Which bike to get? VIPER vs Focus

May 2, 2007 4:12 AM

Which Mountain bike to get? VIPER vs Focus

My trusty 15year old Diamondback Sorrento has seen better days and so needs to be replaced.

I have between £200 - £400 to spend. I've narrowed down my choices to these two fine looking bikes, but if you know of somthing else you think is better let me know.

p.s - yes i have a thing for black coloured bikes

so my choice is between;

Viper TR 1.0 Hardtail Bike 2007 £269
or a
Focus Black Hills Mountain Bike 2007 £399

Can anyone tell me if these are good choices?
Does anyone have experience of either Focus or Viper as a bike manufacture?

Obviously one bike is quiet alot more expensive than the other, is it worth it?

Im after a mountain bike that I can also use in the city, ill change the wheels around for slicks, thats why its a hard tail, does anyone know if you can get front suspension forks that you can completely turn off when you don't need them?

also posted here with pics:
http://www.cyclingforums.com/t393496.html


Viper TR 1.0 Hardtail Bike 2007 £269
specs
Frame : 7005 series alloy. Hourglass chainstays, wishbone seatstays and custom CNC dropouts. Disc and V-Brake mounts.
Fork : Suntour XCT 75mm Travel
Hubs : Front : XTX Alloy QR, 32H
Rims : DBM-1 Alloy, Silver 36H
Spokes/Nipples : Stainless Silver, Brass Nipples 14g
Tyres : Continental Leader 2.10
Pedal : Wellgo
Saddle : XTX
Seatpost : XTX
Handlebar : XTX XC Alloy
Stem : XTX
Grips : XTX
Brakes : Tektro V-Brake
Cranks : Shimano TX70 44/ 32/ 22T
Bottom Bracket : CH-52 Cartridge Bearing
Chain : KMC Z-72
Cassette : Shimano CS-HG30-8, 11-32T,
Front Derallieur : Shimano TY10
Rear Derailleur : Shimano M340
Shifters : Shimano ST-EF50-8

Focus Black Hills Mountain Bike 2007 £399
Specification
Frame 26" wheel, MTB Alloy 6061, Zero Stack
Fork Rock Shox Judy J3, Magnesium, Lockout preload, 100mm
Rear Derailleur Shimano Deore LX RD-M580, 27 Speed
Front Derailleur Shimano Deore FD-M510
Shift Levers Shimano Deore SL-M511, Rapidfire
Sprockets Shiano Deore CSHG50, 9 Speed Cassette
Chain Shimano CN-HG53
Transmission Front: 44/32/22, Rear: 11-32
Crankset Shimano Deore FC-M440
Bottom Bracket Shimano BB-UN26
Pedals MTB, Alloy-Cage, Silver
Brakes Avid Single Digit 3, V-Brake, Black
Brake Levers Avid FR5, V-Brake, Grey/Black
Handlebars Ritchey OE Flatbar, AL 6061, 580mm, black
Stem Ritchey OE 6#, 4-bolt, AL6061/T6, black
Headset Integrated Aheadset, black
Front Hub Shimano HB-M530 QR, Black
Rear Hub Shimano FH-M530 QR, Black
Spokes Stainless, Black
Tyres Continental Leader, 54-599, Black
Saddle Selle Italia X2 Eco, Black
12.6kg (medium)

posted by complience to Sports, Hobbies, & Recreation (7 answers total)

The Focus has MUCH better componentry and is a MUCH nicer bike. Pretty much everything on it is a substantial upgrade from the Viper.

Suntour, Tektro, XTX are basically bottom of the barrel brands. The Shimano stuff on the cheaper bike is also the lowest possible end.

The Focus has much better, name-brand bits and pieces. The Shimano LX derailleur is nice, the Ritchey stuff is very good, the saddle is good, the fork is okay but MUCH better than the suntour, better travel too, headset is good, cranks are okay, brakes are excellent, hubs are probably considerably better.

Rims I don't know but judging by the rest I would expect them to be better.

Bike will be much lighter, ride much better for much longer, and be worth the extra.

