Giant or Carrera

[Graemeb1783]

Hi there

Just joined the form and i know there are loads of forms with these types of questions.

Basically I am looking to get a bike for my commute to work as car is costing a fortune and am going through cycle to work scheme

This gives me two options of places to buy my bike, Spokes in St Andrews and Halfords

My commute is going to be between 10-17 miles (one way) on roads only.

I am struggling to decide on a road bike or hybrid I have narrowed it down to 6 bikes and am just looking for some input

In terms of hybrids I have narrowed it to

Giant roam 3 2011 (£400)

Trek 7.2 fx (£400)

Carrera Gryphon (£260)

Carrera Subway (£280)

Road Bikes

Carrera TDF (£350)

Carrera Virtuoso (£370)

Any advice would be much appreciated.


Graeme

 

[killiekosmos]

Graeme

A few comments and suggestions:

What type of cycling will you do in addition to your commuting?

That might help narrow down the choice.

Will you be carrying stuff on panniers? Which ones will take racks?

You will want mudguards to help with spray. Will the road bikes carry the load.

On road you don't need suspension bikes, more weight and more to go wrong.

Have you worked out total cost? Remember you have to buy the bike (or give it back) after a year. There are diffeent rules for over and under £500.

The Subway gets a lot of good reviews and is cheapest. After a year you can get another bike!

 

[Graemeb1783]

Graeme

A few comments and suggestions:

What type of cycling will you do in addition to your commuting?

That might help narrow down the choice.

Will you be carrying stuff on panniers? Which ones will take racks?

You will want mudguards to help with spray. Will the road bikes carry the load.

On road you don't need suspension bikes, more weight and more to go wrong.

Have you worked out total cost? Remember you have to buy the bike (or give it back) after a year. There are diffeent rules for over and under £500.

The Subway gets a lot of good reviews and is cheapest. After a year you can get another bike!

Thanks for the input Killiekosmos

I reckon i will only really do road cycling in addtion to my commuting I will hope to be out at least 2 a week. I used to be big into the gym and running but have kinda lost the motivation for it and think I could really get into cycling.

The problem is deciding which bike to get.

When im communting I wont really need to be carrying things to work as I wil take unifrom for the week on the couple of days I use the car so am small rucksack will be suffiencent

A bike and helmet totalling around £400 will cost me approx £14 a month for 18 months so approx 250 over the term

 

[accountantpete]

A few thoughts Graeme

1- you need to decide whether you want flat bars or drops as t change later on is costly.

2.- The next choice is down to cranks - triple (with the small ring for getting up hills ) or compact (2 rings but smaller than o road pair so easier to get uphills) - or a full on road pair 53/39.

3. I'd budget on getting a reasonable pair of forks as the stock ones are usually alloy which can be uncomfortable (ideally you want carbon forks with an alloy steerer).

4. Have a sit on the bikes for size etc before buying.

 

[e-rider]

when I read 'giant or carrera' my first thought was 'ah - my least two favourite bike brands' then I saw Trek in the list too - my third least fav!

so my answer is 'look elsewhere' although to be fair Giant do offer good value for money

how about Specialized (or Globe) or Cube?

 

[ian turner]

No one mentioned the quality of bike assembly by the shop yet?
Buying from halfords may require taking it back to get someone else to correct mistakes or to an lbs to get it done properly
Or doing it yourself if confident about doing it as the halfords guys are shop workers firstly and may or may not actually ride
A bike unlike the lbs.

 

[Sapper]

when I read 'giant or carrera' my first thought was 'ah - my least two favourite bike brands' then I saw Trek in the list too - my third least fav!

so my answer is 'look elsewhere' although to be fair Giant do offer good value for money

how about Specialized (or Globe) or Cube?

Or the focus from Wriggle?

A couple of threads with very encouraging VFM but twice your budget and not sure if wriggle do the C2W scheme...

 

[killiekosmos]

Graeme

I've got a Giant SCR 2 road bike (no longer available) and friend has a Giant Defy 4. Both are (in our opinions) very good road bikes. Spokes in St Andrews has the Defy 4 (2010) at £425 and the 211 model at £50 more. I thing the Defy can take mufguards (shop should know and be able to fit as part of deal.) This would give you a good bike to commute on (it is a triple) and something to enjoy at weekends etc.

Cheers

 

[Graemeb1783]

when I read 'giant or carrera' my first thought was 'ah - my least two favourite bike brands' then I saw Trek in the list too - my third least fav!

so my answer is 'look elsewhere' although to be fair Giant do offer good value for money

That's all well and good saying look elsewhere but I am fairly limited due to budget and cycle scheme.

And I am also just getting into it so looking for entry level then possibly invest more in the future.

Thanks for your input

Thinking u fit into the bike snob category that I have read so much about

how about Specialized (or Globe) or Cube?

 

[Moodyman]

when I read 'giant or carrera' my first thought was 'ah - my least two favourite bike brands' then I saw Trek in the list too - my third least fav!

so my answer is 'look elsewhere' although to be fair Giant do offer good value for money

how about Specialized (or Globe) or Cube?

That's precisely what they are. Brands (or badges).

Since most bikes are made in Taiwan, your Spesh and Giant could easily be made on the same production line.

The OP is better off ignoring the brands and getting a bike based upon his needs - sizing, frame, forks, gears, etc

 

[2Loose]

A distance of 10-17 miles each way is just screaming Road Bike at me...

From the list you have given, the Virtuoso is my pick - eyes for mudguards\rack and panniers make it a capable commuter.

 

[Cubist]

Have you looked at the Voodoo city hybrids in Halfords. they look like contenders if you decide on a hybrid.
http://www.halfords.com/webapp/wcs/...uctId_786807_langId_-1_categoryId_165534#dtab
or next spec up for a bit more.... looks lovely in brushed alu finish

 

[Alembicbassman]

Gryphon works for me, only paid £240 though. Mine has the better SRAM X4 pod shifters and rear mech, not the cheaper SX4 versions on earlier models.

Not the lightest with plain guage 7005 alu - but light enough with alloy chainset, bars, stem and seatpost.

Changed tyres to Schwalbe Marathon as Innovas were a bit cheap.

I assembled it myself out of the box to make sure it was done properly.

I had to replace bent mech hanger bolts and put new bearings and grease in the rear hub as it was a bit rough. But for £240 it was OK

 

[cyberknight]

A distance of 10-17 miles each way is just screaming Road Bike at me...

From the list you have given, the Virtuoso is my pick - eyes for mudguards\rack and panniers make it a capable commuter.

+1
the TDf is a bit heavier ad my particular one has no upper mounts for a rack, my virtuosso is a better machien by far and keeps up on the local weekend club run.