Voodoo Nakisi - Halfords, Anyone got one?
Discussion
Hey folks
As per title, been browsing eBay for used Spec Diverges/Pinnacle Arkose etc, have a budget of £500-600.
Just noticed the Halfords own Voodoo bike has been put on sale, from £550 to £440, anyone got one, are they any good, or cheap heavy tat? Their doesn't seem to be any reviews about, BikeRader seems to give it a good write up (https://www.bikeradar.com/road/gear/article/2018-voodoo-nakisi-51121/), but they also misspelt the name of it in the title so I'm just going to assume the author hasn't even been near one.
Any other recommendations for a gravel bike in that price range?
As per title, been browsing eBay for used Spec Diverges/Pinnacle Arkose etc, have a budget of £500-600.
Just noticed the Halfords own Voodoo bike has been put on sale, from £550 to £440, anyone got one, are they any good, or cheap heavy tat? Their doesn't seem to be any reviews about, BikeRader seems to give it a good write up (https://www.bikeradar.com/road/gear/article/2018-voodoo-nakisi-51121/), but they also misspelt the name of it in the title so I'm just going to assume the author hasn't even been near one.
Any other recommendations for a gravel bike in that price range?
I shall be watching this as I also spotted the deal on Halfords site having previously looked at the Voodoo Limba when those were on offer for 350 a few months back. I struggled to find any reviews of those as well.
ive been riding a Boardman CX comp for a year which can also be found for around 500quid second hand and its been tremendous. the main advantage over the Voodoo is the carbon front fork and better wheels. id highly recommend one.
ive been riding a Boardman CX comp for a year which can also be found for around 500quid second hand and its been tremendous. the main advantage over the Voodoo is the carbon front fork and better wheels. id highly recommend one.
By the time you’ve put new tyres, tubes and bar tape on a £600 second hand bike it’ll be nearer £700.
The 2018 arkose X is currently £810 at Evans. You can get another £75 off by part exchanging a bike from a skip. £735 for a new arkose.
Just be wary of Evans current financial situation. Might be best to try to find one physically in stock at a shop if you’re interested.
The 2018 arkose X is currently £810 at Evans. You can get another £75 off by part exchanging a bike from a skip. £735 for a new arkose.
Just be wary of Evans current financial situation. Might be best to try to find one physically in stock at a shop if you’re interested.
griffter said:
By the time you’ve put new tyres, tubes and bar tape on a £600 second hand bike it’ll be nearer £700.
.
if you buy wisely thats not really true. i got my bike from a chap who had owned it a year and upgraded to a CX Pro when Halfords had it on offer. ive done a fair few miles (hundreds) and apart from cleaning have done nothing else. .
Well, I have had some faff.
Figured since there wasn't a lot of information about on these I'd post my 2p.
My local branch of Cycle Republic are crap, decided to order it through them rather than Halfords based on the general perception that they are the more premium brand & I have heard some horror story of Halfords auto mechanics chucking bikes together in all sorts of wierd and wonderful manners.
So I picked up my Nakisi 2 weeks ago, didn't have much chance to really look at it in the store, was rushed in and out in a matter of minutes. Even then I was happy with the bike, even at a 12kg weight it feels worlds lighter than the old large childs Y frame suspended MTB I had ridden before, the lad in the Cycle Republic was proud to point out that their own brands (Voodoo, Boardman, Carerra etc) tend to be lighter than their spec sheets suggest as they offer their weights with pedals, reflectors & a bell on, which is the state they sell their bikes in. Opposed to some other retailers (the example he cited begins with an 'E', ends with an 'ans') who list the dryest of dry weights for their bikes with half of the actual bike missing.
Anywho, didn't feel like trying out on the busy streets of Glasgow city centre, so drove straight home with it in the car, had a brief shot of it the following day, it felt massive, could barely control it at low speed, I put that down to my not riding in a few years & cracked on with my day. Showed it off to my friend, an avid lycra w
ker & Giant fanboy. It was him that initally said to me it was absolutely massive, I'm 5'8, had bought a medium (5'7 - 5'10 54.5cm on the size chart), had about 2cm of seat post exposed and basically had to lock my elbows to keep it on the hoods of the bars to reach the brakes. Took it for a ride with him along some local forestry tracks with him, was struggling, again put it down to my inexperience.
I took it back to the Cycle Republic a few days later after phoning them to say I think it might be too big for me, spoke to the manager on the phone who was pretty dismissive, basically said unless I was under 5'5 then a medium is definitely right, I took it into him none the less, explained my problems, he seemed, again pretty dismissive, however said he'd adjust it a bit, he slid the seat way forward and moved the bars about a bit. Then sent me happily on my way. Relayed this back to my friend who told me to send it right back, get a refund & he'd take me to his LBS to buy something proper & that what the guy did was bang out of order in the biking world.
So that takes me to Tuesday, decided to swing by my local Halfords with it to see if they had any in the smaller size available that I could at least sit on, I use them a lot for my car stuff so know a couple of the guys quite well, they sent me over to their bicycle guy who was shocked Cycle Republic would send me away with that, apparently to him it was blatantly too big for me. He says what's likely happened is that the guy in the other store has tried me on on a Boardman or a Carrera which tend to be sized quite small, as opposed to voodoo which are sized quite large. Anywho, was pleasantly suprised right there and then he was able to refund my Cycle Republic order, and ordered me up one in the size below.
Picked up that today & am over the moon with it, feel infinitely more stable on it than the medium sized one, if anything I still feel like I am a little stretched out but most definitely feel more in control, can steer with my elbows rather than my shoulders.
