Road Bikes

[Young Un]

Hi my first post on here. i have a limit of £400 for a round bike and ideally would not like to spend more than £360 with shoes and clipless pedals if needed.

I came accross these two bikes on ebay and was wondering if they were too cheap to be true. ill just post the info:

£249.99
Product description

VIKING SANMARINO 56CM HIGH END ALUMINIUM ROAD RACE BIKEBike InformationModel Type: Road / race bike.
Frame Construction: 6061 aluminium tubing (aero down tube) semi integrated head tube.
Forks: 700c rigid fork with carbon fibre blades and alloy steerer.
Frame Size: 56cm
Wheel Size: 700c
Gear System: Shimano Sora 14 speed with STI levers.
Wheel Specification: Weinman XR-18 double wall rims with alloy q/r hubs
Brakes: Tektro alloy dual pivot brakes.
Handlebar and Stem: Alloy drop bar with alloy A-head stem
Additional: Some assembly & adjustment required
Frame Colour: Red / white
Fork Colour: Red / white
Cycle Condition: New, factory boxed.
Carriage: Free.
Warranty: 12 months return to base (parts only)




£279.99
Product description

VIKING VITTORIA 53CM HIGH END ALUMINIUM ROAD RACE BIKEBike InformationModel Type: Road / race bike.
Frame Construction: 6061 aluminium tubing (aero down tube) semi integrated head tube.
Forks: 700c rigid fork with carbon fibre blades and alloy steerer.
Frame Size: 53cm
Wheel Size: 700c
Gear System: Shimano Sora 21 speed with STI levers.
Wheel Specification: Weinman XR-18 double wall rims with alloy q/r hubs.
Brakes: Tektro alloy dual pivot brakes.
Handlebar and Stem: Alloy drop bar with alloy A-head stem
Additional: Some assembly & adjustment required
Frame Colour: Black
Fork Colour: Black
Cycle Condition: New, factory boxed.
Carriage: Free.
Warranty: 12 months return to base (parts only)


Thanks


also, do you think i should spend a bit extra and get clipless pedals and road shoes, or just get toe clips?

if its the clipless pedals and shoes where should i get them from?? and which mechanism is best etc..
04 Jun 2008 21:19

 

[bonj2]

don't sound great but might be ok.
For that price go for one of the big names like specialized, trek, giant, scott, etc, and go to a LBS (local bike shop) where you can see it in the flesh and possibly try it aswell.
Best pedal mechanism: for a road bike - shimano SPD-SL ('road' pedals). Any three-bolt shoes will be compatible. Slightly harder to clip in than SPD ('mtb' pedals), but feel slightly more surefooted for a road bike. Consider mtb pedals though if you doa lot of stop start in traffic.
Toe clips are abortionate and dangerous. don't touch them with a barge pole. Arbitrary will be along shortly to disagree, but trust me toe clips are the worst.

 

[alecstilleyedye]

this looks good value.

 

[palinurus]

Can't advise on the bikes- never heard of 'em.

Decathlon have some budget road bikes- try searching the forum- there have been a few threads about them on here I think.

The two descriptions you posted are for bikes of different size- do you have a good idea of what size you want? the good thing about going to a shop is you can get some advice and try out a couple.

 

[Young Un]

Can anyone tell me some model names that are around 300 - 350 then that are made from bigger name brands??

 

[Young Un]

The bikes both come in 53 56 and 59. i have yet to go to a bike shopto try sizes.

 

[Fab Foodie]

Edinburgh bicycle coop
http://www.edinburghbicycle.com/ebw...kID=2912&f_SortOrderID=1&f_bct=c003155c002912
OR

Get to Decathlon. Road bikes are excellent value and you'll get shoes and pedals as well.

Others: Look at the Giant SCR4, available in many places very good value and versatile.

 

[RedBike]

Those Viking bikes look awful.

You've also picked two bikes that are quite different sizes. One of them (or both) will be wrong.

My suggestion would be Ribbles winter trainer £399
sjs used to have spd pedals at about £15
Jejames often has a good selection of cheap shoes.

