New to cycling and looking for advice
- Thread starter billy92
- Start date
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davester65
Growing Old is Compulsory...Growing Up is Optional
- Location
- Hull, East Yorkshire
Take a look at the Viking Torino......alloy frame, carbon forks, sora groupset, weighs in at about 11kg and can be found for £350-£400......Great value, nice looking bike.
From what ive been reading people don't have much good to say about viking bikes. I had originally looked at some which i was interested in
slippy900
Regular
- Location
- Isle of Man
Hi i've just purchased myself a Viking Torino, my first thoughts when i opened the box was brilliant beautiful bike.... I havn't been out on it yet i'm taking it to a bike shop this Sat to get it all checked over properly as i am going to start cycling to my work (13 miles) so i want to make sure its safe as i'm not confident enough to build it myself, check gears are set up properly etc. It does look very nice i must say but theres one or two things i'm a bit annoyed about: 1st thing is it doesn't have quick release brake calipers which is strange cos the wheels are quick release, so how do you get the wheel off when your out on the road!!! 2nd thing is the end caps on the droop handle bars aren't very secure so i'm thinking over time these will fall off and the rapping around the bars will start to unravel, i hope i'm wrong though... I will type in another comment next week Friday 13th( hoping thats not unlucky for me lol) and let you know how got on in my first week.
slippy900
Regular
- Location
- Isle of Man
Hi i've just purchased myself a Viking Torino, my first thoughts when i opened the box was brilliant beautiful bike.... I havn't been out on it yet i'm taking it to a bike shop this Sat to get it all checked over properly as i am going to start cycling to my work (13 miles) so i want to make sure its safe as i'm not confident enough to build it myself, check gears are set up properly etc. It does look very nice i must say but theres one or two things i'm a bit annoyed about: 1st thing is it doesn't have quick release brake calipers which is strange cos the wheels are quick release, so how do you get the wheel off when your out on the road!!! 2nd thing is the end caps on the droop handle bars aren't very secure so i'm thinking over time these will fall off and the rapping around the bars will start to unravel, i hope i'm wrong though... I will type in another comment next week Friday 13th( hoping thats not unlucky for me lol) and let you know how got on in my first week.
Hey Slippy900, welcome to the forums!
Regarding the quick release brakes.. My 70's Dawes had the same issue when I had 25mm (width) tires fitted. To remove the wheel, I had to deflate the tire - Although if you're removing the wheel, chances are you've got a puncture anyway. Changing my tires to 23mm solved this, and they can slip right through the calipers. Switching to a narrower tire may or may not solve this for you. Alternatively you should be able to get your local bike shop to fit some new brake calipers for you.
If the bar ends come off it's no big deal - You can either replace them with some tighter fitting ones, or purchase the style which use a screw and an expanding bung to ensure they stay in the bars.
Good luck with the commute! If it's your first time commuting on two wheels, you may consider reading this helpful guide.
Also, you might have been better creating your own topic, but I'm sure a mod or admin can split these posts into a separate topic for you.
slippy900
Regular
- Location
- Isle of Man
Hey thanks for the rapid reply and those useful tips :-)
Powely
Well-Known Member
Not sure if you've bought the Triban or not yet. If not, I'd look at 2nd hand if I was you. That's what I should have done. You'll be able to pick up a very nice bike for your budget. Some 2nd hand bikes have only done a few miles too. If you buy something new for your budget I suspect you'll be looking to buy something higher spec pretty soon. I am!
slippy900
Regular
- Location
- Isle of Man
Hi mate, yeh i bought my Viking Torino its sitting there just waiting for some decent weather :-( i know what youre saying but it will have to do me, probably will be the one and only bike i'll be buying unless i come into loads of cash... If i had found this site before hand things might have been different but unfortunately i'll have to make do with it and hopefully i'll enjoy it and not regret it. But hey thanks for replying :-))
Powely
Well-Known Member
Sorry, my reply was to the original poster ;Billy92'. But I know what you mean, I probably would have bought something different myself in hindsight and funds allowed. I'm saving hard and fast though. Carbon will be mine soon (I hope)!
rob andrew
Member
Hi there, thinking of buying a torino myself. do you know if it has the ability to fit a rear pannier rack? Cheers!
outlash
also available in orange
- Location
- ice station zebra
I'm 6'3 and got the 60cm frame and I think it fits (but only just) although I reckon you could get the larger size and that would possibly be alright too.
Tony.
Nigelnaturist
Guru
- Location
- Pontefract
What wrong with them, I have done 2500 miles since June on a previous model to the one shown, well its a triple 7sp from about 2008. Plus I rode to London on it in 2008 (well sort of set of the day I picked it up, gearing was to high really, not the bikes fault)
As just said mines 4 1/2 years old and my end caps are still there.
The brakes have a lever that opens the calliper a little more so the wheels will come out, its on the front where the cable goes through.
Nigelnaturist
Guru
- Location
- Pontefract
My model has but its a previous one, black/silver/grey I have mudguards and rear rack with a bag and drop down panniers, probably why my speeds are not so great, then again could be me or the fact it's a Viking.
