upgrades?

[Nigelnaturist]

Does anybody know any bottle holders what will fit on my carrera tdf?

Elite 3c Water Bottle Cage
I got a couple of these and they are great no rattles or such, easy to get the bottles in and out. They were on offer a couple of months ago so were a little cheaper, in black or aluminium.

 

[HLaB]

Does anybody know any bottle holders what will fit on my carrera tdf?

AFAIK they are all a standard size and any you buy out of the shop will fit.

 

[Rob3rt]

Don't bother upgrading anything apart from the pedals and tyres. Even then there's no need to rush into anything. Got my carrera tdf 8 weeks or so ago and haven't done a thing to it yet, apart from a phone holder on the bars. Get used to cycling, enjoy it and in a year or two's time just upgrade the bike. That's what I'm gonna do, you won't lose too much money on it anyway. Great bike you've got there, good choice..... And Rob3rt there's no need to be rude, this guy is new like a lot of us!

I wasn't being rude I was being to the point in such a way as to make my post stand out amongst the dreck advising on various upgrades! If you don't appreciate this, fine by me, stick to reading only posts by those well versed in back patting!

Does anybody know any bottle holders what will fit on my carrera tdf?

Pretty much any will fit. Elite custom cages are pretty good IMO, not very costly, a light as many much more expensive cages and most importantly, bottles do not bounce out of them if you hit a pot hole.

 

[da_murphster]

Also about to buy this bike and although a sufferer of 'upgradeitus' I want to avoid throwing money at the bike.

How bad are the standard tyres? I will be using this through winter - do I stick with the standard ones until they give up on me or are they genuinelly so rubbish they need upgrading?

Same question about the brake blocks - OK for now or so bad they require immediate upgrading? Any suggestions with what to replace the brake blocks with?

 

[Rob3rt]

Also about to buy this bike and although a sufferer of 'upgradeitus' I want to avoid throwing money at the bike.

How bad are the standard tyres? I will be using this through winter - do I stick with the standard ones until they give up on me or are they genuinelly so rubbish they need upgrading?

Same question about the brake blocks - OK for now or so bad they require immediate upgrading? Any suggestions with what to replace the brake blocks with?

Buy the bike if this is the one you want, then ride it. You will soon find out if things are not to your liking. Until you do this, I would suggest not spending any more money, some people will moan about the tyres (some legitimately, some because they were simply unlucky with punctures, some due to user error) or brake blocks (same as before) some will be perfectly happy with them. See which camp you are in!

 

[Doyleyburger]

Also about to buy this bike and although a sufferer of 'upgradeitus' I want to avoid throwing money at the bike.

How bad are the standard tyres? I will be using this through winter - do I stick with the standard ones until they give up on me or are they genuinelly so rubbish they need upgrading?

Same question about the brake blocks - OK for now or so bad they require immediate upgrading? Any suggestions with what to replace the brake blocks with?

Don't chuck money at it. Tyres on the bike are fine but a lot of people have had bad experiences with them. Had mine since July and there is nothing wrong with them. Having said that the wife has said she'll get me gatorskins for Xmas.
Not necessary to upgrade, otherwise you might as well buy a more expensive bike I suppose

 

[da_murphster]

If i wanted to upgrade the brake pads I hear kool stops are good - which ones would I need?

Also need some mud guards!

I'll be buying them from Halfords

(sorry to jump on your thread OP!)

 

[DooDah]

It is an entry level bike, you could upgrade pretty much everything, down to dust caps, but should you bother?

If you upgraded everything you would have a new bike. A lot of depends on your new found cycling ability and your financial situation. Perhaps upgrade tyres and brake pads, and then look at n+1?

 

[mynydd]

I did have terrible problems with punctures until I upgraded my tyres. Once had three in the same day! But I do commute on country lanes where farmers trim the hedges and don't sweep the roads after.
Lots of reasonably priced puncture resistant tyres on eBay. Im currently using schwalbe luganos, which so far have been great

 

[da_murphster]

If i wanted to upgrade the brake pads I hear kool stops are good - which ones would I need?

Also need some mud guards!

I'll be buying them from Halfords

(sorry to jump on your thread OP!)

Crud Road Racer mk2 Mudguard Set - ordered! Threads say it fits the TDF

Still could do with some help on what kool stop pads would fit? Cannot find the salmon ones on the halfords site?

 

[Kies]

I have those crudracers on this bike ...

They are OK and do the job,but having only one pair of fork supports does mean the front guard rubs when changing direction suddenly.
I would suggest the SKS longs, as they have 2 supports either side but cost more. Not sure Halfords even stock them

 

[Rob3rt]

If you upgraded everything you would have a new bike. A lot of depends on your new found cycling ability and your financial situation. Perhaps upgrade tyres and brake pads, and then look at n+1?

What I was getting at is that the OP asks what he/she should upgrade first? Well in reality this might not be the question that needs to be answered really. So rather than giving the OP a shopping list, the more experienced (presumably) people offering advice probably ought to steer the OP into asking the right questions, one of which may be "should I bother upgrading anything?".