Meh

All fur and nae knickers. It has a carbon fork but overall it's heavy for an entrance level bike, chainset is primitive, wheels heavy. Nice paint though.

Isnt the Carrera zelos a better option for same price at halfords

no where to find out what the weight limit on these are?

I bought this bike a few weeks ago and have had no problems at all, I really like it and my times for my regular routes have been reduced significantly from my Claud Butler hybrid bike. I had a long chat with the cycle guy in the Halfords branch I bought it from and he was very knowledgeable on the bikes in the shop and has made a good job of the assembly. My only initial gripe with it were the toe cages on the pedals which I had planned to replace, but I have gotten used to them after a few rides. I have nothing negative to say about this bike, in my opinion it is well worth the cost and it looks good as well.

Where are you based

Similar spec from own-brands for about £ 100 to £ 200 more.
Go Outdoors bike gooutdoors.co.uk/cyc…kes
Evans evanscycles.com/pin…e_b
Mango Bikes mangobikes.com/bik…ed/
Revolution edinburghbicycle.com/bro…ion

I bought the £ 150 48 cm B'Twin Triban. It would fit women up to 5'8", I'd say, due to women having shorter torsos. I'm 5'6" and have the saddle at the middle forward position to have a comfortable reach. It rides like a dream and the groupset alone would cost the same as the whole bike.

Well I can't get this as I need a size 57 allegedly and this only comes in a max of 54. The bikes that start at size 57 are double the price so no thanks.

As far as I remember the Zelos has the same spec to the TDF in all respects apart from having steel forks so considering they are the same price I would say the TDF is the better buy. As for the Vanquish you get the improved Claris shifters and mechanicals (also the chainset is different/better? albeit the same ratio). If you can justify the extra £64 it is undoubtedly the better bike simply because of the gears.
I chose to go for the TDF because I didn't think the Tourney set would make that much difference to my riding at this stage.

The "bits sticking out' are pins to improve shifting. A feature not a defect. From Sheldon Brown's bike glossary:

"Ramps on chainrings would get worn down easily and loose their effectiveness.
To get around this problem, steel pins are commonly riveted into the sides of chainrings at the point of greatest stress.
Ramped/pinned chainrings generally give improved shifting when moving from smaller to larger chainrings. The ramps and pins are always located on the side that faces the next smaller chainring. Ramps and pins are useless on the smallest chainring of a crankset, so they are normally found only on the outer rings."

This, the Zelos or the Vanquish as a first time bike?

Do you think you would get dropped on hills if you were riding a 9kg bike rather than 7kg. Still think the focus on very lightweight is for racers only; do you race?. 146 is very lean reminds me of a guy I was speaking to recently; very thin frame but he did race.

I saw this in Halfords today and if nothing else it's a smart looking bike. I'm tempted just for the fact riding my cheapo mountain bike (Carrera Vulcan) is pretty hard work on the road and I like the idea of having a cheapo good looking road bike to ride on my local country roads. I'm 14 1/2 stone and 6'3 so not really fussed this isn't the lightest bike on the market. My biggest concern is it will feel like sitting on a razor blade as I struggle enough on a mountain bike with numbness!

If like me most of your cycling is on hilly terrain you'll put a lot of emphasis on a bike's climbing performance...yes a rider's weight is a big factor on hill climbs...I just happen to be a lean 146 pounds so the bike,as well as fitness, is a very strong factor in how I perform on hillclimbs...my best bike is 6.7kgs .
It's all a case of horses for courses and personal choice ..cycling fanatics like me are blinkered on the subject of bike expenditure so not best to make valid comments on budget bikes.

A Shimano-equipped bike for under £200 with a carbon fork is good value. Are there any apart than this? Pretty much all Shimano is bombproof including the low-end stuff. I've commuted many thousands of miles on a bike equipped with Shimano Tourney like this one.

The closest that I know of in terms of value is the Ribble Prime at £299 which comes equipped with the slightly better Shimano Claris throughout. The comparison between this bike and a Specialized Tarmac (starting price around £1,000) is bizarre. For this price bracket/market segment the weight is fine.

