Carrera Subway 8

badly designed bike, rear wheel axle comes loose, chain falls off, gearing breaks often, impossible to change the rear inner tube, brakes good though

I owned this bike for about 4 years until it was recently stolen :(

I did around 5-6000 miles on it,had one puncture in that time and never had to replace the tyres. After 2 years the gears started to slip and had to be adjusted.

I had a puncture on the way to work and had it repared by a LBS, big mistake as they hadnt come across the gears before and set them up wrong, the gears came apart whilst pulling away at a roundabout and nearly killed me, cost £100 to repair.

So great bike but make sure whoever works on the gears knows what they are doing.

I've been commuting on my Carrera Subway 8 for a year now, and it hasn't let me down once. It is truly low maintenance, just oil the chain every now and then and that's it. Don't bother with Halfords for looking after the bike though: I bought mine second hand and the gears were misaligned. Halfords charged me £15 and returned the bike with the gears still misaligned and the brakes not working. However, once the gears were adjusted by a competent bike shop (they're not too difficult to do yourself, but you'd need help to hold the cable in place whilst adjusting them) then everything has been great ever since.Make sure the bike's got mudguards, and if you want to make life easier for yourself then fit a rear rack and get some good panniers. The bike can carry weight well, so why not make your life more comfortable?

The brakes on the Carrera Subway 8 are excellent. I like the fact you can change gear when stationary. The tyres, no punctures in 3 years!

The 3 year bike plan was a waste of time. You'd be very lucky to find a halfords staff member with enough knowledge of the hub to fix/adjust it to your satisfaction. Most seem to be part time youngster with an interest in bikes and very little training. Having said that, the hub was the only issue ive had. I got the bike for its low maintainence in the sale for £220, probably not worth the full price of £400. I personally find the bike too slow but if you can deal with that then its perfect for commuting.

I bought the bike from Halfords in April this year and at the date of writing (mid-December) have used it constantly for commuting to work daily (from the Isle of Dogs to the City) and for leisure rides at the weekend, for an average of about 100 miles a week.

The Shimano internal hub gears are excellent, and I find that I don't need any different gearings (albeit a relativele flat route to work). When you add the disc brakes and the fact it comes with mudguards, then starting value for money is excellent in my view. Other than one puncture (dealt with promtly and efficeintly by Halfords), I have had absolutely no problems with the bike - need to fine tune the adjustment on the gears every four weeks or so to ensure no "slipping".

This is never going to be the fastest thing on two wheels, but nor is it a sluggard, and I did do the Bikeathon in the summer with relatively little pain! I haven't had it long enough to see what long-term durability/reliability is going to be like, but based on my experience to date I would certainly buy another to replace it in the future.

I bought a Carrera Subway 8 from Halfords, a third off as it was last years model etc. Excellent value for 270 quid.

And it was equipped with mud guards.

I agree that a black/grey bike is the least reflective and not a bright idea.

Very very poor, and definitely not recommended! I managed to break the first one in 2 weeks (when the wheel and gears fell apart whilst cycling). Then on the replacement I averaged ~50 miles a week, and after 2 years (despite looking after it), it started to fall apart again - firstly the gears started slipping, then one by one they lost functionality - not helpful when you only have 8 gears to start with! Its life ended when grease started leaking and the staff at Halfords were, quote, "Not trained in how to fix the bike". However I can't fault Halfords service - now at 2 1/2 years into the 3 year guarantee they replaced it free of charge with a Carrera Valour - perfect bike.

I use mine most days after using it originally to get back into cycling. Its a great bike to get you started on cycling again but not so great if you are using it everyday. It seems to have deteriorated rapidly in the past 6 months despite having it serviced regularly.

I would recommend this as a starter bike but not if you are a regular cyclist.

A good value bike for someone looking to use it for commuting but do not be surprised if other commuters leave you behind!!!

Ive had my subway8 for about 2 years and have found it to be a delight to ride. ive never needed more than the 8 gear on offer on this bike. Some of the gears did start making a clicking noise after about 6 months of mild use. the clicking sill persists, but because i am an occasional biker, i have not really been too concerned. the ride is supple and the tyres seem t provide for relatively swift on-road speed as well as off road ability. the bike is good looking and comfortable. very easy to live with. i would recommend this bike.