What is this Viking that I have bought

I've bought myself a Viking ten speed bike. It has 531 stickers on the frame and the forks, but the person who sold it to me says that he thinks it isn't actually a 531 frame. There is no model name that I can see, apart from a sticker saying "J. E. James" on it. I presume that refers to http://www.jejamescycles.co.uk/

So, how do I find out what I have?

Re:

Pictures lad, pictures!

Vikings - particularly the ones built after the company went out of business in the 1960's and was brought back to life in Northern Ireland - often did not have model names on the frames. If the seatpost is chromed steel and less than 27mm in diameter, then it probably isn't 531.

Unfortunately it's dark, and the only camera we have with a decent flash is currently recharging. Photos tomorrow.

The head badge isn't one of the older ones (bike looks to be 80s or early 90s) easily found on websites. There is a Viking ship, with a big red sail saying Viking, but no 'Wolverhampton' or 'Made in England'. Most similar to this one, but not the same as mentioned.



The bike has Rigida alloy rims, and a Suntour derailleur. The frame is pained silver, and has only the name 'Viking' with three loops/stripes at either end of the logo. The seatpost is alloy.

While trying to find a picture of a frame with the same logo as mine, I found this:



This is exactly the same as my 'new' bike. Except for different pedals and maybe that mine has less skinny tyres. But otherwise seat, groupset, etc. looks identical. This might make it a 1979 Viking Vision. If so, earlier than I guessed. Edit: I think the cranks are different. Mine have a 'solida' (or similar, slightly worn away) logo.

One thing I was concerned about with a retro bike was non-indexed gears. I was very impressed by how well the gears work and how smooth they are.

Edit: Graphics and head badge are quite different from this one: viewtopic.php?f=22&t=111152 I think the pedals on mine are the same, except that I don't have toeclips.

Edit2: The ex-owner of the silver Viking Vision above is on here too, and sold the bike. The head badge on his/her bike is the same as mine:

viewtopic.php?t=186093

I reckon that's one of the later NI ones, definitely not a 'proper' Wolverhampton one.

The Wolverhampton ones stopped around 67, I believe from googling around a bit. http://classicvikingcycles.com/ Another site suggests that Roy Clements (the NI owner I presume) acquired the name around 1977, which predates this 1979 model.

I bought this bike to use it for a specific purpose. I kept on getting advised that if I couldn't spend £600 or whatever for a decent bike, that I should just do triathlons with what I have to hand. But that's a single speed bike, and after doing one hilly triathlon on it, I decided that I wanted gears. My Viking Vision has gears, and while it's not light, it doesn't weigh a freakin' ton I went out on a group cycle and I was easily climbing hills seated while all around me (just regular people) were standing up - usually it's the other way around.

When I bought this bike, there was a Dawes being sold for the same price. it looked better and in better condition, but weighed much more. Which surprised me as when I met a guy riding a 531 tubed Dawes, it was impressively light even though it had mudguards and a carrier. I presume the Dawes I saw was a 'gaspipe' cheap model.

Today I saw a modern Viking sprint on sale for £100, less than twice what I paid for my vision. Look at that, I thought that it might have been a better option to quickly obtain gears. But when I lifted it, it weighed an astonishing amount. Which surprised me as I thought that 6061 aluminium wasn't that bad a material.

I really like the idea of 'classic' bikes and classic other things (I have some 1970s and 1980s guitars). But this bike I've just bought is in reality a cheap stopgap measure until I work out what I really want to do. I'm going to ride it out into the country tomorrow, so who knows what I'll learn then But as of the moment, this bike seems to be fulfilling its purpose quite well. Even if it isn't historically interesting

As asked, I attach a photo here.

My question is about the brakes. What brake blocks will I be able to use with these brakes. I presume these generic blocks would do:

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/2-Pairs-of-Cy ... 51b0e3e294

But, I'd be prepared to spend a bit more to get better stopping power. What would be good brake blocks to use?

I used to have a Vision like the purple one linked above. The braking was poor. Switching to modern levers and cables with Aztec brake blocks transformed it. The old callipers are hard to replace as the drop is quite large - much more than most available today.

Re:

Thank you very much for the advice.

Including your post, I've had Kool Stop and Aztec brake blocks recommended.

The bike has had a service today, as a cycle charity had a drop in repair shop, and I took it along. The brakes were adjusted, and they do work better. Not wonderfully well, but better. So, upgrading the brake blocks is still a priority.

This bike is meant to be a cheap interim bike until I get something better. It makes sense for me to upgrade things that I can or still will use on a future bike, e.g. I'm planning to put SPD-SL pedals on it. It makes sense to buy better consumables such as brake blocks, tyres, tubes, etc. But, upgrading the levers or calipers is a bit more difficult to justify.

Re:

Under the grime, that looks like a pretty nice bike. Viking were pretty poor at differentiating their models (or they were good at making their cheaper models look like the more expensive ones, depending on which way you look at it...). But if yours has 531 tubing and fairly high quality components then you'll be pleasantly surprised at the drubbings you'll be able to dole out to blokes riding much more modern machinery.

Fibrax do direct replacement brake blocks http://www.fibrax.com/rim-pads/road/com ... tic-blocks.

And Panaracer do really nice, lighweight gumwall tyres: http://www.sjscycles.co.uk/panaracer-pa ... ch-(28-630)-prod1027/

Could you post a couple of close ups of the seat post and the drop outs that hold the rear wheel?

Thanks for the information. I've thought about the tyres, and have decided to leave them as they are until they wear out. Then, I'll be looking at my best options.

I've put SPD-SL pedals on the bike, and hope to buy compatible shoes this evening. Tomorrow I'm picking up some aero bars. After that, I think the bike is fully ready to go. Or at least, start practicing riding with cleats and aero bars.

The rear derailleur spring might be a bit old, but problems of a slack chain can be easily avoided by adopting a strategy of gear shifting that avoids smallest cog on the front and smallest cog on the back. No biggie. It might happen that sometime in the future, I put on a modern derailleur. I've read that since I have friction changing, not indexed gears, that pretty much any rear derailleur will do providing that it can be attached to the frame.

I'll get the photos of the seat post and the rear drop outs and post them here.