The comments in this thread which suggest that this bike is junk and will fall apart seem ill informed. The parts which are most likely to fail on a bike are the transmission, brakes and tyres. I had a look at them in Halfords yesterday and they are all basic but good quality - Shimano Tourney derailleurs, Shimano cassette, KMC chain, Tektro brakes and Kenda tyres. The chainset isn't Shimano but Prowheel who make the chainset for the Decathlon Tribans which have a generally good reputation. Stem, headset, seatpost, saddle and rims are all Carrera own brand but look well enough made.

Any derailleur and caliper brake-equipped bike is a complex piece of precision machinery whose moving parts are exposed to the elements. To function properly it needs regular (i.e. weekly) cleaning, lubrication and adjustment. The tyres also need to be inflated to at least 100psi and a beginner may not have a suitable high pressure pump with a gauge. The consumable parts like the chain, brake pads and tyres also need to be regularly replaced as they wear out. If they're not replaced promptly when worn they will damage other parts of the bike (the chainrings, cassette, rims). It is not clear that the commenters critising this bike have been maintaining it properly.

If the commenters above are looking for a low maintenance bike they should consider a town bike equipped with an enclosed chain, internal hub gears and internal drum or roller brakes. Sure, they're slow and heavy but were very popular back in the 50s when Brits still cycled in large numbers and they require very little maintenance. Halfords do a few and although more expensive than the TDF they're cheaper than a Specialized Tarmac...

Halford's Orla Kiely women's town bike

Pashley men's town bike

I think for many folks it's a pretty simple question:

Do you weight over 75kg?
Yes: Pointless sending lots on a bike. Get anything and get some miles in.
No: You already know what to look for.

Why would one need to spend more money to get performance on hills? Surely that's for cat racers only. In absolute time terms there's little difference between a 10/9/8 kg bike as it's the rider that makes up most of the weight.

Sorry yes I mean Road Bike

Depends on the sort of cycling you want to do. Road bikes are for people who mainly want to ride on country roads, often with an emphasis on getting their times down.

Can anyone help as now I am second guessing if to buy this?
Wanting to give cycling a go but not really sure what to buy, never been on a road bike so thinking something second hand. Budget £100-£150 really i'm 6ft so looking online would need something large.
Seen a couple on ebay but no idea what to look for
Thanks

Main failing in the review appeared to be the fact the hearing was quite high (52/38 chainset with 12-26 cassette) which would have made climbing a chore for beginners (one of the key target markets for this bike I'd assume). Thankfully, it appears that Halfords have taken this on board, as the spec of this latest model suggests they've fitted a 50/34 compact chainset and 12-28 cassette which will make things a bit easier.

​That maybe true for certain halfords. But there's always other bike shops out there or YouTube for any diy.....I've had a couple of carerras and done well over £1000 miles on them. No faults and got a decent amount to back for them. Like cars, tend to swap them before they become an issue with faults.

Bought one a couple of weeks ago (got halfords vouchers through work with 10% discount so effectively paid a bit less than this) and so far so good. Couldn't care less about brands all I know is that it's leaps and bounds better that the c**p steel framed thing I had previously and if 11.2kg is heavy for a bike that costs 200 quid then show me something better and lighter for the price. I'm not going to be riding 100's of miles per week so doubt i'll wear it out. There is a (old) review here - some of the components appear to be different including the carbon forks:
bikeradar.com/gea…02/

I liked this bit...
"It’s easy to get obsessively hung up about bike weight, and the bare facts show that the TDF is 4.5kg heavier than an actual Tour de France bike, but then it is a twentieth of the price. Overall, it's a very sound, tough and practical first road bike at a great price..."

Nothing really wrong with the bike.

The problem here is largely with the retailer. They're not bike specialists, they're regular shop workers with a spanner - and they tend to be pretty useless when/if things go wrong.

​seconded with the same option and service.

I had a 2010 version, paid the £299 'sale' price, fell apart numerous times before I got ride of it 3 years later. Shocking service from Halfords as well. Wouldn't recommend unless you want a cheap cyclescheme bike that you'll only use twice before giving us so your cost per go is minimal.

love the bike snobs. Nothing wrong with these for beginners or casual users and for the money, can't go wrong.

Only umpa lumpa sizes left in those....

