Help thinking of buying a Carrera road bike! £269 any good??

[EarlofBarnet]

Re: Help thinking of buying a Carrera road bike! £269 any go

I was looking for a cheap winter road bike and ended up with the Carrera TDF, which was £250 at the time (less another £6 cash back via Quidco).

There's two versions of these, according to the guy at Halfords when I collected mine. One with the spec listed on the Halfords site (http://www.halfords.com/webapp/wcs/stor ... yId_165710), and then some more recent ones that have Shimano Claris gear levers and rear mech. The latter is the one I got and is the one I'd try and get. The shifters have the downshift where my 105 shifters on my other bike have them. Whereas the 2300 ones you can't downshift from the drops, as the downshift is a little tab button sitting near the flat side of the bar.

Shame they're £370 at the moment, as they're not worth that it my eyes. But £250 was a good deal. Very similar spec to the bottom of the range Specialized Allez and less than half the price. I really like mine, not faults with it at all. Only grumble would be that they're a little highly geared for the Lakes!

 

[oonaff]

Re: Help thinking of buying a Carrera road bike! £269 any go

thanks, i needed a second opinion on the sora 8 sp shifters the earlier type without the little window and red pointer.
i found mine not very slick as if all the components within were both plastic and out of tolerence.
i guess i was too optimistic,every one knows 105 is the bench mark.
claris shifters cost over £100 so they have got to be better than sora.
im never going to buy 2nd hand shifters from a cycle jumble again, ultegra 8 sp look great hoods fine ,left not holding. luckily there is a guy on ebay who repairs them.

 

[cherrybomb]

Re: Help thinking of buying a Carrera road bike! £269 any go

The Decathlon Triban 3 at £299 gets really good reviews. (Especially the red one if you can find one anywhere)

 

[reanimation]

Re: Help thinking of buying a Carrera road bike! £269 any go

Interesting reading. I've been collecting mostly new good special deal parts to make a Paul Milnes Columbus alloy Tourer/cx style thing for commuting etc with 16 gears. I don't usually start with a budget, but totted up I spent £379 on all the bits so far and I've still got to build it! and still need an unpeaked crash helmet and tights!

 

[Mindmap3]

Re: Help thinking of buying a Carrera road bike! £269 any go

Late to this thread but welcome to the world of skinny wheels.

I joined last year and really enjoyed it. I was loads fitter on my MTB as a result and loved the lack of faff although if I'm honest I haven't ridden it much of the last two months but as I'm now sick of cleaning my MTB after every ride I'm heading out tomorrow for a few hours.

I always said that you'd never get me in Lycra, but it works well on a road bike. The thing that surprised me the most was how cold I get on road compared yo off road.

Hope you enjoy the bike.

 

[Mindmap3]

Re: Help thinking of buying a Carrera road bike! £269 any go

Edited. Double post.

 

[NeilM]

Re: Help thinking of buying a Carrera road bike! £269 any go

The thing that surprised me the most was how cold I get on road compared yo off road.

Ride faster, or up steeper hills. :mrgreen:

 

[Mindmap3]

Re: Help thinking of buying a Carrera road bike! £269 any go

The thing that surprised me the most was how cold I get on road compared yo off road.

Ride faster, or up steeper hills. :mrgreen:

I think it was more to do with the fact that I adopted my MTB approach at first....shorts all year! Doesn't work on a road bike. I soon realised why roadies look all wrapped up most of the year.

 

[NeilM]

Re: Help thinking of buying a Carrera road bike! £269 any go

Ahh yes, plenty of layers.

I use 3/4 knicks a lot of the time and have been out in my fleece knicks this last week, but when it gets really cold I put fleece tights over the top of the knicks, base, jersey, windproof gilet and jacket, plus winter or neoprene gloves, fleece neck / buff and even a fleece skull cap. I also have Castelli toe things and have added some Endura neoprene booties this year.

Mind you, there's nothing like a good 10mph+ headwind to warm you up a bit.

 

[Mindmap3]

Re: Help thinking of buying a Carrera road bike! £269 any go

Over shoes are the best invention! My Spesh road shoes are probably great in California with all of the vents in the soles, but in a UK winter all they do is give me numb toes!

One of the best things that I bought was a massively discounted wind proof Scott gillet. I wear it all of the time.