Experience with Viking bikes?
harry_vn
Posts: 4
I am new to cycling and looking for a low-mid price range of road bike. My friend owns a Viking and he is happy with it so I want to buy the same brand. I have 3 options within my budget:
1. Viking Elite http://bikes24-7.com/racing-bikes/598-viking-elite.html
2. Viking Elysee: http://bikes24-7.com/racing-bikes/549-viking-elysee-sti.html
3. Viking Echelon: http://bikes24-7.com/racing-bikes/558-viking-echelon.html
Does anyone have experience with Viking bike and if so which one do you recommend for a newbie like me?
Thanks in advance!
1. Viking Elite http://bikes24-7.com/racing-bikes/598-viking-elite.html
2. Viking Elysee: http://bikes24-7.com/racing-bikes/549-viking-elysee-sti.html
3. Viking Echelon: http://bikes24-7.com/racing-bikes/558-viking-echelon.html
Does anyone have experience with Viking bike and if so which one do you recommend for a newbie like me?
Thanks in advance!
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Comments
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You aren't going to get a lot of enthusiasm for these. At the budget end the Decathalon bikes are usually rated best.
The gearing looks very unfriendly for a noob. Unless you are in Norfolk you will probably be pushing up even mild hills. Even the Elsee has much higher gearing (ie harder to turn the pedals) than I would want.
The Elsee is marketed as a women's, and is a very different size to the other two.0 -
What may seem like a bargain is more like throwing your money down a drain. Trust me as i made this mistake
You will be lucky if anything works out the box, the gearing is awful and within a couple of months the bike is likely to fall apart.
I would suggest spending a bit more and looking at decathlon or halfords for an entry level machine0 -
To expand, the cheapest one cites
'12-23T 8 speed cassette on the rear and a alloy chainset 45/52T'
Top pros will use a similar gearing range to this on non-hilly stages.
While not wishing to reopen a very extensively debated topic, if you don't know what gearing you need, then it is likely that you need something MUCH easier than Mark Cavendish.
It very much depends on your terrain, but for the vast majority of riders in mixed terrain I would advise something with 12-27T (minimum teeth for both) cassette and a compact chainset (34-50 or something close)
The more expensive one is closer, but doesn't strike me as great value.0 -
Whats your budget ?0
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I don't want to go over £400.
Btw, thanks for all the advices guys. I may look for other brands to see if I can find any other good options.0 -
I didn't know Viking is really that bad. My friend seems to be quite happy with his Viking tho.0
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Watch your gearing, there is nothing worse than feeling bad because you can rarely get out of the smallest chainring on anything but the steepest downhills. My bike has higher gearing that I would like. It is ok when I am on my own commuting, indeed it is nearly perfect for that, but with a child trailer it becomes a nightmare. instead of mostly in the larger chainring on all but the steep hills I am on the smaller one all the time with the trailer and most often on the lowest gears.. Plus I really struggle up a very steep hill with the trailer.
If I was new to cycling it would be similar without the trailer. I often think the trailer handicaps me to the speed of a novice or very unfit cyclist or to the speed of my partner (8-10mph average speed).
I got a free MTB once with gym membership for a year (an apollo branded one). It was sold as being worth £99 but it was not. The forks were rigid and consisted of straight tubes with welded on dropouts. The fork tubes were filled at the bottom end by weld material and the whole bike shouted "CHEAP TAT!". Still The membership was the same price whether I took it or not so I have it sat in my parents large garage and have only ridden it twice round their driveway to try it out (the second time was 10 years after I got it to see if it was ok as a temp stand-in while I replaced my stolen bike - it wasn't and I took the train instead for a couple of months).
Buy cheap, buy twice I think. Although you can get different levels of cheap. IIRC Decathlon and Halfords do passable cheapo bikes. Btwinn is one make I have heard was acceptable. Of course upgrade to a decent bike is always possible in the future once you are sure cycling is for you and it is now part of your life.0 -
Two years ago I got a Specialized Crosstrail Sport Disc for £400. That is a reasonable off road type of hybrid for the money IMHO.
If you can hold off for the September end of year sales when the 2016 bikes come out you can pick up a better bike for that money. Evans Cycles is one chain that sells old models off cheaply but not the only shop that does so.0 -
There are far better options for £400. Decathlon as above or:
Wiggle: http://www.wiggle.co.uk/verenti-technique-claris-2015/ or http://www.wiggle.co.uk/verenti-defense-wr21-sora-2015/
Merlin: http://www.merlincycles.com/merlin-performance-pr7-road-bike-73113.html0 -
I didn't know Viking is really that bad. My friend seems to be quite happy with his Viking tho.
I'm sure it's not that bad. I suppose the question is, what represents the best value for money in this price range? Whilst the viking might be a mediocre bike with a badly thought through gearing choice, for £400 you should be able to get a really fun rideable bike with upgrade potential.
2nd hand may be worth a look, head over to the classifieds (as always, buyer beware. Plenty of overpriced and stolen bikes for sale on the internet, I've only ever had good experience from the classifieds here though.)0 -
This thread has similar discussion -
viewtopic.php?f=40042&t=13030760
As already said, Decathalon gererally best in this range.
Halford's Carrerra maybe ok, but avoid Apollo like the plague.0 -
I've seen a couple (and ridden one briefly) of them... In my experience, they use far too many own-brand parts, they weigh a ton (the lighter one cost around £400 and is a couple of kilos heavier than my (not that light) mountain bike... I would put it at around 14-15kg for the bike...
And then when you consider that the gearing tends to be on the high side, it's not the best you can do for the money..
I would either buy second hand or get a Triban from Decathlon...
bob6397Boardman HT Team - Hardtail
Rose Pro-SL 2000 - Roadie0 -
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That is an unreal deal and i wouldnt bother considering anything else.
If your budget is £400 then buy this and ride one of the best Aluminium frames out there0 -
A fellow that works for me has a Viking Bike, it is heavy has some low quality parts on it such as the brake calipers and chainset. The Road bikes from Halfords that cost around £200 are better but for £400 that CAAD8 is a no brainer and would probably weigh around 4-5 kilos less. ie 10.something kg rather than 14.something.0
