Carrera Sparc - a few more questions

[Mattyduk]

Ok, after looking at the x6, the future Infineum, cytronex (out of stock) and the Salisbury, I've come across the Carrera sparc at Halfords.

My current bike is a non electric Carerra Gryphon and this one doesn't look massively different apart from the sloping crossbar (which I can live with - even me being as fussy as I am !). Shame it NiMH battery but can't have everything. It's not a bad price (10% off at the moment - any other vouchers ?) and seems a good compromise on performance and looks.

Basically I want a bike for the winter that's going to give me an extra bit of help going into the headwinds. Doesn't need a massive range (only 7 miles a day) and I haven't got any really massive inclines to go up.

So a few questions.

Can someone confirm that this is a single frame size and what size (on the website it says 19-20).

I'm only about 5'7" and around 12ish stone. Would this be ok.

Does the battery have to be charged connected to the bike

How long does charging take, and I suppose with a NiMH battery it's best to completely discharge it before charging it again ?

How many charges will the battery take ?

cheers

Mat

 

[Rad]

Matt, there's a couple of sparc reviews in the reviews section. One member only posted their review yesterday. Personally I can't stand the look of the thing, but if you can live with its styling then it's probably worth investigating.

 

[Mattyduk]

thanks for that. I've posted there to see if anybody can answer the questions or post any more piccies of it.

I agree it's not quite as conventional looking as some others.

I've also found that the halfords site has the manual pdf for download and about 16 questions including frame size have been answered.

cheers

Mat

 

[Mattyduk]

going to see one tonight in Halfords, so I'll see if it's frightening to look at in the real life, and I can't find any other pictures of it apart from Halfords.

 

[flecc]

It is a Halfords exclusive Mattyduk, the Sparc bought as a kit almost the same price as that whole Carrera bike.
.

 

[Mattyduk]

I'll try and take some mobile pics tonight if anybody's interested

 

[flecc]

Here's a picture of the Carrera Sparc placed on Flickr by forum member Alex some while ago:

Carrera Sparc
.

 

[Mike63]

..how much is it Matt ?

for me it would have to be a lot cheaper than the X for me to choose it :

....Mike

 

[flecc]

As Matt hasn't come back yet, the price was £699 at introduction around about November 2007, and I doubt it's changed much since.
.

 

[Mattyduk]

right, sorry didn't get back last night, sainsburys shopping, football, LBP etc

anyway, here's a new piccie, only with an iphone, and obviously the bike isn't at the best viewing positions

anyway, the bike is definitely more impressive in the flesh than the basic photo on the Halfords site and flickr (which get's it a "not fed" look". It's basically more "meaty" with a very MTB look. The battery could be less obvious, but in many ways it doesn't look like a battery more of a plastic container behind the seat.

The paintwork looks great and the cables nicely hidden, and looks like it's been made with high quality components. Downloaded the SPARC.Sram manual yesterday, via the Halfords Q&A section on the bike. and it says the battery doesn't have a memory effect.

Anyway, the 10% deal lasts till Monday, so I ordered one online (the 10% deal isnt available instore, even though that's where I will pick the bike up from next Tuesday !!!) for £675, which is just the right price for me.

Ok, it's not as good looking as the infineum and it's not quite as conventional as the X6 (and yes, maybe the battery is even more obvious than the rocket launcher!) but I prefer it's "tough " look compared to some of the other models.

 

[Rad]

Good luck with it Matt. Make sure you put a review up as I'd be interested in seeing how you get on with it. Wouldn't mind seeing some more photos of it too.

 

[Barnowl]

Yes good luck Matt. I hope you get some decent weather next week.

I saw the Sparc today in our local halfords. The MTB style isn't really my cup of tea but looked reasonable for the money.Then I got distracted by the Boardman stands (again). Good job I haven't got £700 to blow at Halfords . Wonder what one of those woulb be like with a Tongxin kit on it.....

PS I take it you can't get the Sparc on the Halfords or Cycle to Work scheme?

 

[flecc]

Matt, I don't know if you are used to hub gears, many aren't these days, but at the heart of the Sparc motor is an SRAM P5 gear hub. These are generally considered as the toughest on the market, but they are slow changing, especially when new.

