Carrera Vulcan (07)
BikeRadar verdict
"A complete and enjoyable 'proper MTB' ride for a small amount of dosh. "
Carrera have certainly done an amazing job with the frame for the money on its Vulcan. It also comes with disc brakes, with cunning hook clips for either cable or hydraulic brake lines, too.
Chassis
Riding back from our local Halfords store - where the staff had helpfully set the bike up - we were already adjusting our assumptions on the Vulcan. This wasn't a bike where we first had to work round limitations; it was a bike where we'd have to go and find the limits first.
With a 'proper' aggressive riding position we felt right at home, and looking for limits was a pleasure not a problem.
The frame is as well-balanced as it is well-proportioned, with spot-on handling dynamics for the technical Bristol race course - or anywhere else for that matter. There's enough room to breathe and ample stability for attacking the descents but it's still eager to turn in behind trees on switchbacking singletrack.
Equipment
Fat 2.35in tyres are a bit slow on tarmac but they really smooth the ride out on rougher off-road sections as well as providing proper grip. The amount of fun we had elsewhere was enough to compensate for the weight on the climbs anyway. The fat-legged fork is noticeably stiffer steering and a lot more shock absorbent than the others on test, too.
While there is a clunky top out to be found, you have to work hard for it to become a problem on the trail. While the cable disc brakes are a bit squishy and need regular cable adjustment, they combine with the big tyres to give the Vulcan a real edge over bikes with V brakes in bad weather.
Verdict
Carrera's Vulcan not only looks like a proper bike, it is a proper bike. Handling, balanced ride position and overall frame manners are great. As we've said, the fork is surprisingly good and disc brakes and fat tyres make for dependable all-weather performance. This bike could genuinely run competitively with a lot of £500 bikes, making it an absolute bargain for half that price.
© BikeRadar 2007
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User Reviews
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0.3
User review of Carrera Vulcan (07)
I think that this a great deal for a bike of this spec. The tyres are great although for road riding mabye a little chunky. The supsension is very good and with 100mm (4 inch) travel that is more than you get with some £500 bikes. The shifters are good. They are the shifters used on the GT Chucker 2.0. I think that this is a great bike and the vaule is unbeatable.
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0.3
User review of Carrera Vulcan (07)
Totally agree. Decided to take up some biking but was worried about shelling out loads of money for it to be sat in the garage after the fad! However think it will get some good usage now i know bikes arent like they used to be!! For £199 in halford at moment cant go wrong. If you want to spent £400-500 on a bike I suggest getting 2 of these babies one for spare!!ha ha
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0.3
User review of Carrera Vulcan (07)
Had this bike for about 6months now. upgraded the brakes to B4 formula hyds. i have to say there was nothing wrong with the original ones but i had the formula of my old bike. but the vulcan its self is a great vaule bike. cannot say a bad word about it. yes the fork does let it down a tad but for the price of the bike you can easly upgrade the fork, the sram x4 gears are great shift fast and smooth. will be keeping this bike for a while
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0.3
User review of Carrera Vulcan (07)
I've had one of these since April 2006 - it cost me £199 and I really cannot fault it . I've used it as the regular ride (saving the full sus for the BIG rides away from home) on the tow paths and country parks around me and I've not been gentle with it at all. It's taken everything thrown at it in its stride and never let me down. In 2 years it's had a chain, tyres, pads (new pads improved the brakes no end!!) and the ocassional spoke. With a good clean and lube after each ride I'm sure it will last another year while Ilook for a replacement .... but I have to say I do like the new red on the current model ( mine's silver) mmmmmm.... methinks another Vulcan and spend the rest on other goodies.
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0.3
User review of Carrera Vulcan (07)
I bought the 07 Vulcan in February at the sale price of £199. Speaking as a complete novice, the bike itself seems to be very well equipped for the money. I've ridden it constantly since buying it and have ridden some great trails. Friends who ride some higher end bikes suggest that the bike is great with its main limitation being the fork. These are easily upgraded and I plan to do this when £££ allows!!! I'm very happy with it, it looks good, rides smooth and gives me plenty of confidence when the going gets rough!! I use the bike to commute to work so may also consider putting some road tyres on it to speed things up a bit on the tarmac. The gear shifters are easy to use and change very smoothly. Overall a top choice for any novice (like me) or occasional rider.
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0.3
User review of Carrera Vulcan (07)
how do you harden and sofen the front suspenin
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0.3
User review of Carrera Vulcan (07)
crazy monkey
You harden the suspension buy turning the RED plastic dial anticlockwise, you should be able to see the words FAST and SLOW with pointy arrows to show which way to turn.
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0.3
User review of Carrera Vulcan (07)
I bought one of these from Halfords two weeks ago to commute to work, and find it's an extremely comfortable ride, I have messed about with the front suspension and find that having the dial turned fully onto SLOW helps with the sort of terrain I have to deal with. I also like the SRAM gears and Disc breaks, one of the disc breaks squeaks a little at the moment, but maybe that's due to the wet weather.
