is it worth pay the big price tag on a bike?

[Speedking]

Hi,
I seen a few road bikes range from £150-6,000. I know you pay for what you get but this will be my first road bike an i dont fancy paying to much for one i have seen a few viking bikes that i in my price range but heard bad things about them are they really that bad?

 

[TonyEnjoyD]

Triban3
Millions of posts here agree

 

[snorri]

I certainly would not consider spending any where near £6,000 on a first road bike. I would suggest you go for one lower down the price range for starters, if you enjoy the experience you may well be going for the more expensive models in na few years.

 

[defy-one]

Buy the best you can afford. Many good bikes out there such as the carrera subway and triban 3 from circa £300

 

[Speedking]

yeh i know i keep hearing about the triban bike, i dont like the look of it lol are the viking bikes any good?

 

[2Loose]

I'd not looked at Viking before and my first check on reviews don't look particularly good, despite being quite a nice looker for the money.
http://www.bikeradar.com/gear/category/bikes/road/product/review-viking-roma-11-45621

 

[Nigelnaturist]

yeh i know i keep hearing about the triban bike, i dont like the look of it lol are the viking bikes any good?

I have a 4 year old Tourino, but just spent a little changing the gearing, as it was a little long for my fitness levels, never had any major problems however, but never having riding any other modern bikes, I cant comment.

I do an avg of 22-23 miles per ride (5-7 days a wk at the mo), my avg sp for the last wk is 12.67mph, my first ride on the 25/6 (this is after being of the road for over a year and wasn't fit then) was 18.2 miles at 9.8 mph, todays ride was 25.78 miles at 12 ( a few more hills today) I also carry about a 1/4 of the weight of the bike again in panniers, most of the time.
I did a ride on Sun 26.51 miles at 13.6mph, if my trend lines in excel are right I should be able to maintain an avg of between 14-15mph early Aug.

 

[Nigelnaturist]

Just in case you are wondering it had a triple 52/42/30 and 13,15,17,19,21,23,26, ratios of between 1.15 and 4.00, it know has 26/38/48 with 13,16,19,21,23,26,34 so from 0.74 to 3.69, it does spin out down hill though, but so far I have managed all the hills I have faced, and whilst there arn't to many big long climbs, there are a few quite sharp ones, and the way I look at it is, if I can keep going, I am getting better.

 

[spacecat]

How about buying last years model, you get a hell of a lot of bike for the money. Or second hand, by second hand I mean basically something that's been bought on a whim, ridden twice and then put up for sale. I think for my next bike I'm probably going to do that.

 

[Speedking]

yeh cause all i have seen is mostly negative comments about them, which has kinda of put me off them a bit. but there some of the most attractive bikes for the price range as well as the other ones are a bit more pricey

 

[smokeysmoo]

Angelfishsolo, (formerly of this parish) had a Viking and thought it was wonderful IIRC, don't know what model it was though.

A mate of mine has just completed the Ironman UK last weekend, and his bike for the 112 mile ride was one of THESE. It served him well through 12 months of training and the event itself, and it's now with a new owner who bought it at a charity dinner he held prior to the event.

That said, I'd go for the Triban, you can't see the bike when you're sat on it, and if you think others won't like the way it looks it'll make you ride faster so you become a blur

 

[Speedking]

yeh i been looking for that but there still trying to sell someone of the as if they were brand new an the price there asking for i might as well buy brand new. or they dont live close i have been lookin on ebay a lot but normally collection only.

 

[Speedking]

loool that is very true never thought about it in that way. i thnk i might just get a viking cause its just right for me right now an i dont really feel like paying for a bike that cost hundreds i could put that towards something else like petrol!!

 

[smokeysmoo]

loool that is very true never thought about it in that way. i thnk i might just get a viking cause its just right for me right now an i dont really feel like paying for a bike that cost hundreds i could put that towards something else like petrol!!

You won't need anymore petrol once you get a bike

 

[Speedking]

oh yeh i will cause a bike can get me so far lool.