£665 | The ultimate ‘gateway’ bike?
From Halfords’ house brand Carrera comes the flagship Fury. With geometry that would have seen it filed under the ‘hardcore hardtail’ header a few short years ago and a great value build, it could well be the ‘gateway’ bike for a new generation of mountain bikers.
THE FRAME
Part of the reason for the Fury’s low price is the simplicity of its aluminium frame. The only internal cable routing enters the seat tube for the dropper post; all other control lines run down the underside of the down tube and along the chainstays. You get drop-in integrated headset bearings, an external threaded BB and two bottle cage mounts in the front triangle.
The forged rear dropouts hold a replaceable mech hanger and a post-style brake mount. There’s no bolt-through rear axle, but the Fury does use the latest 10x141mm ‘Boost QR’ quick-release standard. Halfords’ website doesn’t display a full geometry chart. The medium size we tested has a 67.7-degree head angle, 75-degree seat tube angle, 460mm reach and 428mm chainstays.
SPEC
Frame Aluminium alloy
Fork SR Suntour Raidon LO-R, 120mm travel
Drivetrain Shimano Deore (1×10)
Wheelset Doublewall rims on alloy hubs, WTB Trail Boss Flat Guard 27.5×2.25in tyres
Brakes Shimano MT200, 180/160mm rotors
Bar/stem Carrera, 765mm/Carrera, 45mm
Seatpost/saddle Satori Sorata Pro dropper/Carrera
Weight 14kg (30.9lb), medium size without pedals
THE KIT
The fork is SR Suntour’s 120mm-travel Raidon LO-R Air. Unlike the coil-sprung suspension on some bikes at this price, the spring rate can be adjusted enough for lighter riders to get the best out of it. It also has external rebound damping adjustment and enough compression damping available via the lockout lever to almost, but not quite, actually lock it out. The 15mm bolt-through axle is non-Boost compatible, though, with 100mm spacing, and uses Suntour’s Q-Loc tool-free securing system.
Shimano’s 10-speed Deore drivetrain mates an 11-46t cassette with a 32t narrow/wide chainring. The brand also supply the Fury’s MT200 brakes, with 180mm front and 160mm rear rotors. These have long fourfinger levers and two-piston callipers.
Unbranded alloy hubs are laced to Carrera-labelled double-wall rims wrapped in 27.5×2.25in WTB Trail Boss Flat Guard tyres. The rims aren’t tubeless-ready as standard, but some tubeless rim tape would change that. The saddle, 765mm-wide bar and 45mm stem are all Carerra’s own. While the unbranded 125mm-travel dropper post is listed as a Satori Sorata Pro, the tiny QR code on the back navigates to the Tranz-X website.
THE RIDE
This bike is a bit of a hooligan – in a good way. It has a playful, poppy feel, which makes for reduced time spent with both wheels on the ground. The presence of a dropper post adds confidence in any technical situation, while the brakes, despite lacking the out-and-out power a more expensive four-piston set-up would offer, give plenty of bite when you need to slow down in a hurry. While the tyres do break traction fairly readily, it’s at a consistent, predictable point, which means skids and drifts are the order of the day.
We took the Fury down some of our favourite technical trails and, although it isn’t necessarily meant for that type of riding, it put up a solid, capable display. It’s stiff enough that sprinting up climbs feels almost natural, and offers a level of comfort that lends it well to long days messing about on the trails. For the price, you’ll struggle to find better.
VERDICT
Fantastic value for money, the Fury is packed with functional, no-nonsense parts for a proper taste of MTBing