The best place to ask this question is the "What bike to buy" forum on MTBR.com. You will get very, very good advice there, and quickly.
posted by unSane at 5:42 AM on May 2, 2007

Suntour, Tektro, XTX are basically bottom of the barrel brands
Not all of them
posted by azazello at 7:50 AM on May 2, 2007

I work as a bicycle mechanic and in sales here in the states so I suppose I should throw in my two cents

In short, the Focus Black Hills (or similar...I am not familiar with this bike/brand) is a much much much better bike and is definitely the one that will suit your needs and here's why:

You mentioned that you would like the ability to make the front suspension fork rigid for city riding/commuting. You can do this with the Focus Black Hills. That preload lockout feature that it mentions does just that. I flick of a dial on the fork will freeze the fork and make for much more efficient riding and pedaling. If you are actually going to be hitting the trails with this bike the rock shox fork (though not great) is substantially better than a suntour or similar fork. The drivetrain componentry is actually very good by any standards. Shimano Deore is Shimano's midrange component line and is present on many midlevel and even more expensive mountain bikes. The pedals are an alloy which will take some extra abuse (wellgo's are often a plastic) and the brakes are good as well (i'd take avid over tektro any day of the week. Even the Saddle on the black hills is nice.

I hope that helps. The only other advice that I have is to check and make sure that whatever bike you choose has a replaceable derailler hanger. This is a small metal peice attached to the frame that the rear derailler mounts to. If it is mounted directly to the frame and breaks off you pretty much have to get a new bicycle. If a replaceable derailler hanger breaks it should be an easy fix.

Also...the most important part of buying a bicycle is that it is fitted properly. If you will be buying the bike to be used as a trail/mountain bike then size slightly small to tighten up the wheelbase and give yourself some clearance. If it is to be used for solely city riding and commuting is okay to size a little bit bigger with comfort in mind.

I don't know where you are planning on purchasing this bike but if it is at a major retailer like wal-marts here in the states or if you are assembling it yourself without much experience, make sure to bring it to your local bicycle store mechanic to give it a look over. I can't tell you how many times I have seen bikes that have been bought at places like those break, fail entirely or are just unsafe because of improper assembly.

Sorry to go on and on but I hope this helps you.
posted by Evan Gaffney at 10:44 AM on May 2, 2007

And no, I have never hear of either of these manufactures. I'd check the warranty that they provide on the frame. Most major manufactures give a limited lifetime waranty on the frame but that doesn't really mean anything. If it's something like 90 days or 6 months i would be wary.

Not sure about the European consumer market but the major brands here are trek (and trek owned Gary Fisher, klein, lemond, etc.), Giant, Specialized and Cannondale. I'd look into those if available.
posted by Evan Gaffney at 10:52 AM on May 2, 2007

at the risk of sounding flippant, you should get the bike that fits you better. componentry can be replaced as it fails or upgraded at your whim, but fit is difficult to change. ride them both, and see which one fits you better. if you feel equally comfortable on both, get the one with the better wheels, as wheels typically are the costliest items to replace on your bike.

alot of current-era mtb suspension forks have some kind of lockout or travel limiter. the rock shox on the focus definitely does.

if it fits you, i vote you get the focus. it has all-around better componentry than the viper.
posted by the painkiller at 10:54 AM on May 2, 2007

Are you sure about the spec on the Focus? The Focus website has a quite different set of components:

http://www.focusbikesuk.com/focusmountainbikes/mountain_bikes_black_hills.php#spec

The stem etc on this version are OEM and the fork is a Suntour, definitely not as good as what you quoted. The brakes are Shimano Deore which are fine.

It is very hard to buy a good bike at your price point, since you are in the range where you tend to get a few good components and a few that are 'compromised'. At about UKP 500 it starts to get a bit easier. If the one you are being offered has the specs you quoted, it is a pretty good deal.

Focus bikes seem to get decent reviews.

For bikes in your price range, a great place to shop is Chain Reaction, but only if you are comfortable buying mail order. For example, here's a GT Avalanche, a really well-regarded entry level bike, for UKP 330.
posted by unSane at 12:23 PM on May 2, 2007

Response by poster: i think i got the spec from amazon, and we all know how dodgey they are, so thanks for the headsup.. ill double check.

im not mad enough to actualy buy anything directly from amazon.
posted by complience at 5:28 AM on May 3, 2007