Carrera Bikes Deals & Offers

Thanks op, been mulling over buying this bike for some time just didn't want to commit as once purchased the other half would keep moaning at me to use it! Feel better now after that discount. Anyone know if they'll honour Blue light discount instore on top?

Brilliant thanks OP, ordered some bits for Father's Day :)

Thanks for sharing @aidan073 (y)

Cheers. Saved myself £16 on an £80 order for some aircon recharge stuff that I was going to buy anyway. Both items into basket, applied BH10 code, then activated Honey which also added the motoring10 code as well for a total %20 discount. Picked them up an hour later - all good.

I’m looking at the B’twin rockrider range on the decathlon site looks good to me for my occasional use .. looks capable of proper use too

It uses a torque sensor rather than a simple cadence sensor so its a hub drive bike that operates like a mid-drive motor bike depending on your viewpoint this is either good or bad, some people prefer a simple cadence sensor and others torque. A torque sensor will give you the sensation of being much stronger as the motor gives more power the more effort you put in and this also means it can extend the range. A simple cadence sensor means you can vary how much effort you put in by choosing different gears so can choose to rely more or less on the motor but if you rely more on the motor the range is reduced. The other comment about drag surely means the clutch mechanism isn't always fully disengaging to allow the rear wheel to freewheel when not powered. Possible current leakage perhaps the motor system isn't fully turned off somehow so is occasionally partially engaging and creating drag. Maybe if you remove the battery and there is never any drag then you have some sort of electrical fault. It may be possible to add a kill switch somewhere to prevent this happening if its an electrical issue. In contrast direct drive hub motors actually use a small amount of current to simulate no drag as they don't have a clutch so they simulate freewheeling by using a small amount of current but I think on a geared hub motor that would keep partially engaging the drive creating drag and perhaps excessive wear on the mechanism.

Added comment yes this is £300 covid tax I had the previous model bought about 3 years ago which was exactly the same, I paid £800 and it was brilliant, just after covid I sold it on as I got good money for a well used commuter bike, 7 months later I went and overpaid for this bike, what a mistake I realised I made of selling my previous same model bike. I have since sold it on to my father for £600 which he will only use few times a year in the summer and he will be happy with the 12mph speed it produces... for me that would make my commute too long and I'd rather either ride a normal bike or get a better ebike

These are awful bikes, Halfords carrera range all changes to a new motor system which they claim is to be more efficient or some rubbish by basically making the user put more effort in to be able to claim it can do more miles. (cheap rubbish bascially) I sold mine after struggling to get to work without huffing and puffing as it was so slow if not peddling hard by going down to 12mph, until you put in a big pedal for a few seconds before going back to 12mph again, you had to keep effort going to get the motor going to 15mph. This behaviour of the bike being a 23kg heavy bike literally made no sense as a roadbike at half the weight would done the same thing with no battery and just the effort it made me do.. Sure you can shout nonsense that im just lazy or assume im fat, I am 5ft 10 and 162 pounds currently, I play football once a week and am not that fit but not unfit either. main take away if your intrested then make sure you do a test ride and try to go atleast a mile putting in no effort and see what you think

What?

Possibly. I don't have any experience of this bike, or this setup. Looking on here though, it appears that this is usually £800 when on offer. So I would not buy at this price. Pretty sure it is the same model, but could be an updated version.

I would like a British Cycling Voucher if anyone has got one (be ya friend an' stuff :) )

Me too... request anyone got spare British Cycling Voucher ?

Anyone got spare britsh cycling voucher?

Besides my personal gripe at questioning the concept of 27.5" wheels/tyres, the Subway 2 is a very robust and safe purchase for £350.

Most people aren't better off with mountain bikes as most people ride on the road or light gravel etc and rarely go fully off-road. The Subway is a brilliant bike because it delivers a very strong bike that is easy to maintain and can be used pretty much anywhere even off-road and soaks up poor road surfaces without issues. I don't know about the current new model of Subway but the model has probably existed for 15 years and all the previous models were excellent and I suspect the new one is as well. The frame has changed for the new model and they have simplified the drivetrain plus improved the contact points. All features that improve and update the model to modern standards. Personally I would have preferred a 1x drivetrain and a wide range cassette something like a 11-42T but instead Halfords went from a 3x to a 2x drivetrain.

I don't think that's correct at all. It depends also on the size of the chain and maintenance. On a bike with only 9 gears at the rear, the chain will be quite wide and therefore more robust than a narrower one for 10 or 11 gears. I have a Trek hybrid bike that has done 3,800+ km in about 4 years, and chain hasn't been replaced yet (and doesn't need to, not stretched). Bike has 9 rear gears, but I keep the drivedrain fairly clean too (meaning less wear on cassette and chain). Actually, I have replaced no components at all on that bike, apart from tires and tubes, once at the front and rear. I have done no adjustment of gears either. Apart from regular cleaning, can't complain on the level of maintenance required!

