Viking Road Bikes

[biggs682]

I am always amazed at how cheap you can buy hardly used Viking Road bikes there can't be many days when i don't see at least 1 on local gumtree for less than £100 .

so my question is surely they cant be that bad ok i know a lot of them have low end gear on them but some look a lot better spec

 

[Sharky]

Once upon a time, they must have been pretty good. Ian Steel used to ride for Viking. I guess they traded their reputation to sell at the lower end of the market.

 

[dan_bo]

Jimmy Saville used to ride a Viking.

 

[biggs682]

I understand that the older steel Bikes were good , I am asking about the latest ones

 

[vickster]

They start off pretty cheap. Guess people buy as a starter bike from a basic LBS, then either lose interest in Cycling or upgrade

 

[SkipdiverJohn]

I sometimes see them locked up as station bikes, so I assume people buy them for cycle/train commutes. Possibly they change jobs or find that cycling is too much hassle when combined with doing a day's work, and give it up. Lets be honest, if you've had a bad long day at work, and it's chucking it down come finish time, or the wind is howling and you've been on your feet all day, the prospect of a long ride to get home isn't the most appealing thing.

 

[JhnBssll]

I just bought one for a very reasonable price. Barely used but the previous owner has made a right mess of the seatpost Its the wife's birthday on Saturday, she mentioned only last week the possibility of using the turbo trainer but not having a bike that would fit on it. She's also talked of buying a Bianchi at some point but having never ridden on drops I thought I'd take the opportunity to kill two birds with one bargain priced stone

She can have a go with the turbo trainer in relative safety to get used to drop bars and then give it a go out on the open road

I did have to swap the tires, the ones that came on it were truly awful. I had to cut them off the rims I popped on a couple of spares I had in the garage for an instant upgrade Its got a solid rear axle so have ordered some Tacx wheel nuts so it fits on the trainer Only time will tell what she makes of it all

 

[HLaB]

I used to commute on a Viking fixie. I used to laugh when folk would pick it up and say it was light Since I've changed jobs though I've stopped using it though mostly because of the wheels being secured with nuts (not QR). The front wheel is awkward to remove to put in the car and both wheels particularly the rear take too long to remove in the event of a p'ture. Its a weighty beast and probably wouldn't be time efficient for my current commute anyway.

 

[JhnBssll]

I used to commute on a Viking fixie. I used to laugh when folk would pick it up and say it was light Since I've changed jobs though I've stopped using it though mostly because of the wheels being secured with nuts (not QR). The front wheel is awkward to remove to put in the car and both wheels particularly the rear take too long to remove in the event of a p'ture. Its a weighty beast and probably wouldn't be time efficient for my current commute anyway.

Yeah, this one is not exactly lightweight despite its diminutive size Seems well put together though

 

[Rusty Nails]

They sell them new at Cash Generator.

Says it all.

 

[JhnBssll]

They sell them new at Cash Converters.

Says it all.

 

[southcoast]

Vintage Viking bikes do seem cheap in comparison to other makes. If you go back to the 50’s they seem good quality.

 

[SkipdiverJohn]

Yeah, this one is not exactly lightweight despite its diminutive size Seems well put together though

Weight is hardly an important consideration if it's only going to be used for virtual "cycling" on a trainer. Pretty much anything with a set of pedals will suffice. The important thing is is does the job without tying up silly amounts of cash. There's no point in bolting anything expensive to a trainer when it isn't actually going to go anywhere!.
I think modern cyclists have gone completely soft as regards bike weight anyway. My 531 framed drop bar Dawes is just under 24 lbs, IIRC. That to me is a lightweight bike, as I can pick it up and swing it around on my little finger with impunity. Yet someone I was talking to recently said "oooh, 24 lbs - that's almost 11kg, a really heavy bike!" All the other bikes I possess weigh in between the low and mid 30's pounds. Even those I don't consider heavy bikes, just normal weight for everyday steel models.

 

[JhnBssll]

Absolutely, this one should be fine for its intended purpose. If not I'll simply sell it on.