As I stated you can't actually compare,but I still wouldnt give a penny for this bike,never mind it's latest 'offer,' price. Halfords sent mine out even with 1 bald tyre,neither matching plus a bowed frame. Their 'experts,' are hilarious really. Might as well drop your bike round to your mates blind nan for a 6 week check oO

Pathetic! Really? I did say in my opinion,gave reasons for my opinion,then stated what I had gone on to purchase....didn't compare or say they were even similar. These bikes are terrible,well maintained or not. Badly made tat. Pathetic or not,we're all allowed an opinion strangely,although maybe all of us shouldn't be clearly....!

I own Spesh myself, have done for years, but you're comparing this deal with a bike selling for for 5, 6, 7 times more. Kinda pathetic response really.
A cheap bike maintained well, will most of the time perform better than an expensive bike poorly maintained.

​No, not at all. Decent budget bike apart from the groupset which is still functional.

~12kg isn't that heavy

Come on. You are slating (i assume) Halfords build quality. Agreed.
However to compare this bike to a Tarmac,simply too far apart on spec/price.

I bought the woman's version of this for my daughter a year ago and she has been riding it to work for a few months now without any problems. She has also done a few clubs rides with it and it is fine for a beginner.

I've got several bikes of my own including a top end carbon bike which is very nice. However for the money I would recommend this purchase. Like any bikes including expensive ones, they sometimes need tweaking to get the gears and brakes setup correctly, however my daughters bike was perfect from the outset.

Where do you live

As with most things you get what you pay for..particularly so with cycling which, if you become serious, can be very expensive.
So much depends on what you want out of cycling...if it's simply for the occasional ride then a secondhand purchase...like a Giant Defy.. will serve you well...the "fear" is that like me you'll get hooked and you soon realise that performance..particularly on hills...requires a much greater financial investment.
My only advice is spend wisely as so many end up with a bike that is hardly used and secondhand values will only provide a significant loss.

Agreed, I had my own fun and games with halfords. Bought a road bike (not massively expensive, around £200). Got it home to build it and it looked like a shop one that had been put back in the box - bits missing, scuffs. Took it back and let them build another one rather than build it myself. Got a complete bike this time, but within a couple of weeks one of the front rings kept skipping and the rear derailure kept playing up. Repaired the derailure, and said the ring was my fault in not changing gears properly!

Week later and the derailure went again. Went back and they "noticed" that one of the front rings had what looked like weld spots/bits sticking out (I.e. Poorly cut metal). Eventually got a refund, bought a bike from decathlon and haven't had a problem since.

Abysmal Imo. A couple of months ago I decided to get into road cycling,bought this as a 'cheap,' introduction. God awful machine,took it back 6 times in 4 weeks and in the end demanded a refund. Spent rather a few extra pennies and bought a Specialized Tarmac,a whole world class of difference X) halfords are generally useless as well. Spend your hard earned pennies elsewhere!

​One reason being you aren't paying for a brand to look good under your expensive MAMIL lycra

​2nd hand market full of liars. This is a decent bike for people on a budget... Nothing to do with beginner, getting into, considering etc etc. I've been riding road bikes for 35 years but if my 12 year old claud butler ( bso according to snobs ) needed replaced i'd snap this up.

​triban 500 currently £50 more without carbon blades. Travel back in time for a triban 3 bigger than child's size

Agreed. This is cheap for a reason.

You can't beat a good battering of your helmet, whether it be by the wind or other means..........

Unless...

[img]http://vignette1.wikia.nocookie.net/simpsons/images/d/d0/Eeny_Teeny_Maya_Moe_(162).jpg/revision/latest?cb=20130518002645[/img]

Looks pretty poor and at 11.6kg certainly not 'lightweight' as they describe. If you're considering road biking get a cheap second hand one. Then if you like it and want to put in some more miles, pay a bit more for something that will last and perform.

"Imagine flying along the road, the wind whipping through your ... helmet"

Not a fan of naked bike riding myself

I've got a Boardman Ltd Edition with carbon forks & extras for sale :smile: £290 if anyone's interested. only ridden twice, size 57cm

Yeah would do but sizes are very limited

Basic spec, carbon fork. Has sti shifter. It's like a low spec Mondeo in the car world. Does the job but that's it.

I'd save £50 and get a Triban 3, availability depending of course.

seen here

Any good?