This segment of the gravel bike market has fierce competition for your attention, and Viathons G1 doesnt strike us as being outstanding from much of what is offered now. Get Free Shipping Storewide ViathonBicycles.com w/ Coupon (Activate). They don't know from Canyon et al. Outside's long reads email newsletter features our strongest writing, most ambitious reporting, and award-winning storytelling about the outdoors. And failing. 1. Viathon was his idea, springing from his background as a former pro rider, a one-time USA Cycling team mechanic and latterly a web commerce geek with Backcountry.com and before that Competitivecyclist.com. @jason-99: If a home mechanic rounds off the flats on a nut, because they used a Wal-Mart adjustable, is that the fault of the tool or the mechanic? Its not the products: a three-frame range of MTBs, and gravel and road bikes. No mention of any real pertinent specs that you'd expect when buying a bike. "We're trying to build a culture, building an education," Jordan said at the introduction. Its one of the biggest online merchants in the world, No. Brought on board to run Walmarts online bike sales, he pitched the idea of a standalone brand. No dropper on the GX spec? Mount a water bottle to the frame and stay hydrated for harder riding. The shifters and RD were DA and that was it. Probably trying to compete with REI. Maybe. In that sense, Viathon hit the nail on the head.. At first it was seemingly impressive for $2500. Two many folks here getting a bit specific. It's funny - as a surfer, I'm seeing a lot of people who typically spend mediocre wave days in the water scrapping for a lousy ride now turn towards mountain biking as their go-to activity when the waves are garbage. But Quan is the only person mentioned in a team of top bicycle industry veterans with decades of collective experience. The only other real face behind Viathon is brand manager Zach Spinhirne-Martin, who spent nine years with the online retailer Competitive Cyclist before joining Walmart as its bike category manager. When everyones selling a $3,500-ish Shimano Ultegra disc-equipped carbon gravel bike with an oversize headtube, asymmetric rear triangle, and scads of tire clearance, its a little hard to stand apart from the crowdeven when there are real differences. We highly recommend retaining the original shipping box & protective packaging for future use. It's not the products: a three-frame range of MTBs, and gravel and road bikes. Its to do with the fact that you can get 200kg of world rounding desert crossing Yamaha Tenere T7 2019 for less than a lot of mtbs now. In effect, the brand is a sortie into a high-end scene, allowing Walmart to test the waters of a rarefied market. On its own, Viathon strikes me as a modestly interesting enthusiast brand with some solid, value-oriented bikes that feature industry-standard design and technology. Again- something we cannot make a call on. ummm.I regularly pass the bikes in walmart on my way to the sporting goods section to buy fishing/hunting stuff and I don't know of these $500 walmart bikes you speak of$250 is about the top price going unless yall have some gucci walmarts wherever this story was based? Or is the front-end harshness that pronounced? It doesnt have to adapt to the future, it is the future. Viathon M.1 GX Eagle Mountain Bike Review | SRAM GX EagleI was amazed how light this bike was and how well it climbed!Viathon was kind enough to send me over. Viathon is a new direct-to-consumer bike brand owned by Walmart that launched this week with a line of carbon bikes that sell between $2,300 and $6,000. Call it a 'Walmart' bike if you must. I wanted to make bikes that I would want to ride, says Spinhirne-Martin. Marketing has been slow-burn so far, rolling out a website and social media, getting journalists on the bikes at Sea Otter, and paying for GCNs Simon Richardson to ride the G1 from Outerbike in an advertorial video posted on 12th July and which has already had 34,000 views. Managing editor Dean Yobbi told the story in BRAIN's May dead-trees issue and online as well. The brand is starting with three models: the R1 road bike, the G1 gravel bike, and the M1 29er MTB. But when people saw these bikes here, it was like, 'Hey, these are real bikes! First, this hardtail gets more than just the usual 100mm-travel fork. Viathon is hitting the market with three model families. Although from a bike industry perspective, the geometry is a few years outdated even for a hardtail. Your email address will not be published. Now, if Viathon frames