Carrera Virtuoso vs Zelos?

robocode

I want to get a bike for commuting to work (15km each way) and even though I've heard great things about the B'twin Triban 3 I can't drive to Belfast to pick one up so I'm considering either the virtuoso or zelos. Do you think there's much difference between these two?

Seaneh

I'm 99.9% sure Decathalon will deliver to the republic.

If you phone the belfast shop they will talk you through it.

The Zelos has 2300 groupset and the Virtuoso is 2/3 year old Sora, so much of a muchness there.

At the prices for them though, the B-Twin triban 3 is a much better deal. The Triban 5 isn't far off the same price as those two listed and it's a much higher spec. if it had a different badge it could easuly sell for over €800, it's got the same sort of specs as the likes of the Giant defy 3 and Specialized Allez Sport and Cannondale Caad8 Sora but comes in at €505, which is over €300 cheaper than any of those "big name" bikes.

http://www.decathlon.co.uk/triban-5-road-bike-black-id_8239801.html

Brad768

I've had a Zelos since late December and haven't had any real problems, just general maintenance. I've found the paint has chipped in quite a few places and being a black bike, it shows quite clearly if you are really focusing on the frame. But it's my first road bike and I expect it to take a few battle wounds

robocode

They say on their site they don't deliver to the republic any more. I thought of using parcel motel but decathlon say they will only ship to northern Ireland those things that could go by royal mail ( < 3kg) so no luck there either. How do you find the Zelos Brad?

Brad768

It runs pretty well. Ended up tuning the gears better than what the mechanic in Halfords did but overall, they built it well. Brakes aren't as good as I'd like them and that's proberbly going to be my next upgrade. However they do their job when descending at 60kph and I haven't ran into the back of something so they are doing their job Being my first road bike and being on a budget meant that I wanted something cheap enough that I liked the look of more than anything else just to see if I was going to take road cycling further. It has certainly worked as I love getting out and look forward to the weekly club spins!

Rua_ri

robocode wrote: »

They say on their site they don't deliver to the republic any more. I thought of using parcel motel but decathlon say they will only ship to northern Ireland those things that could go by royal mail ( < 3kg) so no luck there either. How do you find the Zelos Brad?

Ring decathlon in Belfast. They do deliver to Ireland. I got them to deliver a kids bike without any issues. It cost my about A fiver for delivery.

robocode

Thanks for the feedback guys. I'll get in touch with decathlon tomorrow so.