Forum

Hello interesting people!

I recently got myself a new bike but made the mistake of getting it from Halfords which was a horrendous experience but it was through the cycle to work scheme so in the grand scheme of things it's a pretty good deal.

I've seen on hear there is a local trail in Hilly Fields, Enfield which I'll be looking to take on asap.

Do I need to go when there is an organised ride or can I just go down and see what I'm made of?

DHDreams

Hey welcome what bike did you buy?

I got a Carrera Vengance. Apparently its a good entry level bike so if or when I get to a good enough standard I'll upgrade so something better. Have you been to Hilly fields before?

Nope im still very much a newbie myself and didnt even know it was there! :S


to be fair its not a bad bike considering it came from halfrauds! only thing id look at is if they guys who work in halfords built it the chances are the brakes could be much more efficient than they currently are and the gears may not be quite spot on,

thats what i tend to find with alot of "halfords built" bikes anyways!

set yourself up for a conversion to hydraulic brakes and youll be well away! have a look for avid juicy on ebay you can normally get a decent second hand pair for quite cheap!

I found out about it on this site.

I have heard that about Halfords and although they build bikes all day long they still have a bad rep. I think I need to get it out on a good run before I can say anything though and I need to get the all clear from my physio and a knee injury I picked up a few months ago. It seems fine so I'm sure over the weekend I'll be looking for the Enfield trail. I'll let you know about it.

Yo don't sound like a Newbie! Hydraulic brakes and better gears sound great but as a complete novice I think I need to get used to riding the trails before I start customising my bike.

Haha fair enough im a newbie to riding but not to bikes themselves ive been a bike mechanic for the last 5 years was always into cars rather than bikes but now ive got a belly im getting out on a bike myself lol!

That's good to know, when I see you on the trails you can let me know how good or bad of a job they did then.

Maurice

Another newbie here to, and also got my bike from HALFORDS !! , got the Carrera Kraken, seams ok at the mo, but not really been out to much yet...

Hey Quicksilver I just got back from a ride and it didn't ride well at all. The gears kept slipping and the front wheel sounded like a part of it was rubbing against something. I need to have a look at it properly. I guess I'll pick up some tips here and put them to use.
Do you know what to look for when giving it a check over? I didn't haha!

Not a clue ???
My gears were slipping too, so i went back to Halfords and they sorted it !!!!!

Dhdreams i know im not exactly close but if u want a trip over to harlow ill quite happily have a quick butchers at it for you! (free of charge of course ) the only problem is im here today but off this weekend so wont be back in work untill tuesday! but if you want to come over then your more than welcome too!

the address is

cyclelife harlow
Unit 17/Staple Tye Shopping Centre
Southern Way
Harlow
CM18 7PJ


if you come down the crooked mile (in car) from enfield it will bring you out almost on top of us!

Im riding over enfield on saturday. If you find your way over i can have a look for you dosent sound to complicated.

From the Halfords reviews "Working well now - had to return it on second day as it wasn't properly prepared/built. Working fine since."

Although generally people seemed to like it but then again 90% have probably not ridden anything better.

IMO getting into cycling is a learning curve, it takes a while to understand the differenet types of bikes and all the various compenents, then before you know it you are buiding them from scratch yourself and spending a few grand

Andy

Thanks guys, I'm not around myself this weekend either but should be next week. I also found some good tips online that seem relatively simple and may help. So I could even give that a stab too if not I'll come crying to you helpful chaps.