Carrera Vanquish (Halfords) - What do you think?

Quoted message said:

HI,

I am looking to get a road bike for about £500. I have been looking
at the trek 1000. However the other day while in Halfords I noticed a
Carrera Vanquish for £499. The componets look better for the same
price. See spec:http://www.halfords.com/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/product_storeId_100...

My first imprestion was it can't be that good as its Halfords! What
do people think? Would this be a good bike to buy for £500.

If it fits and is set up right then it is a good buy for the money.
They are two big ifs though.

How can Halfords do it? By being their own retailer they skip a step
in the supply chain. It can be a very good deal.

...d

"David Martin" <[email hidden]> wrote in message
news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

HI,

I am looking to get a road bike for about £500. I have been looking
at the trek 1000. However the other day while in Halfords I noticed a
Carrera Vanquish for £499. The componets look better for the same
price. See
spec:http://www.halfords.com/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/product_storeId_100...

My first imprestion was it can't be that good as its Halfords! What
do people think? Would this be a good bike to buy for £500.

If it fits and is set up right then it is a good buy for the money.
They are two big ifs though.

How can Halfords do it? By being their own retailer they skip a step
in the supply chain. It can be a very good deal.

...d

The Carrera range of bikes are the flagship own brand of Halfords. The
Subway and Kraken bikes get very good reviews and I believe the full
suspension MTB bike has had good reviews too. I've owned two Krakens and my
son has a Subway and the quality and specs have been fine for the price
charged.

By extrapolation, I don't think you'll have a problem with the Vanquish.

in message <[email hidden]>,

(') said:

I am looking to get a road bike for about £500. I have been looking
at the trek 1000. However the other day while in Halfords I noticed a
Carrera Vanquish for £499. The componets look better for the same
price. See spec:

http://www.halfords.com/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/product_storeId_10001_catalogId_10151_productId_240405_langId_-1_CarSelectorCatalogId__CarSelectorGroupId__varient__categoryId_47151_crumb_33980-33957_parentcategoryrn_47151

Quoted message said:

My first imprestion was it can't be that good as its Halfords! What
do people think? Would this be a good bike to buy for £500.

Depends where you are. Halfords cycle staff vary widely from branch to
branch; the best are very good and the worst are awful. If you feel
competent to strip down a bike and reassemble it properly, by all means
buy from Halfords. If you don't, try to find out whether your Halfords is
one of the good ones.

The first two bikes on which I did significant distances were Halfords
own-brand specials, and I've done many tens of thousands of miles on them.
Halfords is not necessarily [censored].

Claud Butler, Giant and Specialized also do good quality road bikes around
the £500 mark, and if you're anywhere near Preston, Ribble Cycles will
sell you this:

http://www.ribblecycles.co.uk/details.asp?D=X&Cat=RIBBLE&Section=XRIB&GenCode=RIBBXRIB0410

with Terry Dolan designed frame, Campag groupset and wheels (OK, Mirage and
Khamsin, but still Campag), and carbon seatpost and forks, for £525. They
don't have a good reputation for mail order, but that still has to be a
bargain.

--
[email hidden] (Simon Brooke) http://www.jasmine.org.uk/~simon/

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