.
2. Carrera TDF SE Mk1: 2007, All Yellow, low end Shimano parts, 14 speed, Twist-Stick gears on stem.
3. Carrera TDF SE Mk2: 2008, Dark Grey forks and front of frame rear 2/3rds banana yellow. 16 speed, all Sunrace R80 groupset, Gears integrated into brake levers, 6061 Alu frame, Veronique wheels, only available in size 50cm frame. (I have this model I bought it new for about £190 with loads of free extras £50 worth or something crazy). To be honest I would still place it significantly below the white and silver (06 or 07) Carrera Gryphon flat bar racer I also have which has Tiagra 18 speed Shimano groupset, is clearly lighter and of superior quality components. Even that cost only about £250 although again it was well down on SRP.
Weirdest feature is the forks - they look like Kona P2 mtb forks, not racer forks...

 

[migrantwing]

I have a Carrera TDF Merida 6061 frame (I'm guessing it's a 2008 model) and I love this bike to bits. I realise that more expensive road bikes are going to have better components but, for my first road bike (I used to have 'racers' back in the 80's/90's when all the other kids had BMX's) ,it's great. Everyone who has ridden it says it's one of the nicest bikes they've ever ridden, so it can't be all that bad.

Apart from the standard SunRace R80 groupset (not the worst, but not the best) the pedals have been changed to Shimano's for riding with cleats, the wheels are the factory standard Veronique, tires have been upgraded to Specialized Armadillo All Condition (700x23c). There are Cannondale and Cane Creek parts on this bike as well, all of which I assume come as standard. This bike was given to me a few years ago and now I'm wanting to get into regular cycling more.

All in all, it's a decent bike. Yet, I do want to get rid of the huge CARRERA decal on the main frame. What is the easiest and most efficient way to do this?

 

[Nearly there]

View: http://youtu.be/AQkRwP3ZfNw
is this the one ?If so theres a couple of user vids on youtube :-)

 

[okeydokey79]

Look at halfords website they do a carerra tdf ( tour de France) on sale at mo 4 £320 I've just ordered 1 through my c2w just waiting 4 vouchers.

 

[albion]

darkfootfairy or Rip Van Winkle?

 

[youngoldbloke]

Google carrera tfd se road bike = 70100 results. How many more do you need?
You could start with [url="http://www.bikeradar.com/gear/category/bikes/road/product/review-carrera-tdf-ltd-road-bike-11-44902/"]review[/url] .