Overall I'm pretty happy with the bike.
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0.3
User review of Carrera Vulcan (07)
Just got this bike, feels really good to ride. However, does anyone know where i can find a manual/user guide for this bike. Picked it up from halfords but was given nothing on how to set up the bike i.e. suspension, brakes, gears ect. Tried the search engine but to no help. Any help would be much appreciated
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0.3
User review of Carrera Vulcan (07)
I purchased this bike as an all rounder, for traveling to work a 30 mile round trip each day, and for hitting the trails at the weekend. I have owned it a year now.
I have had to replace a few parts on this bike, but to be fair it has had some serious punishment. So far I've replaced;
left crank - It rounded off
rear rim - spokes came loose/snapped, damaged beyond repair
derailleur hanger - three times, can't handle any punishment
tyres - couldn't handle the hybrid commute and deteriorated quickly, slow on tarmac
bottom bracket - bearings dead
chain - stretched
Please don't interpret the above as negative, obviously replacing any part is frustrating but this bike has had a serious pounding, averagely 750 miles a month so I think it is a testament to the bike that these parts lasted a year.
The only items I was truly disappointed with were the hanger and rim. The hanger was far too flimsy will only take a knock to warp or break in two, after the second break I decided to carry one around spare as standard, and I feel the rim gave far too easily, after only just 2 months.
The crank must have been my fault for not checking it was tight regularly.
I never had any gripe with the tyres off road, they held the trial routes well. They fact that they fell to bits on the road simply put is because they aren't designed for that. I now have two sets of tyres, slicks for the road which I have had 43mph out of according to my GPS, and some big fat ones for the trails.
Enough about the bits that needed replacing, the good points;
Frame - exceptionally strong and light
Breaks - cable discs front and back
Gears - 24 speed & quick shifters
Suspension - adjustable can take no end of punishment
The frame is astonishing, it would appear to be pretty small and maybe fragile but this is not the case, I've had some serious tumbles on this bike, half on concrete and it has never shown any injury. Surprisingly again to it being slim its rigid as hell, couple that with the brakes and you can pull the thing to a stop in seconds whilst remaining balanced on the peddles, it won't throw you off.
So the brakes, pretty much what you'd expect from discs, strong and lock the wheels up instantly, much much better than V's. Once you have these set up right by tinkering with the pad depths you literally have to tickle the brakes to make it stop, although if you need to take the wheel off you can spend some time resetting it to get it right.
Suspension is very good, you can easily adjust the travel as you see fit, so for me on the roads I could make it hard as nails or on the trails soft with ample travel.
Gears are great, on the road with a hard suspension and additional bull bars I was often giving those guys in Lycra on racers a run for their money, and on the trails the shifters were very quick ensuring that I wasn't getting stuck and having to take may feet of the peddles.
Overall this is a great MTB at a great price, for someone like me that likes to use the road as well but can't really afford a second bike it handles well on tarmac with slight mods (£30 tyres, £15 bull bars).
You will not be disappointed with handing over your hard earned for this, if you are getting from Halfords though either build it yourself or check it over thoroughly and unlike me make sure they remember to give you the manual!
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0.3
User review of Carrera Vulcan (07)
I have recently bought the 2008 Vulcan and paid £250 for it. It is my first bike in around 10 years. I live very close to the 7 Stanes Mountain Bike courses so I thought I would try them out on a cheap bike to try and keep fit.
Had first trip around Mabie Forest, the gears were very smooth to change, made it very easy to get up hills. The brakes were ok, I found that the rear brake locked the wheel very easily (not sure if that is normal). Fell off twice due to my own stupidity, I hit a tree and the bike was fine, no damage what so ever. The suspension is easy to change, I had it set on Fast and the ride was hellish on the way down, I'll try slow next time. The bike itself is fairly light, makes it easy to lift over obstacles that are too large to go over.
Mine has an 18 inch frame and can be stored away very quickly and easily in the back of my VW Polo, not a huge car but the bike can just fit. My friend got the Carrera Banshee 08 and paid £350 for it. To be honest, even with the rear suspension, I think I bought the better bike.
Thanks to all the people who wrote reviews on here. I bought this bike after reading through this page and could not be happier with my purchase!
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0.3
User review of Carrera Vulcan (07)
i got one of these for christmas negatives are the disc brakes are rubbish theyre not sharp enough oh and the tyres theyre rubbish if your riding on road because they slow you down but there ok offroading.The forks are good theyre spongy and you can adjust them.There are some parts i am changing shortly i am changing the disc brakes for hydraulic discs because they are sharper and i am putting some new forks on this.The shifters are good the gears change well and quick i would say you get what you pay for.