 

[Joe24]

Giant SCR4. Go to your LBS and see if they have an ex-factory model(or whatever they call them, they have something little wrong with them) and they will/should drop the price from £350 to below £300. Mine was about £280.So see if you can get one like that. The £350 is a good price though. I have done 3464miles on mine and its still going strong, getting used pretty much everyday, been out in all weathers and no real problems. Upgrading it is easy aswell.
For clipless, go for Shimano SPD-SL. You will soon get used to them, and clippling in and out isnt hard. I went from Look Keos(which kept breaking) to Shimano 105 SPD-SL and the Shimano pedals i think are much nicer.
For shoes, go to Decathlon. I got my shoes from there. They are cheap so if i out grew them quick i didnt have to worry about spending so much on them and it going to waste.
Try the bike out aswell. I was between sizes, small and medium so see which one is best.

 

[John the Monkey]

This month (July issue) in Cycling Plus, they've a test of four £400 bikes - might be worth a look. As Redbike says, Ribble's £400 bike is great value too. Their recommendations were the Edinburgh Bike Co-Op's Revolution Country tourer (EBC do make a racier road bike too, the Continental, I think it's called) and a Merida bike whose name escapes me now.

Re: Decathlon, as far as I know their bikes won't take mudguards/rack etc - you'd need to decide whether that was a big deal for you or not, but they're excellent value.

I'd disagree slightly with bonj, I'd say the important line between SPD and SPD-SL is how much walking you have to do. Putting your foot down at lights etc isn't a problem in either type, but anything over a hundred yards or so off the bike, I'd be in SPDs, not SPD-SLs. My experience is that SPD-SL is more comfortable and efficient, but the benefits show more over a longer ride (i.e. an hour plus, not the 40 minutes or so at a time of my commute)

Merlin cycles do some good deals on clipless pedal/shoe bundles, and have good customer service - I got my M520 pedals and MT41 shoes from them.

 

[Mortiroloboy]

Young un, I have seen a Viking bike in the flesh, best described as 'functional', as in, it has all the bits you need, but they are pretty basic, and the frame is pretty clunky, poor welds etc,best advice as Joe24 says, get along to your LBS and try out a giant SCR4, I have one as my winter bike, the frame is the same throughout the SCR range, only the forks and components change.

The riding position is fairly relaxed, it can take full 'guards, which is important if riding in wet conditions , especially when out with a group.

I've been pleased with mine, and am in the process of upgrading the groupset from Sh*m*n* to Campagnolo Mirage/Veloce. For no other reason than I prefer Campag, so as the frame is good then it's certainly worth the upgrade IMO.

 

[Young Un]

So if i were to buy one of the ones that have got sumthing a little wrong with them, (giant scr4) do i have to put it right or does the shop. also should i be able to get hold of one of the ex-factory ones at any bike shop or would i have to go to my local giant dealer, which is 30 mins away.

 

[Joe24]

Well the thing that was wrong with mine, was a small scratch on the paint, and it came without shifters so they put Sora on.
So no need to do much to it really. It will end up with little scratches on it anyway, so the small scratch on the frame isnt much really.
Its a Giant dealer, that i think you might be able to get one from. Ring up and ask, or pop in and ask them. They might be able to get you one.

 

[DLB]

I have the revolution continental from Edin. Bike co. and i really like it. It's the only road bike i've ever ridden and so i can't compare it with any others but i love riding it. Compared to my hybrid it's like going from a ford mondeo to a ferrari it's so responsive (in my opinion). In fact i'm just about to go out on it now...

If you live near one of their stores i'd recommend giving it a try.

 

[Fab Foodie]

So if i were to buy one of the ones that have got sumthing a little wrong with them, (giant scr4) do i have to put it right or does the shop. also should i be able to get hold of one of the ex-factory ones at any bike shop or would i have to go to my local giant dealer, which is 30 mins away.

I would highly recommend buying from a respected bikes shop rather than taking a punt on something on-line. A shop will help you get sized properly and properly set-up. Should also allow a test-ride. A good shop relationship is worth a few wxtra quid on purchase price for good service.
If you have a giant dealer 30 mins away, I'd go give 'em a try!