You get what you pay for

neilhannam

Being a long time mountain biker and having found myself spending more and more time out on the roads with my bike I finally decided to invest in a road bike to see what all the fuss was about.

Now im not that flush right now and being a first road bike I wasn't that keen on dropping to much of my hard earned cash and decided our buy a cheap bike to start with the aim of investing in something far more flash come spring if i'd clocked up sufficent miles to justify the outlay. Off I went like many others to my local Decathlon for a Traiban 3 only to find they pretty much had zero stock in the country of any size and wouldn't be seeing any for a month or so. I was disapointed and wasn't that keen to wait so let myself get talked in to buying a Viking San Remo, as Decathlon had shipped in buckets loads of them and slapped a good discount on them to try and entice people like me who were hunting the elusive Tribans.

Money parted with, bike set up and fully kitted out I really enjoyed my first couple of rides and clocked up about 60 miles or so. Happy days I thought, this road cycling lark is alright even on a cheapo machine. Come the third ride I noticed a lot of lateral play had developed in the nose end of the saddle and no amount of screw or bole tightening could stop it. No worries I thought, i'll be looking to get a new one anyway. About 10 miles into that ride and with no warning there's a large ping and an abrut drop as the seat post clamp just snapped. I hadn't adjusted it since the start of the second ride and I know how hard to tighten them so was very peeved to be walking most of the way home. Bought a new one thought nothing of it.

Out again today and at the furthest point from home heading up an incline without putting too much pressure on the peddles and ting, all of a sudden im toppling off the bike as the chain has snapped. Now i've ridden bikes for years and have never snapped a chain but have seen it happen. But this wasn't just one the links being pulled apart, part of one of the links had actually snapped off. Typically I didn't have a chain tool with me having given up carrying it a couple years back due to never having used it so have just walked the best part of tweleve miles to get home. And whilst on this walk I noticed that one of the spokes on the rear wheel has snapped too, whether that was as a result of the chain snapping or just another unrelated breakage I don't know but it was enough to convince me the bike is going back to where it came from.

I spoke with Decathon who are happy to take the bike back and give me a refund as i've lost confidence in the build quality of some of the compenents given that the bike has less than 100 miles on it. I know people will say Viking bikes are awful and I realise that now and hope that if there are other newbies out there looking at buying a cheap bike they might heed this warning and realsie that if a £500 list price bike is boasting a carbon fork and the odd Sora component then don't be fooled, they manufacturers will be saving money elsewhere to hit that price point and you will get what you paid for.

On the plus side I have recently had an unexpected bonus payment at work and with the refund from Decathlon I get the joy of bike shopping all over again.

wheels50

You get what you pay for ...

neilhannam

yeah I kind of realise that now but being new to this side of things I listened to the guy in Decathlon who was non too complimentary about the Tribans and said the Viking was much the better bike. I knew he was trying to sell me but having made the drive and being keen to get started a made an impulsive decision which I rarely ever do. I was surprised to hear the bloke say that he'd be certain the great review of the Tribans will have been paid for and that they'd had plenty of them returned within weeks. Again might have just been sales bull.

Still lesson learned and the search starts agains.

hipshot

Sales bull. But Its a common mistake, saving a few hundred pounds by going ultra cheap and then regretting it.

Go for a major manufacturer in the £600-£1300 sweet spot. Or go 2nd hand.

The Triban is an anomaly, not much else decent at that price.

Stewby

Was this in the Nottingham store? A guy in there tried to persuade me that the Vikings were better than the Triban 3. Left me so confused I bought neither. His attitude was poor in general. Will be visiting the Birmingham store to pick up a Triban 3 in the near future.

neilhannam

Yeah was the Nottingham store. Older bloke who claimed to have run local bike teams in the past and seemed genuine enough at the time. As i said i wouldn't normally buy on impulse but got caught up in the moment and went ahead without findng out anything else about them. To be fair to Decathlon after I explained the situation they have said they're happy to take it back even though its seen some use and they'll take it up with Viking.

Needless to say the local bike shops will be getting a visit now i have a fatter wallet and something with a more reputable name will be on the shopping list.

declan1

I got a Viking Giro D'Italia (now my turbo bike) for £200 (RRP) and it's not developed a single fault since I bought it (must be 500-1000 miles). It's a rubbish bike, but it's been reliable.

Stewby

Definitely sounds like the same chap. Told me a triple was a bad idea, that the only reason the Triban was selling well was because of one good review and that Viking are a better make as they are British. I found him very annoying and left the store empty handed because of him. Coventry store opens on Thursday so hoping to try and get a T3 set to the right height and have a ride around the store.

neilhannam

declan1 wrote:

I got a Viking Giro D'Italia (now my turbo bike) for £200 (RRP) and it's not developed a single fault since I bought it (must be 500-1000 miles). It's a rubbish bike, but it's been reliable.

rubbish but reliable would have been fine for me as a way of dipping my toe in the water but maybe I just got a duff one. Glad to hear someone has had success with a Viking, makes me feel less like a plonker for stumping up the cash without doing my research properly.

Twelly

I bought a Triban 3 for my girlfriend last week from the Birmingham store.

They had lots in stock in all sizes (I counted 15? maybe more) and the stock of all the other models (MTB, road, childrens etc) was excellent. All there, on the shelf for you to see what they have got.

