Review: Carrera Virtuoso from Halfords – Initial Look

I have been commuting in London since 2009 and I’ve always ridden rather heavy utility bikes with large tyres. All well and good, but I always wondered what it would be like to ride one of those light and stiff road bikes to work/university. I’ve been observing an ever-growing faction of cyclist commuters that use road bikes for commuting and fancied a bit of a change. Now, one of the problems with cycling in London is the concern over thieves stealing the bike, and so I am always interested in a bike that toes that fine line of being a decent machine, while at the same time not costing the earth. The price is very important for two reasons: 1. a cheaper bike will look cheap to potential thieves and with a bit of luck they will walk on by, or decide to steal a more expensive bike parked in the same place, and 2. a cheaper bike will be cheaper to insure (and I highly recommend insurance) as well as being cheaper to replace in general.

Halfords were kind enough to send me one of their 2015 Carrera Virtuoso* which can be purchased in any of the many Halfords stores and features on their website here: http://www.halfords.com/cycling/bikes/road-bikes/carrera-virtuoso-road-bike-2015. At £379 it is one of the cheapest road bicycles available on the market, which as explained above is no bad thing. In fact, if one times their purchase well, it can be had for even cheaper – only 3-4 weeks ago the 2015 bikes weren’t out yet, and the 2014 bikes could be had for £330. Now, of course there are cheaper bicycles available, all 7-speed gearing and basic, single-wall rims, whilst the Virtuoso is one of the cheapest road bikes that has 8-speed gearing and double-wall CNC rims. Both of those aspects of a bike are the lowest specification components that I will actually ride, having learned my lesson that the very cheapest, bottom-of-the-range components are a false economy in the long run.

There are a few differences between the 2014 and 2015 specifications for the Carrera Virtuoso.

1. The frame coloration is slightly different (I prefer the 2015)

2. The tyres have been swapped out for all black Kenda Koncept 23mm tyres which I prefer, because the 2014 tyres with the white stripe didn’t look very centered and appeared to wobble whilst in motion. You may not worry about such things, but I do. Also, that white compund is reportedly less grippy, but this is more hearsay than anything

3. The drivetrain/chainset has been downgraded from Sora (2014 Virtuoso) to the new bottom-range Shimano road chainset – Claris. Not the end of the world, but it’s worth bearing in mind. In my opinion, the Sora and Claris chainsets aren’t all that different, and at these price points, tthey are virtually disposable and would benefit from being changed out roughly once a year (depending on how you use it). So in reality the longevity isn’t that different, but the Sora shifting may be ever so slightly smoother than Claris, maybe… Saying that, I wouldn’t worry too much about this aspect, it is 2014 after all, and Shimano’s trickle-down technology means that even bottom-range components such as the Claris have the technology that Shimano would have used in their mid-range components 3-4 years ago. This is evidenced by the fact that the Claris shifters on the bike are the microshift type (sans thumb lever) which means that you only need your fingers to shift up and down, and this emulates the shifting action of the more expensive Shimano shifting systems. Also note that the Claris is an upgraded version of the 2300 of old, as is apparent in that the numerical model designation for the Claris components is 2400.

Here she is, fresh from the shop:

As I rode the bicycle home, I realised two things; 1. the pedals were completely unsuitable to my style of riding; and 2. the handlebars were quite far in front, too far a stretch for me.Just to comment on those two points; I am used to riding on either flat pedals or in clipless pedals. I tried using the cage pedals as they come on the bike – I found that it was actually quite difficult to get my foot into the cage and that even when I did, it inferred no advantage over flat pedals, as when I tried to pull on the pedal on the upstroke, my foot would simply slip out. You mileage may vary…The handlebars being too far for me to reach – it’s possible that the 51cm frame Virtuoso would have been comfortable for me out of the box. As it is, I was sent the 54cm frame bike at my request, and the frame wasn’t too large for me in that I can stand astride it without any impingement on any of my body parts. Instead of sending the 54cm bike back, to exchange it for the 51cm, I decided that I could make it comfortable for me by bringing the handlebars forward.The solution to these small problems was to put on some pedals that I had in my spares box that my existing clipless shoes fit into (Time pedals) as well as changing the stem to a 35 degree raised stem of 70mm length to replace the stock stem which is 110mm long. This made the bike perfectly comfortable for me and here she is after the slight modifications:

So far I have covered 20 miles on the bike and I have found the shifting to be crisp, the brakes to be adequate and the whole bike is quite stiff, with a much reduced effort on going the same speed/distance. Only time will tell how it fares overall, and I will be writing a follow-up post in 6-8 weeks’ time, after I’ve had a chance to put some serious commuting miles into the bike.Given how stiff and light the frame is, and the surprising amount of comfort that the 23mm tyres provided, my initial rating of this road bike – in the capacity of a mid-range commuting road bike is 4 start out of 5.