Budget road bike - Triban?
Discussion
I've spent the last two and a half years riding a Carrera Fury on fat street tyres, which rarely goes off road. I cycle approx. 6000 miles a year so I'm looking for something decent as a daily. I know almost nothing about road bikes (haven't been interested till recently) so I'm looking for a bit of advice.
The Tribans seem to get good reviews from people, so I'm looking at one of these http://www.decathlon.co.uk/Buy/btwin+triban
I'd like a Triban 3, but they never appear to be in stock in size 54. I have a budget of around £400, and the Triban 500 SE looks good for what I want. Would stretching the budget to a Triban 5 be worth it?
I don't want to buy second hand as the previous used bikes I bought had problems which I didn't notice at the time of buying.
Other suggestions and advice would be very helpful. Thanks.
The Tribans seem to get good reviews from people, so I'm looking at one of these http://www.decathlon.co.uk/Buy/btwin+triban
I'd like a Triban 3, but they never appear to be in stock in size 54. I have a budget of around £400, and the Triban 500 SE looks good for what I want. Would stretching the budget to a Triban 5 be worth it?
I don't want to buy second hand as the previous used bikes I bought had problems which I didn't notice at the time of buying.
Other suggestions and advice would be very helpful. Thanks.
If you can get hold of one of the Triban 500SE's in your size then go for it. The first 1000 bikes were supplied with a Sora groupset rather than the Claris that the later frames will be supplied with as Decathlon had some sort of stock issue and rather than delay the release they used what they had. Which means you'd get a lot of bike for the money. I was looking at the Triban 3a too, which is the latest version of the old red Triban but it now has steel forks and after reading around it seems most people make the upgrade to the Sora groupset anyway, so for the extra £80 the 500SE was a bargain. Plus the new white finish on the 3a doesn't look that good with the grey forks. I did also look at the second hand bikes on offer through various forums, Ebay etc, but trying to find a bike that was in my price range, had low miles or hadn't been fettled in my size was hit and miss. The odd few that did crop up often where too far away, which means when I factored in the cost of getting there to pick it up the saving from buying new was marginal.
I was commuting on a Carrera Crossfire hybrid too and even after putting 32C Continental Sport Contact tyres on which transformed the performance, I was still having to lug 15Kg of bike uphill. Always said to my other half that I'd never be a 'proper cyclist', I've had my 500SE for just over a month and now I wear lycra much to her disgust
Plus the bike has been faultless, did a 60Km run yesterday and it never missed a beat and was getting some good comments from other roadies. So needless to say I'm now hooked on road bikes and it was the best £380 I've spent in a long time, just contemplating what to buy next.....
I was commuting on a Carrera Crossfire hybrid too and even after putting 32C Continental Sport Contact tyres on which transformed the performance, I was still having to lug 15Kg of bike uphill. Always said to my other half that I'd never be a 'proper cyclist', I've had my 500SE for just over a month and now I wear lycra much to her disgust
Plus the bike has been faultless, did a 60Km run yesterday and it never missed a beat and was getting some good comments from other roadies. So needless to say I'm now hooked on road bikes and it was the best £380 I've spent in a long time, just contemplating what to buy next.....Even though I do quite a few miles I've never considered myself as a cyclist either. I ride around in jeans and a t-shirt with 2.35 street tyres on the Carrera. Fairly heavy, but I wanted to keep the 'off road' look and makes the ride nice and comfy.
It would be nice to get a bike with a better spec than intended so I will keep my fingers crossed. I'm going to leave it a couple of days to sleep on it before getting the credit card out
Thanks for the info.
It would be nice to get a bike with a better spec than intended so I will keep my fingers crossed. I'm going to leave it a couple of days to sleep on it before getting the credit card out
Thanks for the info.
New bike arrived earlier. I'm surprised how much faster it is compared to my mtb. The bars and riding position will take a bit of getting used to though. The bike is really nice and looks good quality. One of the bar ends is missing though, and I've removed a screw with bit of rubber on it which was rattling around inside the bars. Not sure what it is.
Congratulations on the bike!
Only thing I could think that it is the expanding bung for the bar end... maybe... you could loosen the other one and see how it fixes in.
Having just started in the roadie world after riding MTBs I found it comfier to flip the stem on mine and rotate the bars back a bit so I was having to lean forward and/or stretch quite so far. I was getting a painful left elbow from over extending it.
Only thing I could think that it is the expanding bung for the bar end... maybe... you could loosen the other one and see how it fixes in.
Having just started in the roadie world after riding MTBs I found it comfier to flip the stem on mine and rotate the bars back a bit so I was having to lean forward and/or stretch quite so far. I was getting a painful left elbow from over extending it.
Thanks. I'll spend a bit more time with it before changing settings. The main cause of discomfort is from the clothes I'm wearing to ride. Good excuse to get some stuff ordered.
I'll take a look at how the other bar end is held in tomorrow, and send an email to Decathlon to get the missing part(s).
I'll take a look at how the other bar end is held in tomorrow, and send an email to Decathlon to get the missing part(s).
When I first went out on mine I was amazed at how responsive it was over my heavy hybrid. Plus on my first commute with it I beat all my previous personal records on Strava
As Lukeyman said, I rotated my bars slightly up, as I was getting sore wrists after only twenty minutes, only moved them a couple of degrees but I can go hours in the saddle with no problems now.
As Lukeyman said, I rotated my bars slightly up, as I was getting sore wrists after only twenty minutes, only moved them a couple of degrees but I can go hours in the saddle with no problems now.
