Barracuda Jacana

I bought one of these bikes second-hand for £125.00, the standards components are really bad, if you are thinking about buying one of these, make sure you have roughly £600 extra for aftermarket parts. I took this bike for a run the day after I got it, it was possibly to most uncomfortable bikes I've ever rode. I then bought £600+ on parts to make this bike better. I have owned Kona and Trek MTB's, and I must say that after these parts were installed it felt the same as one of the £3000+ MTB's. So buy this bike, spend £600+ on parts and enjoy it. You can ride it 24/7.

This Barracuda Jacana bike is rubbish. I paid £245 and all its caused is trouble, the brakes are unreliable and the drayliers are useless. As soon as i got it it had to be sent to Halfords for a service and even they said it is unreliable and unsafe.

Well, I've been riding this Barracuda Jacana bike for about 6 months now, I think that it is great for it's price. I have taken the bike on very intense trails, like Cwm Carn, it was fine on Cwm Carn. The bike comes with Hybrid tyres which I replaced with Kenda Negagels, for about £25 (pair). Recently I have had a problem, but a one that any bike I would have ridden this would have happened. So what happened is the Rear D railleur Hanger bent, but this happens on all bikes. (£20 pounds to replace) When I first got the bike, I was really annoyed with the fact the brakes were always squeaking, and it didn't stop, untill recently, don't know why, maybe I've just worn them in enough to stop.

Overall I like it, very, very good for the price.

You get more than what your paying for, don't expect an amazing bike for this money though.

The Barracuda Jacana is an awful bike to ride i bought mine for £150 (not a good price!) the breaks are responsive but squeak all the time the front derailleur is "Falcon" a brand that you only find on cheap bikes and it causes alot of problems it has taken me hours to get it nearly sorted, the rear derailleur is'nt actually that bad for a cheap shimano, the tyres are cheap off road they make riding on road difficult, also this bike is not light compaired to other bikes of similar price. If you are thinking about buying one of these i advise against it i would go for a Merida, i have a Merida Kalahari 510 aswell and to be honest its just superior compared to the Barracuda and is around the same price!

I bought this Barracuda Jacana bike 2 years ago (2007 spec). I got it for £150 after hard negotiations and it is a good bike for this money. However, I have had a few issues with it. The front derraileur is unbranded and I found it hard to tune up. I sent it to a bike shop and they got it nearly working ok. When I changed the tires for smaller width ones (1.95) I could adjust it so there is no problem.

The disk brakes are constantly in contact and they squeek even with disk brake cleaner the squeek does not go away.

The wheel bearings do not seem up to much, the wheel stops rotating fairly quickly.

Also the rear derraileur is a Shimano Tourney. The bottom of the range and I have seen these break quite badly on off road rides. But I have had no trouble with mine (fingers crossed)

These are just the negative points-which is why we all read reviews, I do enjoy riding the bike and I will be keeping it for some time.

If you are thinking of buying one, you can get a similar spec saracen for about £200 and these seem to not suffer from any of the above points.

Barracuda Jacana is a fab bike with good spec for £.

do you really want to pay more just for a name? if you do,carry on but you cant go wrong with this bike.

im female who uses mens bikes and find this bike to be light enough to lift and move about easily.

BELL??? who uses a bell???

Brilliant bike for the money taken it on some pretty intense routes bike is light as a feather suspension is v good. gear changes brilliantly and it looks great in electric blue with cool cables.excellent overall bike!

And the person above who wrote get the claud butlers they are horrible looking bikes compared to the bara and well over priced. i paid £150 for mine and your looking at another £100 for the claud which has similar specs.

The Barracuda Jacana front suspension is good and is light , good looking electric blue - and the cable are very good. dual brake/shifters are good. yer good bike overall.

If you are planning on buying this Barracuda Jacana, I would recommend the Claud Butler Pagan or Claud Butler Ravana as an alternatives. It's heavy, looks rubbish, brakes are rubbish, the bell isn't loud enough and the suspension is non-existent.