Author Topic: Carrera Subway 2 - should I?  (Read 4723 times)

Carrera Subway 2 - should I?
« on: 28 May, 2017, 08:04:03 pm »
Currently going for £260- whilst the Subway 1 is £300

Acera and hyrdaulic disks.

Any thought as a road/trail bike ...

Torslanda

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Re: Carrera Subway 2 - should I?
« Reply #1 on: 28 May, 2017, 10:01:40 pm »
Excellent for canal paths and the like. Reasonably quick on tarmac but not as fast as a Sirrus.

Weak points are chainset - steel rings may not be replaceable - and BB - sealed but quite a cheap unit which wears out quite quickly. Tyres are not great but Schwalbe, Panaracer etc upgrades are readily available.

Having said that, for 280 quid, hard to beat for value.
VELOMANCER

Well that's the more blunt way of putting it but as usual he's dead right.

Re: Carrera Subway 2 - should I?
« Reply #2 on: 28 May, 2017, 10:23:02 pm »
Why  thank you.

Chain set is easily  changed,  as would the tyres be ...

Re: Carrera Subway 2 - should I?
« Reply #3 on: 28 May, 2017, 10:32:33 pm »
Notice the base weight is 14kg (for medium?) which is high-ish, but not necessarily an issue...  My large frame steel road bike, with fairly heavy duty wheels is ~13kg (unladen) - do like the decent granny gear for hills though.
Cycle and recycle.   SS Wilson

Torslanda

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Re: Carrera Subway 2 - should I?
« Reply #4 on: 28 May, 2017, 10:43:45 pm »
A lot of that weight will be in the fork ~1500g and the wheel  set and tyres.

I'll stick by what I said. Difficult to beat at the price.
VELOMANCER

Well that's the more blunt way of putting it but as usual he's dead right.

Re: Carrera Subway 2 - should I?
« Reply #5 on: 28 May, 2017, 11:01:19 pm »
Fair enough, I notice that the Carrera Crossfire hybrid which adds front sus is 15kg. 
Cycle and recycle.   SS Wilson

Torslanda

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Re: Carrera Subway 2 - should I?
« Reply #6 on: 29 May, 2017, 12:02:38 am »
Nominally the SR Suntour fork on that is 2.5kg. In reality it's nearer 3 kg . . .
VELOMANCER

Well that's the more blunt way of putting it but as usual he's dead right.

Samuel D

Re: Carrera Subway 2 - should I?
« Reply #7 on: 29 May, 2017, 12:32:42 pm »
I defer to the learned opinion of the others, but when I was helping my parents buy bicycles, I looked around until I found something with good tyres (Schwalbe Marathon in the end).

The majority of bicycles around your price come with rubbish tyres (as do bicycles up to a grand!), but there are exceptions. Since tyres make a bigger difference to ease of rolling than even 5 kg of weight and are expensive to buy separately, this seemed a good idea to me.

My girlfriend’s bicycle came with beige Kenda tyres (I forget the model but could look it up). They soured me on the brand. Almost unuseable.

Kim

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Re: Carrera Subway 2 - should I?
« Reply #8 on: 29 May, 2017, 03:04:22 pm »
On the other hand, tyres are one of the easiest things to change about a bicycle...

Re: Carrera Subway 2 - should I?
« Reply #9 on: 29 May, 2017, 03:59:55 pm »
it is pretty good value but IIRC this model presently has 650B (584 BSD) wheels in it.  In theory there are lots of tyres and wheels available in this size but in reality very few shops seem to carry much stock.

 This may change in the future and (apart from the cost sometimes) it isn't the end of the world for planned replacements (they can be ordered in) but for distress purchases (eg a spare tube or tyre or something) it can be a PITA.

For road/trail use a hybrid with 700C wheels might well be a better choice from that standpoint.

cheers

Re: Carrera Subway 2 - should I?
« Reply #10 on: 29 May, 2017, 08:35:01 pm »
Or the Wiggle Mountain bike

Currently @ £200..

Re: Carrera Subway 2 - should I?
« Reply #11 on: 29 May, 2017, 08:42:25 pm »
Nominally the SR Suntour fork on that is 2.5kg. In reality it's nearer 3 kg . . .

So that's why my VTT has put on so much weight going back to the cheap Suntour sus fork.
Thanks John  (I was going to blame the disc of course  :demon:)

Ben T

Re: Carrera Subway 2 - should I?
« Reply #12 on: 31 May, 2017, 10:50:30 pm »
I defer to the learned opinion of the others, but when I was helping my parents buy bicycles, I looked around until I found something with good tyres (Schwalbe Marathon in the end).

The majority of bicycles around your price come with rubbish tyres (as do bicycles up to a grand!), but there are exceptions. Since tyres make a bigger difference to ease of rolling than even 5 kg of weight and are expensive to buy separately, this seemed a good idea to me.

My girlfriend’s bicycle came with beige Kenda tyres (I forget the model but could look it up). They soured me on the brand. Almost unuseable.

Where did you buy a bike from that came with marathon plus tyres?

LEE

  • "Shut Up Jens" - Legs.
Re: Carrera Subway 2 - should I?
« Reply #13 on: 31 May, 2017, 11:22:46 pm »
I defer to the learned opinion of the others, but when I was helping my parents buy bicycles, I looked around until I found something with good tyres (Schwalbe Marathon in the end).

The majority of bicycles around your price come with rubbish tyres (as do bicycles up to a grand!), but there are exceptions. Since tyres make a bigger difference to ease of rolling than even 5 kg of weight and are expensive to buy separately, this seemed a good idea to me.

My girlfriend’s bicycle came with beige Kenda tyres (I forget the model but could look it up). They soured me on the brand. Almost unuseable.

2 Schwalbe Marathons cost £22
Some people say I'm self-obsessed but that's enough about them.

Torslanda

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Re: Carrera Subway 2 - should I?
« Reply #14 on: 31 May, 2017, 11:27:05 pm »

2 Schwalbe Marathons cost £22

No wonder I can't bloody sell any! They cost more than that wholesale . . .
VELOMANCER

Well that's the more blunt way of putting it but as usual he's dead right.

Ben T

Re: Carrera Subway 2 - should I?
« Reply #15 on: 01 June, 2017, 09:08:11 am »
I defer to the learned opinion of the others, but when I was helping my parents buy bicycles, I looked around until I found something with good tyres (Schwalbe Marathon in the end).

The majority of bicycles around your price come with rubbish tyres (as do bicycles up to a grand!), but there are exceptions. Since tyres make a bigger difference to ease of rolling than even 5 kg of weight and are expensive to buy separately, this seemed a good idea to me.

My girlfriend’s bicycle came with beige Kenda tyres (I forget the model but could look it up). They soured me on the brand. Almost unuseable.

2 Schwalbe Marathons cost £22
I bet they're not marathon plus.. Even so quite cheap. Where?

I sort of want a commuter bike for near work and can't be arsed changing tyres as opposed to being too cheapskate to buy them, but will if necessary.