As for the bike, for the money, you get a good amount of kit for the cash, welds on the frame are clean, made in Cambodia (better than China I suppose?) it is definitely more to the rigid MTB side of the cyclecross/gravel genre, with 40mm tyres and what looks like clearance for something a lot more beefy. That being said the tyres that they actually fit on it from the get go are certainly not up to much, no knobs, but lots of sips, look like they'll be good on wet tarmac. As is the case with anything from Halfords, never pay RRP as you'll probably be able to get it £100 off at some point.
So yeah, nice bike, usual Halfords family customer service issues, they are hit and miss.
Figured since there wasn't a lot of information about on these I'd post my 2p.
My local branch of Cycle Republic are crap, decided to order it through them rather than Halfords based on the general perception that they are the more premium brand & I have heard some horror story of Halfords auto mechanics chucking bikes together in all sorts of wierd and wonderful manners.
So I picked up my Nakisi 2 weeks ago, didn't have much chance to really look at it in the store, was rushed in and out in a matter of minutes. Even then I was happy with the bike, even at a 12kg weight it feels worlds lighter than the old large childs Y frame suspended MTB I had ridden before, the lad in the Cycle Republic was proud to point out that their own brands (Voodoo, Boardman, Carerra etc) tend to be lighter than their spec sheets suggest as they offer their weights with pedals, reflectors & a bell on, which is the state they sell their bikes in. Opposed to some other retailers (the example he cited begins with an 'E', ends with an 'ans') who list the dryest of dry weights for their bikes with half of the actual bike missing.
Anywho, didn't feel like trying out on the busy streets of Glasgow city centre, so drove straight home with it in the car, had a brief shot of it the following day, it felt massive, could barely control it at low speed, I put that down to my not riding in a few years & cracked on with my day. Showed it off to my friend, an avid lycra w
ker & Giant fanboy. It was him that initally said to me it was absolutely massive, I'm 5'8, had bought a medium (5'7 - 5'10 54.5cm on the size chart), had about 2cm of seat post exposed and basically had to lock my elbows to keep it on the hoods of the bars to reach the brakes. Took it for a ride with him along some local forestry tracks with him, was struggling, again put it down to my inexperience.I took it back to the Cycle Republic a few days later after phoning them to say I think it might be too big for me, spoke to the manager on the phone who was pretty dismissive, basically said unless I was under 5'5 then a medium is definitely right, I took it into him none the less, explained my problems, he seemed, again pretty dismissive, however said he'd adjust it a bit, he slid the seat way forward and moved the bars about a bit. Then sent me happily on my way. Relayed this back to my friend who told me to send it right back, get a refund & he'd take me to his LBS to buy something proper & that what the guy did was bang out of order in the biking world.
So that takes me to Tuesday, decided to swing by my local Halfords with it to see if they had any in the smaller size available that I could at least sit on, I use them a lot for my car stuff so know a couple of the guys quite well, they sent me over to their bicycle guy who was shocked Cycle Republic would send me away with that, apparently to him it was blatantly too big for me. He says what's likely happened is that the guy in the other store has tried me on on a Boardman or a Carrera which tend to be sized quite small, as opposed to voodoo which are sized quite large. Anywho, was pleasantly suprised right there and then he was able to refund my Cycle Republic order, and ordered me up one in the size below.
Picked up that today & am over the moon with it, feel infinitely more stable on it than the medium sized one, if anything I still feel like I am a little stretched out but most definitely feel more in control, can steer with my elbows rather than my shoulders.
As for the bike, for the money, you get a good amount of kit for the cash, welds on the frame are clean, made in Cambodia (better than China I suppose?) it is definitely more to the rigid MTB side of the cyclecross/gravel genre, with 40mm tyres and what looks like clearance for something a lot more beefy. That being said the tyres that they actually fit on it from the get go are certainly not up to much, no knobs, but lots of sips, look like they'll be good on wet tarmac. As is the case with anything from Halfords, never pay RRP as you'll probably be able to get it £100 off at some point.
So yeah, nice bike, usual Halfords family customer service issues, they are hit and miss.
Edited by caelite on Thursday 6th December 20:15
caelite said:
It was him that initally said to me it was absolutely massive, I'm 5'8, had bought a medium (5'7 - 5'10 54.5cm on the size chart), had about 2cm of seat post exposed and basically had to lock my elbows to keep it on the hoods of the bars to reach the brakes. Took it for a ride with him along some local forestry tracks with him, was struggling, again put it down to my inexperience.
I took it back to the Cycle Republic a few days later after phoning them to say I think it might be too big for me, spoke to the manager on the phone who was pretty dismissive, basically said unless I was under 5'5 then a medium is definitely right, I took it into him none the less, explained my problems, he seemed, again pretty dismissive, however said he'd adjust it a bit, he slid the seat way forward and moved the bars about a bit. ]
Good feedback, this sizing related point is especially interesting. I am also around 5'8 /175cm and having looked at the sizing chart thought that a medium would likely be recommended to me but I'm certain I'd prefer a small. I took it back to the Cycle Republic a few days later after phoning them to say I think it might be too big for me, spoke to the manager on the phone who was pretty dismissive, basically said unless I was under 5'5 then a medium is definitely right, I took it into him none the less, explained my problems, he seemed, again pretty dismissive, however said he'd adjust it a bit, he slid the seat way forward and moved the bars about a bit. ]
The Boardman CX that ive been riding is a 50cm frame with a recommended height listed as 172 - 177 cm with a 54cm top tube , compare that with the Voodoo medium which is a 54.5cm frame with height range of 170 - 177cm yet it has a 58cm top tube. The small which is a 52cm is said to be suitable for 163 - 170cm with a 56cm - still longer than the Boardman.
I can understand why the chap at CR thought that moving the seat around and stem length could help to move your weight/change your riding position but truth is you should really have had an opportunity to sit on both sizes before committing to buy.
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