deano69
Veteran
- Location
- kent ( Garden of England )
I bought my mountain bike back in 2005 from a cycles uk store but back then their bikes did'nt seem as good as todays bikes and all the makes like specialized, orange, trek etc etc were not on display then, but the bike I bought is a 24 speed Viking Targa DX mountain bike which at the time looked great.
It only came with a front disk brake mechanical too but the rear was v brake but effective at the time but it did have the rear disk brake mounting welded to frame should I want to change it. Eventually I did change it to a mechanical back and front then soon to these red hydraulics you see on it now but had to change rear wheel so bought a matching pair better than the stock ones.
As for tyres I bought the DMR moto's as they have a good grip on road and roll very fast and also handle dry trails well as long as its not too wet and sticky. The build quality of the bike is very good with shimano altus derailleurs and a KMC Z narrow chain which has only just been changed 6 yrs on after purchasing this bike and has not strecthed much but enough to cause some jumping.
The frame itself is brushed aluminium and clear laquered which looks the part and something you dont see on cheap bikes under £200 like this one was, but its very strong very light and the welding is spot on and neat and disk bracket very true as told lots are not. But the oversized forks weigh around 8.5 lbs and are clumsy and pretty useless so I have just bought a set of rockshox duel air ones for it after digging it out of spare room where its sat for a couple of years.
Its just I see and get talking to lots of people on bikes from treks to specialised and all say thats a nice bike what make is it and when I say Viking they go oh right with a look to go with it ? am I missing something or is it fit for the bin as I quite like this bike as do many onlookers who have ridden it but when they notice name its same story oh Viking mmm..........
I have seen a very similar frame design as mine on several other bikes which is square to circular tubing and these others have ranged from cheap through to more expensive specialized bikes and I have thought about taking off my stickers and replacing with specialized or trek or just something I can feel better about, or am I just being paranoid and should just ignore the remarks I get as im in no position to buy a better bike due to redundancy but really dont need one as this old girl does the job fine.
It only came with a front disk brake mechanical too but the rear was v brake but effective at the time but it did have the rear disk brake mounting welded to frame should I want to change it. Eventually I did change it to a mechanical back and front then soon to these red hydraulics you see on it now but had to change rear wheel so bought a matching pair better than the stock ones.
As for tyres I bought the DMR moto's as they have a good grip on road and roll very fast and also handle dry trails well as long as its not too wet and sticky. The build quality of the bike is very good with shimano altus derailleurs and a KMC Z narrow chain which has only just been changed 6 yrs on after purchasing this bike and has not strecthed much but enough to cause some jumping.
The frame itself is brushed aluminium and clear laquered which looks the part and something you dont see on cheap bikes under £200 like this one was, but its very strong very light and the welding is spot on and neat and disk bracket very true as told lots are not. But the oversized forks weigh around 8.5 lbs and are clumsy and pretty useless so I have just bought a set of rockshox duel air ones for it after digging it out of spare room where its sat for a couple of years.
Its just I see and get talking to lots of people on bikes from treks to specialised and all say thats a nice bike what make is it and when I say Viking they go oh right with a look to go with it ? am I missing something or is it fit for the bin as I quite like this bike as do many onlookers who have ridden it but when they notice name its same story oh Viking mmm..........
I have seen a very similar frame design as mine on several other bikes which is square to circular tubing and these others have ranged from cheap through to more expensive specialized bikes and I have thought about taking off my stickers and replacing with specialized or trek or just something I can feel better about, or am I just being paranoid and should just ignore the remarks I get as im in no position to buy a better bike due to redundancy but really dont need one as this old girl does the job fine.
rigid mountain bike. Quite good spec but I have to confess to removing most of the decals a few years ago.