were suddenly produced in the USA my American hands, with progressive geometry and class leading weights, that might be a different story - but a Taiwanese sourced frame that is pretty much identical to a Hong Fu or Workswell or whatever isn't really a selling point, especially when it costs a few grand. Viathons G.1 gravel bike requires the same build. Press J to jump to the feed. Most people won't even bother looking or once they see every new bike worth buying is >$1100, they quit. That said, the lineup doesn't make sense. bike Waiting for Whole Foods to offer MTBs. we must also look at what it costs to produce in numbers. A Redshift Sports ShockStop Stem tamed the harsh vibrations coming from the Viathons beefy carbon fork. Yeah I'm in Australia and I know this, along with they do a bit for some mtb community's and trails. 5G for Dura. That wont set it apart in a highly competitive market or bring high-end tech to a new market of people. Well I'm kinda torn here. "Of course, there was some backlash with the Walmart connection,'' said Mark Jordan, whose CrankTank marketing group staged the Viathon launch and was quoted in Yobbi's original article. Sign up today. If the demand for an entry level bike is there, then they can produce enough units to make it financially viable. Thats a call youll have to make. dont think people in the market for $2000-5000 bikes would even think to buy at Walmart let alone shoulder the stigma of owning a bike bought at Walmart. Never blame a person, blame a tool, people are never to blame only the tools they choose to use. Viathon made a big splash when it announced its presence to the bicycle world back in April, leveraging the cost-efficiency muscle of its parent company, Walmart, into a line of carbon bikes that . Buyers have 60 days from purchase to return the bike, and it can be new or used. Why would pile-em-high-sell-em-cheap Walmart be interested in such a high-end part of the bicycle market when the market-dominating retailer is already Americas biggest seller of keenly priced bicycles? Explore, search and compare thousands of the world's best mountain bikes here on Mountain Bike Database. price sold by type electric assist +. It's like the lineup are marketed just like any other Walmart products, and the bike prices don't make sense. Certainly, there are many Walmart shoppers among us, though likely few who have bought a bike there. bikes The average person is a Walmart shopper, he says. It'll take ONE major company (looking at you. The impetus for the brand was therefore personal, not corporate. In Europe there's this large French sports goods chain called Decathlon. Viathon Bicycles announced today it will sponsor the Caffeine and Watts Club. Oh that bike would make a good gift for my grandchild, so he stops playing mine craft and go outside a bit. according to industry analyst Jay Townley. They seem to offer a solid value for a full carbon bike. And 2 years ago, the company hired Zach Spinhirne-Martin, a senior buyer at CompetitiveCyclist.com. Complete builds start at $2,300, and top out at $3,500 for the gravel models and around $6,000 for the road and mountain bikes. In 2017, Bonobos was sold to, you guessed it, Walmart. Little info you may want to know about the Waltons. Discussion of everything bicycle related. The bike arrives 98 percent pre-assembled the customer has to tighten on pedals, install the front wheel, and attach the front face plate over the handlebar. And the company currently sells more bicycles in the United States than any other retailer. Maybe in this specialist market they've done a better job. Walmart thinks so, and the retail juggernaut is betting its customers do too. as all the other big brands. It does all those things a really good racing bike should do. The bikes will be available to order within weeks. refresh results with search filters open search menu. Someone posted an Outside magazine article above that details it. As technical editor Dan Cavallari pointed out in our sister publication VeloNews, "Viathon ticks almost all the high-end boxes for a bike with a lower pricepoint. Spinhirne-Martin tells me to look around the Laguna Seca Raceway, which is teeming with fans, baggy shorts-wearing bros, and Lycra-clad racers with rippling muscles. It's not the frames: they aren't open-mould no-names, all three shapes were CAD designed by the legendary Kevin Quan Studios of Toronto, Canada. Viathon will benefit from the supply side muscle of Walmart, it may even one day be sold in Walmart stores, but it wont ever market