Thanks gonna hit the store tomorrow and try a few out for size. I'll look that one up too!

I'd go slightly dearer if you're getting it through cycle to work. I would have only my work dont use the one Halfords use. The Crossfire 2 came into stock today in red. Think its around £325

Used an older model to commute to work and it was a brilliant bike.

My employer provides a cycle to work benefit whereby I can get a bike cheap https://www.enjoybenefits.co.uk/staff-benefits-savings/cycle-to-work?gclid=EAIaIQobChMIw8Kel6PD5AIVgrTtCh1yzwv5EAAYAiAAEgJMbfD_BwE Halfords if one of the suppliers, so this of interest to me. Would I be better paying extra or does this have everything a I need for commuting in the city centre?

I have PM you Bonzo, looking for some advice Thanks

I loved my Vulcan until it was nicked! Tempted but want a hybrid now

Before Corona the Vulcan in recent history might get to £300 as its base price and you might get a 10% off code to £270 approx so the corona premium here is £75-100 for this model. It has a 120mm travel front fork not 100mm and hydraulic disc brakes with a 27 speed (3x9) drivetrain not 24 (3x8) so its higher spec in 3 key areas compared to Halfords entry level real mountain bikes which are 3x8 (tourney), mechanical disc brakes and 100mm travel forks. Like you I don't believe they were ever £150 but I think there was an offer on ebay where some Sulcata's were sold for £150 for a while but it was very few. Carrera are the most stolen bikes in the UK because they are the most common brand so stolen bikes are often available cheaply s/hand.

Halfords look like they have changed factories for this year although I could be wrong, across the board the styling and construction of the frames are different. The newer models have improved geometry and have gone to a 2x drivetrain instead of 3x for most models, they have focused more on the contact points, saddle and grips and generally look very good. I still have a fondness for the previous range which are 3x and the frame geometry is more old school. I think for the average cyclist the newer range are better but I feel like the older models look a bit stronger more abuse-able but that is just my impression from looking at them. The older model has an extra part welded between the top tube and top of seat tube to strengthen that section and a section welded on the underside where the downtube meets the headtube. These additional welded sections cost more money and the shorter geometry adds to strength too. I feel like the older model is better for heavier riders, both stronger and more gears. Also the older models had a great reputation for strength from that factory and high weight limits of 160kg total load. I'm unsure if this has changed for the new range of models. I guess if you are a 90kg or less rider I would go with the new range but if you are more than 90kg the old model however if you are just going to use it on the road I doubt it matters its only really if you give it some abuse off-road. It would be more useful if we could find out which factory the new range is coming from, if it is Insera Sena in Indonesia then I think they might be a little weaker than the older models from a Cambodian factory, some Calibre bikes from Go Outdoors have had some frame issues and they seem to mainly use Insera Sena for their Calibre bikes. They had a model called the Calibre dune which was a fatbike and that had a lot of frame failures and I think some bossnuts have had frames break however the Bossnut is an incredibly popular bike with huge sales so hard to tell if that is a real issue. The old Vulcan design clearly has run its course and in that time seems to have an excellent reputation for strength, for the moment the new model is a little unknown.

Realistically, the huge jump is probably over the last three months rather than the 10 years prior to that.

Yes it is and I'm trying to get one,maybe as You said some shop will have it in stock.

Nice bike.

How does this fare against Marin San Rafael DS1 that costs around £340?

Exactly. As high or higher. That’s what I said. You’ll not need to adjust the handlebar height then. It’s the seat post you need to adjust:

I don't think that is true, it's only really high end bikes where you get a good bike fit by the dealer, the ability to adjust handlebar height is something lost on many newer bikes. Mountain bikes introduced the much stronger threadless system which makes sense for mountain bikes but do you really need it for city bikes or road bikes, it feels like overkill there. The ability to tailor your own bike for the perfect bike fit over time has been lost and lets not forget sometimes someone else might want to ride the bike, a quill stem is relatively easy and quick to adjust for the rider's height. I remember seeing a comparison of a modern road bike vs an old road bike and the old road bike was criticised for it's rubbish brakes and suicide shifters but the quill stem was complemented for the ease of adjustment of the reviewer. Also if you are going for a leisurely ride or cycling in a city you may want your handlebars high for a more upright safer way of cycling but another time you may want to lower the quill stem to give you a very fast aero riding position for a race etc, same bike but 2 completely different riding positions and it only takes a minute or so to swop between those positions.