carrera virtuoso

[Steampig]

Got the chance of one that's unused and still in the packaging (do halfords not insist on building all there stuff up ) anyhow the guy says its a unused Christmas pressei and wants £450 for it.
Ive pointed out that they can be bought for £430 new now and have managed to get him down to £330. If it is how he claims it is, is it worth buying ?
Also just looking on halfords site i see that the virtuoso race has £250 off, would this be a better bet for the money?
http://www.halfords.com/webapp/wcs/...ryId=165710&langId=-1#mobile_pdp_alternatives
anyone any ideas?

 

[The Brewer]

Bought mine for £300 last August, okay it was a fazed out model, but it was better equiped than the current model.......don't want to dampen anyone, just think theres possibly better deals out there

 

[Steampig]

Bought mine for £300 last August, okay it was a fazed out model, but it was better equiped than the current model.......don't want to dampen anyone, just think theres possibly better deals out there

Would you say the old virtuoso (is that the black and blue one?) was better than the new virtuoso ltd edition race?
Is it really £600 worth of bike for £350 or a bit of a con?!?

 

[DCLane]

The Virtuoso race is currently £250 built, so he's already asking more than the current offer.

I've got one and have run it all winter. It's worth it at that price; mine's older and has been hammered for the past 1200 miles. It's taken everything thrown at it even though it was an abused 2nd-hand buy.

If I was able to persuade SWMBO (and hadn't just re-built mine for next winter) I'd be buying one at £250

 

[Steampig]

Where can i get the virtuoso race from for £250???

 

[DCLane]

Edit: sorry, the price is £350 on the site. However, the Virtuoso's are regularly dropped to £250.

 

[festival]

Dont judge the original price of any halfords bike to its true value.
The regularly inflate the prices to create a misleading bargain price when they are reduced.
If you visit their stores often you will see the same bike vary, eg from £399 down to £210 for say 4 weeks then back up again to £399 again and again over a year or more.
Also current models are likely to be down specced compared to older models

 

[Steampig]

So at the £330 the virtuoso is probably not worth the punt as they do get reduced quite often ?
In your opinion is the virtuoso race worth £350 reduced from from £600?
The only thing putting me off is the lack of reviews for the virtuoso race as both the virtuoso and tdf have plenty of reviews :-\

 

[david k]

i wouldnt wait for it to be dropped further if your happy with the price. i got a subway 2 for 350, 5 months later it was on sale for around 270, my mate wanted one but there were none at any halfords in the north west, only the subway 1 10 cheaper!!

soif its what you want at a price you can afford id get it, you may be disapointed if you hold out and it doesnt come bakc on sale or they sell out

 

[Alembicbassman]

Carrera bikes have a lower resale compared to the main bike brands (Giant, Trek Specialized etc..). I sold a virtually new Valour with upgraded Tiagra shifters and rear mech for £160 recently. A significantly upgraded red/black Vanquish (I think) sold on this forum's classifieds recently for £250.

Nothing wrong with them, I've had 2. I've seen the Virtuoso discounted when you buy with special offers in-force and other voucher codes applied, can sometimes get another chunk off if you're shrewd.

In comparisson Decathlon's Triban 3 has 2300 components with carbon fork for £300, Triban 5 with Sora and carbon forks/stays for £500

 

[Steampig]

Carrera bikes have a lower resale compared to the main bike brands. I sold a virtually new Valour with upgraded Tiagra shifters and rear mech for £160 recently. A significanlty upgraded red/black Virtuoso sold on this forum's classifieds recently for £250.

Nothing wrong with them, I've had 2. I've seen the Virtuoso down at silly prices when you buy with special offers in-force and other voucher codes applied, can sometimes get 35% off if you're shrewd. Even seen some of the old model with 105 bits on in stores.[/quote
Well i went and bought one, not had chance to ride it yet still got a cast on for 2 weeks.
Was going to get a 1k roadie on the cyclescheme but decided to buy this for summer to try lose some bulk on and then buy a better machine next spring and keep the virtuous ltd edition for winter/trainer
For £350 (allegedly £600 worth) i thought it was worth a crack, took advantage of the 3 for 2 at halfords to get a few basics.. saddle bag, multi tool, puncture repair kit, computer, drinks bottle and cage.
Couple of pics below.

 

[cyberknight]

Its a pricing fiddle, they are worth about £300 .
You can get a brand new triban 3 with a carbon fork from decathlon for the same price.
An example of halfords pricing ..
Bought a boardman road comp on C2W last year for £799, it got put up to £899 and then came back down to be permantly on sale £100 off at ...£799.
If they guy is selling it i would go no higher than £250 because if your paying store prices you want store warranty if something breaks which i doubt the guy is going to offer.

 

[Steampig]

Its a pricing fiddle, they are worth about £300 .
You can get a brand new triban 3 with a carbon fork from decathlon for the same price.
An example of halfords pricing ..
Bought a boardman road comp on C2W last year for £799, it got put up to £899 and then came back down to be permantly on sale £100 off at ...£799.
If they guy is selling it i would go no higher than £250 because if your paying store prices you want store warranty if something breaks which i doubt the guy is going to offer.

I didnt buy the virtuoso from the guy i bought the virtuoso ldt edition race from halfords instead.

 

[cyberknight]

I didnt buy the virtuoso from the guy i bought the virtuoso ldt edition race from halfords instead.

Aah your last post was a bit confusing as it looks like a quote from alembic

I have the old blue virtuoso that i use for commuting/ winter club run duties and apart from parts wearing out like bottom bracket and a new rear wheel when the rim got dented and the free hub was on the way out it is still going strong after a good 8000 miles i reckon.

 

[Steampig]

Aah your last post was a bit confusing as it looks like a quote from alembic

I have the old blue virtuoso that i use for commuting/ winter club run duties and apart from parts wearing out like bottom bracket and a new rear wheel when the rim got dented and the free hub was on the way out it is still going strong after a good 8000 miles i reckon.

Yea i posted from my phone and it has gone in with alembics quote, the pics have gone abit heywire too!!

Like i said for £350 i think its worth a punt. there may well be a few better bikes out there for the money with the lbs not selling anything under £700 and no decathlon near it was just a bit of an impulse buy after a quick look on the website the night before.
If it gets my 16 stone lump around for 6 months or so ill be happy enough