Viner Super Prestige ??

atoms

Hi

First post and I am asking for advise !! Please

I'm really interested in the Viner Super Prestige, particularly as I received an email from PlanetX with a 25% discount !!However I am having problems finding any reviews or even general comments on the bike, anywhere - general ride experiences verses other bikes with more well-known names (!), build quality, riding position and any medium and long term problems. Although the Viner brand has been around for a number of years I'm slightly nervous with regard to the build quality and longevity of the frame, in particular. all the other components are obviously easily replaceable. i used to do cyclo cross in various SE England and London series approx 30 yrs ago, then moved on to road TT's, but would like to dabble back in cyclo cross and require a general, but good bike to explore the South Downs National Park, which starts less than 1/4 ml from me and miss a cc bike, rather than the mountain bike I currently use. I will still retain my road bikes.

Any comments, or advise would be gratefully received, cheers

ddraver

Looks super aggressive - near Ridley type Geo

Grit.CX have got one in for testing I saw last night so you may have to wait. Planet X don't seem to offer their bikes around for testing too much

(edit, you should also know that the Viner and Tomac frames are the same apart from the paint jobs and that they re all made in taiwan with the Italian/US heritage of a 99p microwavable pizza/taco - unlike those foodstuffs however, in no way does that make them bad bikes to ride, just don't believe the spiel)

atoms

Cheers for the prompt reply ddraver. Interesting re the Grit.CX, will definately watch out fo the that. Have noticed that there are limited reviews on PlantX, apart from the Pickenflick on Roadcc.

Not totally sure what your edit comments are telling me, but an interesting summary

ddraver

(I'm no expert in this stuff but as I understand it, both Viner and Tomac essentially went bust but Planet X bought the rights to the name. So although there ARE classic Viners or Tomacs, they do not bear any relation to what Planet X sell. Therefore, if you are someone that attaches prestige to an old name you could pay more for something that is in fact nothing of the sort. As said though, this does not mean that they are Bad bikes, but that they are pretending to be something they re not - It doesnt help that they frames are branded and named differently but are exactly the same. It either bothers you or it doesnt - personally, I couldnt care less, but then I don't really care what I'm riding as long as it's working well and fits etc..)

atoms

Thanks again ddraver, that's very clear. Yep heard about the purchase and agree with your prestige comments and very willing to try any bike, but before I spend ~£1,200 I like to gauge opinions / reviews, either journo's or personal, particularly as it will be an internet purchase as I'm on the south coast and they are in Yorkshire. Pity they are not at the London Excel Bike show next week !

bendertherobot

My XLS is excellent. There's no reason to suspect this won't be a very good bike. Ignore the label, it doesn't mean anything.

For the price (reduced) the spec is outstanding. Indeed, there appear to be no weak bits to the spec. My XLS came with ok wheels, I upgraded then. This comes with good wheels. Even the tyres are WTB Cross Boss. THey've even adapted the BB30 to "normal."

antsmithmk

atoms wrote:

Thanks again ddraver, that's very clear. Yep heard about the purchase and agree with your prestige comments and very willing to try any bike, but before I spend ~£1,200 I like to gauge opinions / reviews, either journo's or personal, particularly as it will be an internet purchase as I'm on the south coast and they are in Yorkshire. Pity they are not at the London Excel Bike show next week !

Are you sure they are not at the bike show? They had a huge stand when I went in 2014.

atoms

I went to the Bike Show 2014 too, although not last year. PlanetX doesn't appear on the stand listing for this year ! unfortunately