Viking Giro D'Italia

declan1

My Viking Giro D'Italia (2011) 59cm

Very cheap, basic components, but (in my opinion) still a pretty decent bike! Certainly for the price (£200).

Non-Standard components - San Marco SPID saddle, Poly bottle cages.

Weight - around 13KG but not sure (haven't properly weighed it yet).



What do you guys think?

Hope I kept to the OCP rules!

rolf_f

declan1 wrote:

Hope I kept to the OCP rules!

Lordy no! Drive side pedal needs to be down, reflectors and cassette 'dork' disc off the wheels and the valves should be at 12 o'clock or 6 o'clock. But on this one as they line up unhelpfully with the stickers maybe just aving the stickers aligned to top dead centre would be OK!

Happy pedalling!

russyh

Saddle looks ALONG way forward, but for te money looks like a nice bike! If your out on the road that's what's important

declan1

Russyh wrote:

Saddle looks ALONG way forward, but for te money looks like a nice bike! If your out on the road that's what's important

Yeah the saddle is as far forward as it can be. I don't know whether the frame is too big, but I feel like I'm stretching too much when I put it back. I'm really impressed with this bike for £200. I mean, you can barely get a cheapish MTB from Halfords for that price. I have tried various mid-range bikes like a Cube Aerial and a Giant Defy 2 and apart from weight and brake performance I can't really notice any differences....

And as you said, being out on it and enjoying every minute is what it's all about!

rolf_f

If you are stretched out you'd do better to get a shorter stem than moving the saddle forward. A cheap and easy switch.

tim_wand

We are, all missing the point here. £200 bike, nice one enjoy, looks great.

Did you see the Vikings (Which used to belong to Sir Jimmy Saville, that Planet X won at auction this week/)

k-dog

The stem doesn't look too bad but the bars look really long - the brakes are a long way out.

I agree that you shouldn't mess with the saddle to fix a reach problem - you only move the saddle to get your knee position right.

declan1

k-dog wrote:

The stem doesn't look too bad but the bars look really long - the brakes are a long way out.

I agree that you shouldn't mess with the saddle to fix a reach problem - you only move the saddle to get your knee position right.

I really want to change the bars to the shallower curved ones that you find on most bikes today, like the ones on this lovely bike:

.

They look really comfy and not as far to reach. I also agree that the brakes are too far away. I might get some new levers with bigger hoods sometimes aswell.

My knee position feels perfect at the current saddle position. I like the feeling of 'pushing' on the pedals rather than 'pulling'. Hard to describe but think of the difference between a MTB and a road bike.

napoleond

Thry unwrapping the tape, rotating the bars down then moving the shifters up.

The bars look really long.

petemadoc

NapoleonD wrote:

Thry unwrapping the tape, rotating the bars down then moving the shifters up.

The bars look really long.

+1 to this

bars need rotating down, move the shifters up

declan1

PeteMadoc wrote:

NapoleonD wrote:

Thry unwrapping the tape, rotating the bars down then moving the shifters up.

The bars look really long.

+1 to this

bars need rotating down, move the shifters up

How much? Do you reckon until the bottom of the bars is level?

Paul 8v

tim wand wrote:

We are, all missing the point here. £200 bike, nice one enjoy, looks great.

Did you see the Vikings (Which used to belong to Sir Jimmy Saville, that Planet X won at auction this week/)

Never knew he rode in the tour of Britain! Bike looks like a bargain, should be loads of bars and stems for sale om here to sort you out with

declan1

Just ordered a pair of Shimano 520 SPD pedals and a pair of cheap shoes, so can't wait to try them out! I do intend to upgrade the shoes in the far future, if you're wondering

Paul 8v

I'm running 520's, very good for the money, you can't go wrong with them

declan1

Just went out for my first ride with pedals + shoes and my average speed increased by 1MPH! I'm very impressed with them. Clipping in and out is so easy compared with the toe cages, and I can feel the connection with my bike now!

napoleond

declan1 wrote:

PeteMadoc wrote:

NapoleonD wrote:

Thry unwrapping the tape, rotating the bars down then moving the shifters up.

The bars look really long.

+1 to this

bars need rotating down, move the shifters up

How much? Do you reckon until the bottom of the bars is level?

Loosen the bars, sit on the bike (preferably with someone holding it up) hold the bars in the drops and rotate them until you are comfortable. Tighten the bars back up. Then you adjust the shifters so they are comfortable...

lawrences

I saw someone on one of these today. First time I've ever seen someone else on a Viking bike. Their Viking was loads quieter than mine. You can hear the £10 groupset crunching a mile off normally.

declan1

I swapped the stem for my mountain bike one today; it's much better (shorter) - I don't have to reach quite as much!

imsimon

for £200 you appear to of grabbed a bargin! very nice and good luck with the upgrades to make it your own!

declan1

imsimon wrote:

for £200 you appear to of grabbed a bargin! very nice and good luck with the upgrades to make it your own!

Thanks!

indjke

Wow! A bit "oldskool" but no doubt is the pleasure for the eyes)
Gratz from another black-yellow-scheme addict

samhedges

Try bars with a shorter reach and a shorter stem in the region of 80-90mm? Putting the seat forward might help with reach but you can do damage to your knee if you're not in the right position with knee over toes..

declan1

I've actually fitted a shorter stem since taking that picture and it's much improved! Also got new seatpost in the post so that should sort out my knee over pedal position

sdh8286

i`ve been riding one of these for about a year or so and it`s a cracking wee bike. However, thanks to the bike 2 work scheme, I`ve up-graded to a Cannondale Synapse lol. I now have a Viking Giro d`Italia for sale!