viking bikes,cheap or just crap?

emigrate2012

Hi,folks looking for some advice.I've decided to get a road bike after years of ploddin around on an auld Raleigh mtb.Thing is,moneys tighter than a ducks ass at the moment and what I've come across 2nd hand so far is outta my budget (€250-€320 MAX!)

On the other hand I've come across a bike(brand new!) within my budget that seems to be reasonably specced for what I'll be using it for(commuting,the odd ride out) and wondering what more experienced heads think,good value etc.

It's a Viking Roma 2010,16spd,all Shimano incl. Sti shifters/brakes.weight around 12kg and looks pretty sharp to boot,im thinking it's good value at around €270-€280 incl. shipping from the U.k.

Found it on www.rutlandcycling.co.uk just wondering what wiser people than myself think about it.

Would love to hear some opinions on it,cheers(btw I know a lot will tell me to save a bit more and buy secondhand but tbh €320's the absolute max I can spare and haven't really found anything in Dublin)

Squidgy Black

They really aren't the best.

Just wait a while and see what pops up secondhand on adverts.ie and on the cycling adverts here on boards.

If you could stretch the extra 30 euro, this http://www.boards.ie/vbulletin/showthread.php?t=2056649081&page=2 would be excellent as a first road bike, and he says in the ad he might be willing to travel.

tomasrojo

I had a Viking mountain bike. It was cheap AND crap.

Keep_Her_Lit

emigrate2012 wrote: »

Hi,folks looking for some advice.I've decided to get a road bike after years of ploddin around on an auld Raleigh mtb.

So you already own a functioning bicycle and your purchase is motivated by your desire to ride something better/faster.

On that basis alone, I'd advise you to keep looking for a reasonable 2nd hand deal. Buying a new road bike for £220 is just setting yourself up for disappointment. TBH, the spec is actually pretty poor - 12kg is exceptionally heavy for a road bike; high tensile steel is the lowest grade material (i.e. the forks); 8 speed cassettes are long since obsolete on half decent bikes; it has a square taper BB by the looks of things, which is also obsolete. And so on.

It might ride OK on day one but there's a reasonable chance it won't stay that way for long. You may also struggle to get replacement parts if needed, since bikes at this price point aren't typically maintained too assiduously.

I'm a budget conscious cyclist myself. But if you want to enjoy cycling, as opposed to just dragging some unresponsive wreck around the place, there is a lower limit to your budget. So stick with the 2nd hand route. If you know any other keen cyclists, ask them to keep an eye out for you.

tomasrojo

I know square taper bottom brackets are regarded as a bit inferior now, but is "obsolete" not going a bit far? They're still the most commonly produced bottom bracket, as far as I know, and definitely the most common on bikes currently in use around the world (perhaps not on road bikes).

EDIT: I guess "on half-decent bikes" is the operative phrase.

Squidgy Black

tomasrojo wrote: »

I know square taper bottom brackets are regarded as a bit inferior now, but is "obsolete" not going a bit far? They're still the most commonly produced bottom bracket, as far as I know, and definitely the most common on bikes currently in use around the world (perhaps not on road bikes).

EDIT: I guess "on half-decent bikes" is the operative phrase.

I'd say about 3/4 bikes nowadays have a square taper bottom bracket, nowhere near obsolete. Shimano is the leading manufacturer in gear sets and cranks, and almost every low to middle range bike uses shimano, and every single one of their cranks uses square taper bottom brackets.

RobFowl

Viking were a quality brand but have gone downmarket.
I'd agree keep a lookout for second hand ones for that money and you'll end up with a much better bike !!

ednwireland

Keep_Her_Lit wrote: »

On that basis alone, I'd advise you to keep looking for a reasonable 2nd hand deal. Buying a new road bike for £220 is just setting yourself up for disappointment. TBH, the spec is actually pretty poor - 12kg is exceptionally heavy for a road bike; high tensile steel is the lowest grade material (i.e. the forks); 8 speed cassettes are long since obsolete on half decent bikes; it has a square taper BB by the looks of things, which is also obsolete. And so on.

you better not see my commuter then, 7 speed, square taper BB, steel frame and forks and it does weigh about 11kg with rack mudguards and pedals

merc230ce

I can sympathise with the OP, and the problem I've found is that the secondhand market is a seller's one. Decent s/h road bikes are few and far between, even rarer in your size and in your province, like hen's teeth if the asking is less than €300, and then gone in an hour or two!

