Carrera Fury Review - BikeRadar

Halfords’ Carrera bikes have always been a good budget option in terms of quality spec on simple frames. The more expensive mid-range bikes have recently gone on a proper performance offensive to create great rides like the Fury. 

It’s not the smoothest ride, but the Fury matches a proper fork, great wheels and other kit to a light, confident and power-friendly frame. With the price down from £600 to £530 at the time of writing, it’s a true bargain.

Ride & handling: A well sorted all-rounder at a price where most are still compromised

With plenty of reach and room in the top tube and cockpit, the Fury feels like a proper speed and distance bike. Add a usefully low weight plus a long, flat saddle (that looks a lot like Fizik’s Aliante) for seated weight shifts and it’s a great place to put the power down from. The stiff frame means all your muscle power goes straight to the wheels.

Carrera have been smart enough to match the tight tracking 120mm fork with a very contemporary 69° head angle – ideal for adding stability and confidence in loose and lairy conditions when you’re pushing as hard as the fork allows.

More experienced or aggressive riders may switch to a shorter stem to quicken up tight trail reactions, but the current 100mm piece makes the Fury more stable for less experienced riders and the mid-width bar gives useful control leverage.

The big frame tubes mean the Carrera will rattle over the rough and give you a proper clout if you clobber a rock or drop off a ledge really hard. But it’s within limits for day riding when you trade off against the power delivery and accurate tracking benefits. Big tyres, a decent fork and well-shaped saddle also help reduce the harshness.

Frame: Impressively light and tight frame, with good mud clearance

The frame sure looks the part: the hourglass integrated head tube is smooth welded into big double-butted main tubes, which get extra strength by sharing an extended joint seam. There’s a curved gusset ahead of the forward-facing seat clamp slot, which has a bolted collar for security.

The big rectangular chainstays are cut away then plate-reinforced to give massive keyhole clearance for the rear tyre. There’s lots of space around the D-section seatstays, as well as rack mounts threaded into the frame.

There are twin bottle cage mounts and an easy to lube ‘naked’ gear cable runs under the down tube. CNC-machined dropouts and a simple but tough plain white paint job finish off the purposeful frame.

The drawback is that it only comes in three sizes, so really small or big riders will miss out. That said, our 18in sample was generous – so the 20in will be a lot of bike.

Equipment: Smooth and consistent screw-through axle fork is a real bonus

The wheels are great at this price, with ever-reliable Mavic X317 rims a highlight. While vocal on the road, Continental’s Speed King tyres roll really well, and grip is good in most conditions, but be prepared to catch a slide if you really crank them over.

The generous 2.3in size adds both pinch flat protection and a softened edge to the Fury’s ride feel, and the frame’s keyhole cut-out means no worries about mud clearance.

Another real bonus is the Suntour Epicon fork; it actually works a lot better than many better known mid-price forks. Because it's air-sprung it’s easy to adjust to different rider weights or levels of aggression.

The 120mm stroke is smooth and consistently damped with a lockout for climbs. You also get adjustable rebound damping to set the return stroke. We’ve got a couple of sets of Epicons running long-term with no problems so far.

The real steal is the 15mm screw-through QLOC axle. This signiicantly increases steering and tracking accuracy, putting the Fury in a class of its own on technical trails. 

About BikeRadar reviews: Our review scoring system has changed in 2010. Therefore recent reviews may have comparatively lower scores than past reviews. Click here for a full explanation of our ratings.

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