in the s**t

[rugbyluke]

Long story short my bikes were stolen out my shed.

Need a bike asap and found two I can buy now, need to know which one is best.

Please Spare me the bulls**t because they are cheap, but its all I can get at the moment till I get some more money.

Bike 1- Viking citifix

Bike 2- challenge fixie

Any opinions of which one to buy will be a great help

Thank you

 

[smokeysmoo]

OK I'll give you my tuppence worth without any 'bulls**t'

Both bikes are low end, the Challenge seriously low end, and given the choice of the two you mention I'd buy........................................something second hand.

I'm not being jokey, that would seriously be my choice.

But, if you really must buy one of your choices go for the Viking, avoid the Challenge like the plague, heavy pig iron piece of shi7e IMO.

A few CC'ers have had/have got Viking bikes and TBH they are better regarded then some might think. Slightly OT but a mate of mine trained for and completed the Ironman UK last year using a Viking Tri-Race, and TBH it never missed a beat. He stuck a new BB in a few weeks before the event and some new bar tape and that was it, I was really surprised.

An ex-CC'er 'Angelfishsolo' also had a Viking something or other, and he always spoke highly of that as well.

With all that said, I'd still go second hand with your budget, then even if you come to sell it chances are you'll lose nothing, whereas if you buy a new Viking you'll get nowt for it second hand.

Of course if you plan to keep it and maintain it, or keep it and ride it into the ground the resale value is a moot point.

 

[shouldbeinbed]

sorry to hear about your loss.

Viking here too of those 2, as good a stop gap as any but maybe try a punt on gumtree or preloved for a better quality second hand bike you can buy now. if you don't mind downtube shifters you can get eminently rideable bikes from £50 and put the rest you'd have paid out on the 2 you mention towards replacing your losses more quickly.

Or of you're near a Decathlon have a look at their bottom of the range roadies - me and eldest have been sharing use of a B'Twin sport 1 for a good few years now and its reliability and rideability is way above the £170 odd I paid for it.
Dunno about your work but if you have an internal internet that has a sales/wanteds section, that can be a gold mine for decent kit at rock bottom proces from people who have upgraded or decided cycling isn't for them and just want the shed space back.

 

[TheDoctor]

Out of these two I'd go for the Viking.
But if you've got a Decathlon near you I'd look there.
If you can run to £300 you won't get a better road bike than a Triban 3 for the money.

 

[HLaB]

I'm one of those CC'ers with a Viking (Road FX SS) Its my commuter/utility bike; its a bit heavy (13.5kg) but its never let me down, I've done a couple of centuries on it an rides in bad weather. I fitted spd's to it quickly (I need them to get it going more sharply); I've had to tighten the chain tugs a few times but that is no biggie and I changed the tyres recently (after 2555miles when they p'tured twice in a row, there's still wear in them but the OT are a b'gger to remove/refit) that my experience after 8 and 1/2 months (2875miles).
IIRC I paid £175 for mine but I saw a 2nd hand langster yesterday on Ebay for £160, it looks better value to me. Ed Co Op do reasonable priced fixies too and I quite like the look of the Planet X On Ones frames.

 

[rugbyluke]

Cheers lads great help me one today so Viking it is

Thanks again