I was in the market for a new pushbike as mine was being skipped – 1988 vintage and starting to show its age – and as my partner and her daughters like to get out and about on bikes.

We ended up at Halfords and after looking at a few bikes, I settled on the Carrera Kraken 09 20″. Carrera pushbikes are – as far as I know – only sold through Halfords who use their purchasing clout to bring a relatively high specification bike to market at a lower price point than you would otherwise expect. Its specification is as follows:

• Alloy Rims: Yes
• Approximate Weight (KG): 13.64
• Brake Type: Hydraulic Disc
• Chainset: Truvativ Isoflow with Power Spline BB
• Exact Frame Size: 20″
• Fork Lock-out : Yes
• Fork travel: 120mm
• Forks: Suntour XCR 120mm Travel
• Forks – Adjustable damping : Yes
• Frame Colour: Grey
• Frame Material: Aluminium
• Frame Size: 20+
• Frame-: 7005 Aluminium
• Front Brake: Tektro Auriga Comp hydraulic disc brakes
• Front Mech: SRAM X5
• Gear Shifters: SRAM X5 27 Speed Trigger
• Gender: Mens
• Handle Bars: Kalloy Alloy 31.8MM
• Headset: Semi Integrated
• Hubs: Fomula Alloy Black
• Number of Gears: 27
• Pedals: Wellgo Alloy Black
• Quick Release Wheels: Yes
• Rear Brake: Tektro Auriga Comp hydraulic disc
• Rear Mech: SRAM X5
• Rims: Double Wall Alloy
• Saddle: Carrera
• Seatpost: Kalloy Alloy 31.6MM
• Stem: Kalloy Alloy 31.8MM
• Suspension: Front
• Tyre size: 26 x 2.3
• Tyres: Continental Speed King
• Wheel size: 26

Not at all bad.

Pricing was (I thought) good: on offer in-store at Grimsby at £400 which was £50 off their previously advertised prices. Ordered and paid for and collected yesterday but not tested yet: that test will follow, especially in view of what happened next…

Having already decided to get a pushbike for London – my base during the week – I started looking at Decathlon’s stock of similar spec’d bikes and found them to be more expensive: price matching produced a heavier bike with cable-operated brakes, for instance.

So I looked at Halfords’ website and was horrified to see that the Carrera Kraken was being advertised at 20% off for web sales even though you could collect in store! Another order placed and I went to collect it at £320 (boxed) from Halfords’ Old Kent Road store. The assistant failed to locate a boxed one as it seems that their stock was assembled and on show. The bikes hadn’t been fully built or safety checked so I have arranged to pick it up this evening.

As the bike will be fully assembled, shoving it inside my Mazda RX-8 R3 isn’t now going to be an option. I had ordered a Thule 970 Express from Wiggle (at £54 delivered) but they hadn’t processed the order after a day, so thinking this might happen, I had cancelled the order before going to Halfords. They had some in stock (at £60) so I bought one. It fits to the demountable towbar in just a minute or so and folds flat when not needed but I do find the fact that the whole shebang is effectively hanging off one support only a little disconcerting.