Does this look a good buy? Carrera Kraken?

[Dr Bob]

Hi all,

I'm looking for a fair bike for not a lot of wonga (max budget is £150)... Found this on eBay - does it look a reasonable punt assuming that everything is as A1 as the ad suggests?
http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&am...

Mainly going to be used road/light off road, possibly a bit of a hoon down the hills from time to time.

Thanks, CH

PS: This IS NOT an invite for anyone else to bid and push the price up for me!

ETA: Forget it - someone's bid it up to 165 already, it was only about a ton when I looked at it last.

Edited by Dr Bob on Wednesday 4th July 15:45

[Rico]

Carrera aren't a bad brand these days, but keep an eye out for brands like Specialized, Trek, GT, Cannondale, Commencal, Marin etc. IE proper mountain bike brands, not brands like carrera which are/were Halfords own brand.

If you're going 2nd hand, then a £300 bike will only be worth £100-150 after a year or two.

Try to find a bike thats been bought but then hardly used. LOADS of people spend a few hundred quid on a bike to get fit, then it ends up in the garage never used.

Budget say £30 for a bike shop to give it a tune up with new gear and brake cables and you'll have a mint bike hopefully. Just check the frame for cracks and make sure the wheel rims are undamaged and straight.

Edited by Rico on Wednesday 4th July 16:12

[mark.h]

looks stolen, either that or the guy is crap at spelling the name of the components... and used an excuse for selling ive seen before on stolen bikes.... err i bought it 3 week ago and dont like it now.... yeah mate, bye!

[Dr Bob]

Cheers both, I researched a bit and the Carrera Kraken seems a pretty good bike for the budget I was looking at...

...I asked the seller a question about if they had the receipt, it turns out that they are 'selling it on behalf of a friend', and the bike was a present so they aren't sure... to be honest, they sound like an honest seller, but the price has gone out of budget...

...on another note, on the way home I stopped at my L(s/h)BS, and he said he's got a Marin coming in from another shop bankrupt stock (px i assume), he said it's fairly old, but looks in pretty good nick, so that sounds a fair bet... I remember a friend had a Marin when we all had British Eagles and the like (15 yrs ago!) - it was the business!

CH

If the rain stops and I've got a bike, I might cycle into Canterbury for the end of the tour stage on Sunday!

[Dr Bob]

Well they had the receipt, but it went a bit over my budget...
...like I say, my LBS has an 'old' (-he thinks about 10 yrs) Marin (no suspension model) from some stock he picked up, so I'm going to look at that tomorrow - trouble is working out a price - I'd guess he'll be after about 100 for it, so I'm not sure if I can get a 2/3 year old Carrera Kraken (which from the research I've done looks a good enough bike for what I'm after and a fairly good frame for any future upgrades) for 150-200, which will be the better buy...

As a couple of back ups:
http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&am...
http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&am...

Don't worry - I won't blame anyone here if I buy a lemon - I'm just interested in opinions... It's been a while since I was last 'into' bikes and I'm a bit out of date on what's worth having or not regarding the mechanicals.

Cheers, CH

[Black5]

I imagine it will be difficult to find a bike that won't need some work doing to it in your price range.

I would be tempted to look at an older machine with good components that has been looked after as opposed to a 2 year old budget bike that may need a good service and some components replacing.

[Xenocide]

The brakes on that carrera were wank anyway.