It's very important to pause pedalling when changing gear on these, and a momentary fractional backpedal eases through the change. It's something you can soon get used to though. Adjustment is by a red line indicator on the actuator box at the right of the motor and that's set with it in third gear.

If removing the actuator box with it's thumbscrew to remove the wheel for any reason, it's important to make sure you select the second gear first to take it off and replace it.
.

 

[Mattyduk]

cheers for the gear advice

Hopefully pick it up on tuesday and post back here on Wednesday with my initial thoughts . I'll do a full review in a week or so

Mat

 

[Mattyduk]

well, it could have gone better ! I of course forgot the occasional issues when dealing with Halfords.

First of all, rang them to check it was ready and that they had charged the bike. They said they hadn't but it would have some charge in it. I was a bit sceptical.

Anyway, on getting to Halfords, they managed to try and overcharge me by 50 quid, which I then spent about 5 minutes explaining simple maths to them !

The bike looks very nice, and they handed me a bag with the charger and what they said were instructions. On the way out of the shop, I noticed that the display model had disappeared, so they had obviously given me that one. Not a problem with non e-bikes, but if it's been sitting there for months on end without any charge, the battery could have been affected.

Outside of the shop, I checked the charger was there (nice and small/light) but they had only included instructions for the new cycle computer I'd ordered - so no SRAM or Carerra instructions. I should have gone back into the shop at this stage, but I knew I could get the instructons off the net, so wasn't too worried.

On cycling, there weren't any leds on the control (denoting power/mode), and although there was a bit of power, it was definitely struggling and it cut out completely after a mile.

Now at home, I've removed the battery from the bike (the battery cover has a scrappy white label on it that covers it top, which I will need to remove), and started charging.

However, in the manual it says the light on the charger should go red, mine is an Orange - not a yellow denoting battery not connected/being tested, just orange.

So I'll see how it goes. If it doesn't work in the morning, I'll cycle there tomorrow evening and get a full refund.

cheers

Mat

 

[Rad]

Good old Halfords. That's the route I have to take to get my x-bike.

 

[flecc]

Sorry to hear that Mat, the problem being in part that they know nothing about e-bikes. Hopefully it will charge ok though.

Here's the link for the Sparc technical manual for if you do keep it:

Sparc 2008
.

 

[Mattyduk]

well the battery did charge. The Orange light refers to the red light in the manual i.e charging, then after a while it went into battery optimisation mode green, then a quick flash of orange (read red !), and finally settled on green. Took about 3 hours.

However the control panel on the bike is not working correctly. You can select off, econ, speed and that affects the bike, however there are no LEDS showing on this panel like there should be, current battery level and mode.

So will be ringing Halfords tomorrow for a full replacement (not a display model this time !).

Saying that, I did cycle up and down the road a few times and the power and the bike felt good. Nice and comfortable ride and seemed to help me up the hill well enough. I'll be riding it to work tomorrow and then onto Halfords in the evening

Anyway, I'll post more about the saga tomorrow !

 

[chess]

sparc no led's lit

I own a sparc. It is interesting to read the comments of people who own other bikes and look at it in photos.
The control wire is plug in at both the controler and the motor ends. Try pusjing them home as thy may have come loose.
I have no trouble with my biike, including dealing with Halfords which was a concern!
chess

 

[Mattyduk]

yeah, checked the cable today, but no luck. Still no lights of any kind on the control.

Spoke to Halfords this morning and they were very apologetic although I was annoyed that their reasoning for giving me an ex demo model (and I'm sure it was by the state of the battery casing) was that it was the only one in stock - I expected a new boxed model.

Anyway, the upshot of it is they are going to order a new one in build it for me (including a full charge this time), test it correctly (make sure the lights come on and the controller works fully), and then I can take the old one back and swap it over (and they will swap my accessories at the same time).

Apart from that, cycled to work today on it, and I'm very happy.The bike feels very solid and comfortable, and I found cycling without power on straights and small inclines pretty easy going. The power works well, with it helping me get up the one big hill I have on the way to work. It isn't the quietest motor in the world, but it is smooth.

Perhaps the controller switch (between Off,econ,speed) could be a bit more resistant as it seems a bit flimsy. Saying that, it suits me that I can switch in the power when I want to, something I couldn't do on my old e-bike.

So, as long as Halfords supply me a brand new working bike, I'm going to keep the bike.