New bike brands come and go, but it鈥檚 rare that one makes as big of a splash with its debut as Viathon, a new direct-to-consumer marquee that launched this week. Did Viathon offer some bold new technology,听jaw-dropping value, or an irresistible brand story? Nope: while the bikes it鈥檚 offering look to be good quality and competitively priced, the reason that Viathon鈥檚 entry turned heads is who鈥檚 behind it: Walmart.
That bit of information, incidentally, is not something you鈥檒l find on Viathon鈥檚 website. It in a Pinkbike story. The writer, Sarah Moore, found the connection when looking up the trademark on the name, which is听.
Still, Viathon is getting a , with on of and outdoor sites. And every single article, including this one, focuses on the Walmart ownership. A Viathon representative told me that Walmart simply wanted the story to be more about the bikes than the company behind them. Well, so much for that.
Two Walmart heirs, Tom and Steuart Walton, are themselves highly enthusiastic riders who have invested in cycling companies听like Allied Cycle Works and Rapha, and they directed the trailbuilding grants that have helped transform听Walmart鈥檚 home base of Bentonville, Arkansas, into a world-class mountain-biking听destination. But Viathon is a Walmart corporate鈥攏ot Walton鈥攑roject, intended to expand Walmart鈥檚 current bike offerings to the specialty market.
I鈥檓 guessing that听without the connection to the largest retailer in the world, Viathon wouldn鈥檛 be getting nearly this level of attention. Another new direct-to-consumer brand, Remot, also听 with far less buzz, despite being owned by American Bicycle Group, the holding company for established high-end brands Litespeed and Quintana Roo.
Like Remot, Viathon debuts : one frame each in road, gravel, and mountain, with three levels of build kit. The bikes look… fine. All the frames are carbon fiber, and the gravel and road models fit solidly within current design trends that prize features like disc brakes and clearance for wider tires. 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. The parts kits feature quality components from premium suppliers like Fizik, Hed, and Zipp, and the pricing is competitive with a number of brands. The bikes will be available to order within weeks.
But I鈥檓 a little mystified that the mountain bike is a cross-country hardtail 29er, a style of bike that鈥檚 pretty out of fashion at the moment.听Plus, Viathon鈥檚 graphics are a little bland, in my opinion, the pricing isn鈥檛 so aggressive that it鈥檚 clearly better than bikes from established brands like Canyon or Giant (or Remot, for that matter), and the product marketing so far feels spare to the point that it鈥檚 pro forma. Some of that is a function of the homogeneity of the modern bike-enthusiast business. Almost all carbon frames come from Asia, and different brands often subcontract with the same large producers. When everyone鈥檚 selling a $3,500-ish Shimano Ultegra disc-equipped carbon gravel bike with an oversize headtube, asymmetric rear triangle, and scads of tire clearance, it鈥檚 a little hard to stand apart from the crowd听even when there are real differences.
So far, Viathon isn鈥檛 saying much about what makes its bikes different, nor is it . The frames are engineered and designed in partnership with Kevin Quan, a longtime designer who鈥檚 responsible for well-known bikes from well-known brands like Cervelo, Parlee, and Pivot. But Quan is the only person mentioned in a 鈥渢eam of top bicycle industry veterans with decades of collective experience.鈥 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. Both are well-qualified bike industry veterans, but it鈥檚 not a riveting founder story like, for instance, that of听. And I suspect Viathon isn鈥檛 relying on a deep tech story to market its bikes for a simple reason: the frames don鈥檛 seem to offer clear innovation in design or materials. 听
Some cyclists are extremely brand-loyal, willing to pay a premium for pride in heritage brands like Bianchi or Pinarello. Others seek innovation above all, eager to check out the latest suspension tech from Trust Performance or Yeti. Still others are simply doing their best to sort through the marketing-speak to make a performance-to-value calculation on the best tool to get on the road听or into the woods. Right now, Viathon sits on the value end of the spectrum, alongside other house brands like Scattante or the now-closed Foundry: perfectly fine, but not particularly compelling.
Viathon says it wants to bridge Walmart鈥檚 current low-price offerings to the bike-enthusiast听business. That鈥檚 a fine goal, but let鈥檚 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. And while the bikes may be sold on Walmart鈥檚 website at some point, there鈥檚 no mention of听selling in stores, which would put the bikes in front of a broader audience. It鈥檚 also important to note what鈥檚 not in the current lineup: women鈥檚 bikes, utility bikes, and e-bikes. 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. That won鈥檛 set it apart in a highly competitive market or bring high-end tech to a new market of people.
Without the curiousness of the Walmart link, I wouldn鈥檛 even be writing about Viathon. And other direct-to-consumer brands like Canyon have a big head start on Viathon in terms of reputation. That鈥檚 a challenge. Certainly, Walmart has the resources to overcome that, if it chooses, and it also has a reach like few other companies鈥擶almart sells more bicycles in North America than any other retailer, . Now it has a toe in the high-end market and the chance to show that it鈥檚听capable of making quality stuff. But if Viathon is going to have any real impact, it鈥檚 the next set of new bikes that will matter most.