I spoke to two guys during my visit - one older guy helped me to find a ladies saddle and also helped me exchange a top I had bought online, the other young guy (cant have been a day over 18) built the bike for me while I waited and was obviously very competent mechanically and also chatted about cycling and the recent show at the NEC. He was obviously an enthusiast and was very friendly and did an excellent job of building the bike. Also apologised to me for how long it was taking (there was no need - he built and checked the whole bike in about 20 mins including brake and gear cable changes and indexing).

The bike is superb (for the money) and I am feeling like a complete muppet for forking out £600 on my Allez last year. The Triban is lighter (although it is a smaller frame size), has the same groupset, better brakes and looks great in the flesh and it only cost half what I paid for the Allez.

Think you had a rare bad experience. I would call the store and let hem know about this muppet who served you because every dealing I have had with Decathlon has been excellent (Surrey Quays store, Birmingham store, on the phone and online)

Cannock Chase

As the expression goes...

Buy Cheap..... Buy Twice

This is interesting:
http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/2009/jul/22/asda-cheap-bike

gerroffandmilkit

Where's the catch with the Triban 3's?

Surely there must be some shortcomings with them. Just been studying the details and the gear set up looks very similar to the Carerra TDF (to my untrained eyes of course!)
The next model up looks pretty good too as it comes equipped with Sora gear!

Anybody actually had any problems with these bikes?

hipshot

There's no catch.

It's nothing special either, it's just a good entry level bike - like the Allez - but it happens to be very cheap due to the scale of its production run, hence its high profile just now.

The gears are Shimano 2300 which are fine.

frazered

The triban are now plentiful again. Sounds a combo of bs sales boyo and a sheet bike. Unlucky stuff. Good to hear decathlon MTFU

neilhannam

Will perhaps have a look at the Triban 3 again whilst im returing the other bike but to be honest it has made me question the merits of buying cheap. When I spoke to Decathlon about my bike and said I wanted to return it the guy told me that they would normally repair on broken parts rather than take the bike back. This line changed when he realised it wasn't one of their own brand bikes but it does make me think twice about buying a Triban as if anything goes wrong its a 45 minute drive to take it back to them to repair any faults and at £300 im sure it will develop a couple before there's too many miles on it.

Been looking around online for a replacement and been impressed with the entry level Felt bikes. Need to track down a local dealer for a test sit/ride but what do people think of these two. Aside from geometry and rear mech I can't see a great deal of difference between the two.

http://www.leisurewheels.co.uk/products ... 0b0s6p9822

http://www.leisurewheels.co.uk/products ... 0b0s6p9816

Anyone any thoughts or suggest alternatives at a similar price?

t4tomo

Stewby wrote:

Definitely sounds like the same chap. Told me a triple was a bad idea, that the only reason the Triban was selling well was because of one good review and that Viking are a better make as they are British. I found him very annoying and left the store empty handed because of him. Coventry store opens on Thursday so hoping to try and get a T3 set to the right height and have a ride around the store.

He's about 25 years out of date with that fact.

I had a Viking Warlord in the 80's mow that was a decent bike a british made, the top end bikes they did at the time were excellent. the brand is now in the hands of a pile em high sell em cheap fbuilt in the far east Merchant.

goffski

I've had the Triban 5 now for almost three months and touch wood had no issues with it. The only slight problem was i wanted to put a cadence magnet on but couldn't get the pedel off (lack of tools for the job) - no problem Decathlon is 5 mins from my house so just rode down and they did it for me.

bikergembo

I have a Triban 3 and been enjoying it now for 3 months. Its my first road bike and i extremely pleased with the build quality, would recommend it to any road beginner.

zx6man

If he had loads back in that nottingham store, maybe their workshop is as bad as their sales pitch...

Bustacapp

I have a £300 Carrera Virtuoso. It's a solid bike and highly recommend it. Can't see why I should pay double that just for carbon forks/slightly lighter frame.

zx6man

Bustacapp wrote:

I have a £300 Carrera Virtuoso. It's a solid bike and highly recommend it. Can't see why I should pay double that just for carbon forks/slightly lighter frame.

agreed, mines a carrerra TDF . Only thing i updated was to a matching 2300 compact as it was a low spec a050 shimano crank and FD..works for me

Bustacapp

zx6man wrote:

Bustacapp wrote:

Only thing i updated was to a matching 2300 compact as it was a low spec a050 shimano crank and FD..works for me

Only thing I changed was the pedals!

jimmies

being totally honest....I had a Triban 3 and bought a Planet X with Sram Force and there really isn't much difference. Yes the PX is lighter....but £1100 better - I don't think so

mallorcajeff

i would buy a secondhand Spech Allez off ebay so many bargains around and now the "end of season" has come for those who hang their bike up in winter I would buy one of them, your getting a proper bike for not a lot of money and if you buy the right one its will give you plenty of good service. New prices now are stupid I find you have to spend so much to get anything of good/reasonable quality where as secondhand let soembody else take the hit, so many hardly ridden bikes out there. I have a road bike with over 10k miles on it and after its washed you could struggle to see its been used when its fully fettled. I take good care of my stuff as do plenty of others. Buy a bike from a like minded person secondhand. Also some used boardmans present better value and reliability in my mind.