Edited by Fugazi on Thursday 3rd July 22:34
I had problems trying to get my massive feet into those plastic toe clips, and since my commute has a lot of junctions I gave up and ended buying some SPD gear in the form of M520 pedals and Shimano M064 shoes. I wouldn't say it makes my peddling any more powerful but it does 'feel' better and more secure when spinning or standing.
Well done, I give you a month before you get 'upgrade fever' and 6 months before you find a £1k budget for a new bike!
Looking at the picture I assume the shop didn't set it up for you? The bars are very low (the bottom 'flat-ish bit should be parallel wit the floor which would put the hoods higher), stem looks a bit high, and the seat looks potentially a little bit low.
If you have a friendly bike shop pop along and see if they will set it up for you, most shops will want to charge £100 for a bike fitting but you might get lucky!
Looking at the picture I assume the shop didn't set it up for you? The bars are very low (the bottom 'flat-ish bit should be parallel wit the floor which would put the hoods higher), stem looks a bit high, and the seat looks potentially a little bit low.
If you have a friendly bike shop pop along and see if they will set it up for you, most shops will want to charge £100 for a bike fitting but you might get lucky!
I ordered the bike online as the nearest shop is over 100 miles away and I'm currently car-less. I'll take a bit of time to read up on how to set the bike up. I quickly threw it together yesterday to go for a quick ride while I had the time.
Not sure what I'm going to do about shoes/pedals. I have wide feet, and the only shoes I find which fit me comfortably are skateboarding trainers. The clips don't seem to be too much of a problem, so I'll see how I get on.
Not sure what I'm going to do about shoes/pedals. I have wide feet, and the only shoes I find which fit me comfortably are skateboarding trainers. The clips don't seem to be too much of a problem, so I'll see how I get on.
I'd disagree on the negativity regarding the Decathlon service. I think that for a multi national, multi sport megastore that the service is actually very good in my experience. I bought a Red Triban 3 a couple of years ago from Reading as my first foray into road biking and it was ace. The guys in the shop were helpful and the bike just 'worked' straight out the box. I didn't feel any need to change much apart from a new saddle and it was such an object of desire some theiving scrote stole it from outside a training event I was attending with work!
A month or so back, a friend was asking for advice on what to buy and I took a trip up to Decathlon in Southampton with him and he ended up leaving with a Triban 500 (the microshift one for £379) He's reported nothing but good things from it and considering it is around half the price of a 'branded' equivalent I think it is bloody marvelous. As has been shown in the pics, it looks ace too.
A month or so back, a friend was asking for advice on what to buy and I took a trip up to Decathlon in Southampton with him and he ended up leaving with a Triban 500 (the microshift one for £379) He's reported nothing but good things from it and considering it is around half the price of a 'branded' equivalent I think it is bloody marvelous. As has been shown in the pics, it looks ace too.
Usget said:
In my experience (got a 2013 Triban 5) the bikes are ace but Decathlon are a total shower. Not surprised bits are falling off tbh. As MadDad says, get it checked and set up properly by a competent bike shop.
Couldn't disagree more. The one I've used in Surrey Quays have been spot on every time I've used them. Far better than several "proper" bike shops that decorum prevents me from naming...I'm going to have a look at a Fit 5 for winter/commuting duties. I'm regretting not getting the old red Triban 3 with the carbon fork when they were £250 a couple of years ago.
Does anyone know if their shoes for the brake pads work with the other shimano compatible pads?
http://www.decathlon.co.uk/media/823/8239798/big_8...
Does anyone know if their shoes for the brake pads work with the other shimano compatible pads?
http://www.decathlon.co.uk/media/823/8239798/big_8...
Another vote for getting some clipless pedals and rotating the bars a bit. This bike looks like amazing value, from a recognised brand you'd pay £650-700 for an equivalent bike, and they've even fitted half respectable tyres to them now as well.
That bung looks like a bit of packaging, which probably screws into a mudguard mount to stop the side of the frame getting scratched in transit, it certainly isn't a functional part of the bike so just bin it.
That bung looks like a bit of packaging, which probably screws into a mudguard mount to stop the side of the frame getting scratched in transit, it certainly isn't a functional part of the bike so just bin it.
Mr Will said:
Usget said:
In my experience (got a 2013 Triban 5) the bikes are ace but Decathlon are a total shower. Not surprised bits are falling off tbh. As MadDad says, get it checked and set up properly by a competent bike shop.
Couldn't disagree more. The one I've used in Surrey Quays have been spot on every time I've used them. Far better than several "proper" bike shops that decorum prevents me from naming...I won't go into the whole story but I ordered for collection, they screwed it up twice, eventually ended up shipping it to me, they THREW it in a box with no padding, scratches on it that weren't there when I saw it in the shop, bars loosely hanging off by cables, brake dangerously loose on the front and clamped tight on the rear, gears very badly set up. Nothing that can't be fixed (other than the scratches) but that's what makes me say get it set up and inspected before you ride.
The bike itself has been great, though. I've been really impressed, especially with Sora, which I expected to feel a bit pony. I'm running RS11 wheels and an old set of SPDs and it's a fantastic, light-ish, low maintenance commuter bike.
I bought a SH Triban 3 - the white one - after the owner (my niece's bf) upgraded to a carbon Eddie Merckx.
I'm used to SPDs, so changed the pedals, but other than that, it's been great.
Also, the bars on my commuter are really wide and very stable, so I might look to get some slightly wider bars on the T3 as I do feel very wobbly when out of the saddle.
I'm used to SPDs, so changed the pedals, but other than that, it's been great.
Also, the bars on my commuter are really wide and very stable, so I might look to get some slightly wider bars on the T3 as I do feel very wobbly when out of the saddle.
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