Right now I'm looking at buying a Carrera Virtuoso (not cool but gets decent revews) up North - currently reduced to £299 (€375) - after months of browsing the secondhand ads I've decided that this is better value than what's out there (unless you're v v lucky)

mcgratheoin

merc230ce wrote: »

Right now I'm looking at buying a Carrera Virtuoso (not cool but gets decent revews) up North - currently reduced to £299 (€375) - after months of browsing the secondhand ads I've decided that this is better value than what's out there (unless you're v v lucky)

Just bought a Triban 3 for the OH for £299 from Decathlon in Belfast. Shimano 2300 triple groupset with a carbon front fork. It's her first road bike, so she only wanted something cheap, and if she likes it, then she can use the BTW scheme next year to upgrade.

merc230ce

mcgratheoin wrote: »

Just bought a Triban 3 for the OH for £299 from Decathlon in Belfast. Shimano 2300 triple groupset with a carbon front fork.

Thanks for the tip, will check them out too.

Keep_Her_Lit

ednwireland wrote: »

you better not see my commuter then, 7 speed, square taper BB, steel frame and forks and it does weigh about 11kg with rack mudguards and pedals

As it happens, my old commuter MTB, which I rode for 14 years up to just a few weeks ago has a very similar spec: 7-speed, square taper BB and weighing the wrong side of 13kg. I loved riding it! I even swapped the original 8-speed cassette for 7-speed + spacer to get the spread of ratios that I wanted (11-19).

The point I was trying to make, pretty badly as it turns out, was that most new bikes fitted with such components nowadays tend to be of low quality. As such, these types of components are effectively obsolete if considering new bikes of reasonable quality.

For my old commuter, I certainly found that the selection of replacement components was rapidly shrinking in recent years and tending towards the low quality end of the spectrum.

I apologise to all of the "squares" for my offence. I'm commuting on a BB30 now, don't you know, so may have been getting just a little bit snooty.

jaqian

I bought my first road bike last week... Trek 1.1 in McCormacks Dorset St. Bought it second hand 329 with a trade in. Anyway there was a Trek 1.2 there for 400 and wild ringing around heard of a Carrera Virtuoso going for 250 in CityCycles Cabra. Of course they could be gone now but worth checking out.

tomasrojo

"Squares!" I love it.

Mycroft H

RobFowl wrote: »

Viking were a quality brand but have gone downmarket.
I'd agree keep a lookout for second hand ones for that money and you'll end up with a much better bike !!

Yea they made some pretty nice bikes in the past.

studiorat

I bought a Viking for the brother at Christmas. A retro single speed job called the Racemaster for about €150 including shipping and a dirty great padlock and chain.

It's pretty heavy, steel tubing and I mean real steel; bullet proof, not your fancy Reynolds or Columbus gay steel. This thing is like a tank. Components are all unbranded run of the mill. But the finish on the thing is lovely, really nice styling, a really nice paint job and the detail is really pretty good. He's riding the bike nearly every day and absolutely loves it. No issues yet.

They are cheap which is good, they aren't sports bikes by any stretch of the imagination. But for a short distance commuter and generally riding around the city you can't go wrong for the price.

emigrate2012

mcgratheoin wrote: »

merc230ce wrote: »

Right now I'm looking at buying a Carrera Virtuoso (not cool but gets decent revews) up North - currently reduced to £299 (€375) - after months of browsing the secondhand ads I've decided that this is better value than what's out there (unless you're v v lucky)

Just bought a Triban 3 for the OH for £299 from Decathlon in Belfast. Shimano 2300 triple groupset with a carbon front fork. It's her first road bike, so she only wanted something cheap, and if she likes it, then she can use the BTW scheme next year to upgrade.

cheers for the tips lads,I've checked them both out and I have to say,the triban seems worthy of me strecthing the budget that little bit.Must say though,would their be any worrys about carbon forks on a budget bike like this?

mcgratheoin

emigrate2012 wrote: »

would their be any worrys about carbon forks on a budget bike like this?

Unlikely. Decathlon are a pretty big chain all over Europe and their pricing structure is probably based on massive volumes. As has been mentioned on several threads here, there aren't that many places turning out carbon fibre frames (or forks) so the likelihood is that the forks come from the same factory as some more expensive bikes.
The forks may even be the same across the entire Decathlon range of road bikes (you could always ask them if this is the case)

Holyboy

Keep_Her_Lit wrote: »

As it happens, my old commuter MTB, which I rode for 14 years up to just a few weeks ago has a very similar spec: 7-speed, square taper BB and weighing the wrong side of 13kg. I loved riding it! I even swapped the original 8-speed cassette for 7-speed + spacer to get the spread of ratios that I wanted (11-19).

The point I was trying to make, pretty badly as it turns out, was that most new bikes fitted with such components nowadays tend to be of low quality. As such, these types of components are effectively obsolete if considering new bikes of reasonable quality.

For my old commuter, I certainly found that the selection of replacement components was rapidly shrinking in recent years and tending towards the low quality end of the spectrum.

I apologise to all of the "squares" for my offence. I'm commuting on a BB30 now, don't you know, so may have been getting just a little bit snooty.

I bet the BB30 bearings wont last nearly as long as a Shimano square taper BB, just saying is all.