itself as offering Walmart bikes., Australian MTB lifestyle brand Dharco has officially opened its European subsidiary, and has plans to, The BikeBiz jobs board helped filled over 740 positions in 2022, and listings are still, German custom bike brand Velo De Ville is due to launch in the UK and, Ribble Cycles has just announced a new collective of sponsored ridings, competing across various disciplines., Historic lock brand Squire has launched its first range of wearable security equipment for the, SRAM has released the latest development in its Force AXS groupset, including a new shifter. bicycling At the end of the day, we bike people live and work in a quirky, parochial and, more than occasionally, incestuous little industry, one with its own set of business realities. Complete builds start at $2,300, and top out at $3,500 for the gravel models and around $6,000 for the road and mountain bikes. But Viathon's G.1 GRX 800 is light, fast, and sporty, and costs much less than its competitors. Doubt they are taking a loss, even at these prices. If successful, Viathon can be rolled out widely, claimed Spinhirne-Martin. So they're definitely taking a loss on these.. The Club will ride Viathon's newly released carbon G.1 gravel bike and send a group of five Elite riders to key events like the Belgian Waffle Ride and Dirty Kanza, two of the most challenging gravel races in the world. Viathon is a start-up carbon bike brand with a difference. For the last update and a link to the introductions, Click Here. Spinhirne-Martin says Walmart is launching with the hardtail to fill in holes in what they already offer on the Walmart.com marketplace. They also have controlling interests in Rapha and Allied Cycles. Note: Viathon sent over the Rival 1 G1 bicycle for test and review at no charge to Riding Gravel. New bike brands come and go, but its rare that one makes as big of a splash with its debut as Viathon, a new direct-to-consumer marquee that launched this week. GearJunkie Copyright 2013 2023. houses for sale hervey bay $250,000 to; gwinnett county gun show 2021; eagle point elementary school staff; super shuttle sanford airport what happened to viathon bikes Byjunho 3, 2022 At Viathon, we believe that great bikes make riding more fun. Its almost impossible for Walmart to develop premium offerings with the Walmart name, which is synonymous with keen pricing and out-of-favour out-of-town malls. Having 29 wheels means that you need less fork travel, leading to a reduction of the pedal bob effect. Bike is not returnable if damaged or not fit for continued use (Please see Warranty and Crash Replacement policy) ", i wouldnt buy the mountain bike but their gravel offering is interesting for sure at 3k. Thats a fine goal, but lets not kid ourselves: $2,300 is both a lot of money and also not appreciably cheaper than the pricing offered by a number of other brands. Dollar-for-dollar there are other carbon-framed high-end bikes out there that undercut the Viathon offerings. The writer, Sarah Moore, found the connection when looking up the trademark on the name, which isregistered to Walmart. 3G for Ultegra, double the 105 model. We will strive to give our honest thoughts and views throughout. They travel by private jet, stay in luxury hotelshave huge parties And never tip anybody anything EVER. Does it seem like a no-brainer to spring for Viathon for people interested in that? Mountain bikes that rival the cost of motorcycles, silly parts that cost $30 for a $5 part, extremely expensive tools (because Park Tools is worse than Snap-On), etc. Same price as the Grail 7 AL right now, both have quite race-y aspects to them. Spesh's Fuse 27.5 comes to mind, costing ~$1200. But the move that really set the cat among the industry pigeons was the Viathon sales strategy, which at least strongly hinted at distribution via Walmart.com. Required fields are marked *. The last time we posted on the Viathon G1 we mentioned that this bike might be the perfect candidate for the Redshift Sports ShockStop Stem. Very glad for your fair judgement and perspective. The Bike Forum. February edition of BikeBiz magazine now available, Pros perspective: Olly Wilkins on DMRs new ODub Bars, MTB clothing brand Dharco aims to expand in Europe, The top five jobs in the bike trade this week 3rd March, German custom bike brand Velo De Ville to launch in UK at The Cycle Show 2023, Ribble Cycles launches new collective of riders, Squire releases its first range of wearable cycle locks, SRAM releases new Force AXS groupset, developed for WorldTour pros.