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0.3
User review of Carrera Vulcan (07)
Great Bike!
I use it on trails and it easily competes with my mates Whyte 905 or full suss Dawes.
Also a good bike for long distance - I completed C2cC on it and there were no breakages, but, ber careful to align disk brakes up correctly when putting the quick release wheels back on.
When the discs are covered in mud they still perform well, not just for muddy discs, but for any discs, although the cables do stretch after a few months' hard riding.
The only grumble is that he seat post does not quick release to ajust when going up/down hill, although this is only a personal issue and can easily be changed for under £10.
The gears are good and the shifters certainly are rapid. There is a good range of low gears which make the hills a doddle, and larger gears which mean you can zip along the flat. The middling gears allow for expert control when you need it most!
This bike is a good buy, especially at Halfords where they build it for free and offer any support you need for 2 months after, including a free service after 6 months and then 1 year.
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0.3
User review of Carrera Vulcan (07)
this is a fantastic bike for the wong it costs, I have owned mine for 3 years now & it has been thrown round Cannock & wales & Peak districs nearly every weekend & my daily commute to work (about 15 miles per day). Only ever had to replace brake pads & bigger tyres, and i put some bar ends on for touch climbs. Oh and I replaced thre rear wheel as I snapped it on the DH runs at Cannock !
For the money it costs you really cant beat this bike !
Just upgraded to a GT i-drive Elite & its awesome, but ill defo be keeping my great Vulcan !
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0.3
User review of Carrera Vulcan (07)
First of all I really like this bike. Looks good in red, very cheap (they just came down in price to £249), doesn't weigh a ton and works a charm. I use mine for the daily commute and some of the easier weekend stuff. There are a three things I have replaced that turn this bike from a very good bike to a great bike...
1/ The saddle - it's rubbish. Pick up something like a Selle Italia X0 Trans Am for about £12.
2/ Replace the fork. I found it very soft for my 90kg. £50 on the second hand market and you're sorted. Maybe even go rigid if its only going to be doing road work.
3/ The brakes. Pick up some second hand Avid BB7's, Juicy's, Deore or LX disc brakes. Cheap as chips on eBay. Say £50.
Even after all (roughly £112) that it still works out as a bargain. Nothing else needs to be replaced till it breaks now and works without a hitch.
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0.3
User review of Carrera Vulcan (07)
I bought my Vulcan based on two things:
1. A friend recommended Carrera to me as a first bike, and
2. The name VULCAN - I like the bomber ;-)
But seriously, I'm liking it, though I have a gripe with the gears slipping (though I am now looking into bike maintenance to correct this).
For a first MTB, and for the price, you can't go wrong, but it won't be long before you start eyeing up other, more expensive ones...
Having just done Glentress' blue & red routes on a rented Kona, I'm now wondering will my Vulcan be able to handle those tracks?
Has anyone been on any good/tough courses with it/theirs? I know that alan230586 said he took his round Mabie Forest, but I've not been there so can't compare it to glentress.
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0.3
User review of Carrera Vulcan (07)
I've had the 2008 model of this bike for about 6 months now. I've been very happy with it so far - the only thing I've changed are the tyres. The stock tyres are heavy and slow rolling, but they can be cheaply replaced if you feel the need to upgrade.
I paid £250 for it - a bargain for a great entry-level bike!
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0.3
User review of Carrera Vulcan (07)
Carrera Vulcan 07 is a great bike for the money you spend on it.
I'm currently using it as an off-roading bike so I've upgraded the tyres to the Paneracer 26 x 2.4". I've also upgraded the forks to the XCM Lockout forks 09 version for when I'm riding on-road. Only had a few problems with it over the 2 years that I've been riding it.
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0.3
User review of Carrera Vulcan (07)
where can you buy this bike fromn apart from halfords??
Shopping partners
Specification
- Name:
- Vulcan (07)
- Built by:
- Carrera
- Price:
- n/a
- Weight (kg):
- 13.6
- Year:
- 2007
Frame & Fork:
- Frame Material:
- 7005 Aluminium
- Fork Brand:
- SR Suntour
- Fork Model:
- XCM 100mm Travel
Brakes:
- Brakes Brand:
- Tektro
- Brakes Model:
- I.O. Disc
Transmission:
- Cranks Brand:
- SR Suntour
- Rear Derailleur Brand:
- SRAM
- Rear Derailleur Model:
- SX4
- Front Derailleur Brand:
- SRAM
- Front Derailleur Model:
- SX4
- Shifters Brand:
- SRAM
- Shifters Model:
- SX4
Wheels:
- Rims Brand:
- DDM1
- Rims Model:
- Disc Specific
- Front Tyre Size:
- 26x2.3
- Rear Tyre Size:
- 26x2.3
Contact Points:
- Handlebar Model:
- Alloy
:
- Handlebar Type:
- Riser
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