A Manchester-based Indian-owned bicycle manufacturer is breathing fresh life into one of Britain’s most famous bike brands — Viking. Hero Cycles (the world’s biggest bicycle manufacturer by volume) is following in the footsteps of other Indian companies that have bought much-loved British manufacturing brands such as Royal Enfield and Jaguar Land Rover.

Hero (www.herocycles.com) acquired the 110-year-old Viking brand when it purchased Manchester-based bike distributor Avocet Cycles in 2015.

Now, after an absence of nearly 40 years, British-designed Viking bikes are returning to bicycle shops around the UK.

Avocet CEO Sreeram Venkateswaran said: “Viking is a brand that fires the imagination. In its glory days, it was one of the finest bike manufacturers in the world, with one of the best racing teams in Britain.

“We have invested more than £2 million in moving our global design centre from India to Manchester, so we can embrace brands like Viking and recalibrate them, restoring the quality they were famed for.

Our new range of Viking bikes is the first designed in the UK for 40 years. We believe it can really connect with people, particularly families looking for a well-designed bike in the £250 to £1,500 price range.”

Viking shot to fame in Britain after the Second World War, manufacturing bicycles at its base in Wolverhampton, and the company formed its own road racing team, which became very successful riding the company’s lightweight bikes, with notable victories in the Tour of Britain in the 1950s.

Production reached a peak of 20,000 bikes a year in the 1960s, but the company ceased trading in 1967, went through ownership changes and disappeared entirely in the 1980s. Avocet bought the trademark in 2002.

Mr Venkateswaran said that the new Viking range will see the return of the classic logo and will include city, touring and road bikes.