viking road bikes?

[young Ed]

any one got any experience with the viking road bikes? they re even cheaper than the etry level tribans
http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Viking-Je...54373?pt=UK_Bikes_GL&var=&hash=item540575ba65

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Viking-Sp...80199?pt=UK_Bikes_GL&var=&hash=item43bd3cb147

stepping it up one notch at least in terms of price
http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/VIKING-SC...53580?pt=UK_Bikes_GL&var=&hash=item540575b74c

and again slightly more expensive
http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/VIKING-PE...64144?pt=UK_Bikes_GL&var=&hash=item540575e090

Cheers Ed

 

[young Ed]

they appear to have cut costs on all but the bottom one sticking bar end shifter up by the stem rather using real sti's
Cheers Ed

 

[ianrauk]

Stick with the Triban

 

[MissTillyFlop]

I had a viking hybrid which was lovely but HEAVY.

 

[young Ed]

Stick with the Triban

triban and shimano r504 wheels seems to be the way for me then
just waiting for me to be bothered to find the time/energy to get on with my business plan then!
Cheers Ed

 

[Roadrider48]

I hate those shifters with the thumb clicker arrangement thing!

 

[jay clock]

a clubmate bought one. cheap tat in my view

 

[simon the viking]

My first road bike (on my return to serious cycling after 25 odd years) was the Viking Clubmaster I paid £220 from Halfords for it, I must have done about 5000 miles over 18 months on it relatively trouble free.... New chain, back sprockets and a new bottom bracket. I upgraded it to brifters from butterfly levers.

It was a good first purchase and was a cheap way to see if I wanted to ride a road again, but knowing what I know now I would've spent a bit more. They certainly aren't B.S.O territory but better can be had for just a bit more cash....

I've kept it as a spare bike (meant to be winter bike but..... the Defy rides so much nicer so it doesn't get out much)

As @ianrauk said stick with the Triban 3 or could you run to a Giant Defy 5 ?

 

[smokeysmoo]

Mate of mine did 12 months training and then did IMUK in 2012 on a Viking Tri-Race. It never let him down TBH but needless to say it was the sole Viking bike in the event of 1500 competitors.

Would I buy one? Not a chance, some models might be OK as my mate proved, but the Triban has been far more widely proved IMO.

 

[HLaB]

They are cheaper for a reason, cheaper components and a heavy frame. I've a viking fixie, there's not much to go wrong in terms of components (no gears) and perfect for my commuting needs but it weighs the proverbial ton and there's no way I'd recommend it to a beginner.

 

[jack smith]

Very heavy but stiff and fast, I had the Viking mistral as my first and it rode better than my new specialized in terms of acceleration, do go with the none with sti's if you can afford it though, it's worth noting they are all pretty much the same the prices just vary with name and colour

 

[uclown2002]

Very heavy but stiff and fast, I had the Viking mistral as my first and it rode better than my new specialized in terms of acceleration, do go with the none with sti's if you can afford it though, it's worth noting they are all pretty much the same the prices just vary with name and colour

How can it be very heavy but fast? And how can it accelerate better than a presumably significantly lighter spesh?

 

[the snail]

How can it be very heavy but fast? And how can it accelerate better than a presumably significantly lighter spesh?

probably goes really well downhill

 

[uclown2002]

probably goes really well downhill

No doubt!

 

[SS Retro]

Viking used to be well respected run a factory team supply bikes to pro riders and teams .............................but now they just use the name and turn out heavy old s**t.

1959 Viking team bike.