narrowed it to 2 but advice gratefully recieved

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neil delahay

New Member
hi all

i'm neil and new....my last bike was as a teenager and i used to cycle on weekends and was the owner of a raleigh team banana and a peugeot milk team? cycle. have had a few mountain bikes and so on but am now in a position to get a bike for commuting and road use.

Basically its an insurance jobbie as my old rarely used mountain bike was stolen and i have been told i can use a company called wheelies and pay £50 for a bike up to £399. sounded too good to pass by and as i live closer to work these days thought i would jump in.

My requirements were road/hybrid and not a fixed gear, and a flat bar cycle. have kind of narrowed it down to a Viking Treviso and a Giant Rapid 4. pound for pound price wise i guess as the Giant is discounted into my price range from 499 its seems to be a no brainer but i would really appreciate the advise as to the pros and cons f both and whether as a brand Viking holds up to Giant as an option.

thanks in advance, and i assume the site gets many of these which bike for me threads... so thanks in advance for answering.
 

Saluki

World class procrastinator
As an owner of a Giant (and saving for another Giant) I agree with you that the Giant is a no brainer. Having said that I have no experience of riding a Viking in any guise.

Somebody very knowledgeable will be along any minute now though.
 

helston90

Eat, sleep, ride, repeat.
Location
Cornwall
<== I assume therefore it's the 2013 Rapid 4 if it's reduced, and it's not really a fair fight, get the Rapid and enjoy.
 

helston90

Eat, sleep, ride, repeat.
Location
Cornwall
Just looked at the Viking- am I right in reading the lowest gear is 45:23? I am guessing the designers haven't heard of any decent hills?
 
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neil delahay

New Member
yes its the 2013 model. Cardiff's reasonably flat where i am looking to ride as it will be a commute. but i can see the Giant seems to be favoured and its what i was thinking. Just something about the look of the Viking that kept me interested.
 
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neil delahay

New Member
Arrgghh!! So it turns out I can't order an insurance replacement from the regular site and reduced are out of the question. Looks like the Viking is going to be the best within the budget. £399. Looking for a flat bar hybrid/road. Are there any list price brands I should be looking at.

Neil
 
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neil delahay

New Member
possible but asking for receipts for my old bike and seams a lot more hastle so easy option is to go this route http://www.bikereplacement.co.uk/c1/Bikes.aspx max value £400. did consider both the options abaove but they seam to be leaning towards hybrid rather than flat bar road which i'm more leaning to although open to persuation.

thanks for all this help by the way!!

Neil
 
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neil delahay

New Member
ha ha even really like the specialized globe daily 1, minus the basket and guards (:wacko:) still considering a fixie and thought that a striped down one of these with a 3 speed would be a half way, hell i'd even maybe leave the guards on but defo not the basket.... shoot me now i've gone cross eyed and crazy searching this site over and over:blink:
 

MarkF

Guru
Location
Yorkshire
So you're looking at £399 is your maximum?
Next one I would look at is the entry level Specialized Sirrus.

I've been though most hybrids and owned the Giant (good bike). I rode a Sirrus Sport across Spain fully loaded and it is a nice bike, but, as soon as you want to adjust something, the small components turn to cheese at the first sight of a tool. The Dawes Discovery is a better quality bike IMO, had 4 of those.

Spesh looks better tho'................................
 

helston90

Eat, sleep, ride, repeat.
Location
Cornwall
I've been though most hybrids and owned the Giant (good bike). I rode a Sirrus Sport across Spain fully loaded and it is a nice bike, but, as soon as you want to adjust something, the small components turn to cheese at the first sight of a tool. The Dawes Discovery is a better quality bike IMO, had 4 of those.
Sorry to hear you had a bad experience with the components- I've never ridden one myself as I was able to get the Rapid but the Sirrus was on my shortlist- I wonder if all the Spesh range is susceptible to this or just that tier of model.
 
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