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Decathlon Triban RC520 (Disc, Shimano 105, tubeless ready) $999 (Decathlon - in store)

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I've been eyeing this as a gravel bike for a while. Even at $1,399 it was highly reviewed and shortlisted in bikeradar's bike of the year 2020: https://www.bikeradar.com/features/bike-of-the-year/

It still says $1,399 on the website but I saw the discount sign and jumped on it - I went there to buy a bike light lol.

At scanning it scanned at the full price but the cashier corrected it. I asked when it went on sale and he said it was part of Boxing Day (of course).

I bought the last S size at the Tempe store.

Essential Specs:
10.8kg alu frame with carbon forks (forks have rack mounts)
Shimano 105 groupset (except for crank & cassette)
Semi hydraulic brakes - TRP HY/RD, cable-operated hydraulic pistons, 160mm rotors
Tubeless ready wheels

Referral Links

Referral: random (172)

$20 Coupon (Minimum Spend $100) for Referrer and Referee

This is part of Boxing Day Sales for 2020

Related Stores

Decathlon Australia
Decathlon Australia

closed Comments

  • Just getting into riding what would this be suited to? I do all on road riding any suggestions? 🙂

    • +1

      The bike looks fairly relaxed in nature, which should suit amateur cyclists on reasonable length group rides. Components are decent enough to last you a long while, if a tad heavy for climbing. For $1k your getting decent road focused bike which could easily be used as a commuter (28mm tires help a lot).

    • yep as pingMarky & Drakesy said - this would be good for touring or commuting. Something like the back roads between two country towns which is a mix of sealed & unsealed (and still drivable with a 2wd).

      The forks allow up to 38mm tyres which would be good for doing up to some fire roads in the national parks.

      Speed/lightness won't be the key focus here , it's more of a jack of all trades bike.

    • Thanks very much men!

  • +1

    This is an alright commuting/touring/winter bike given its disc brakes and 105. Good value for money.

    Won't be breaking any weight records/speed records.

    If you're getting into road riding for racing/group rides where you need to keep up with others i'd get something a bit lighter/possibly carbon.

  • 13 of 19 reviewers recommended which meant 6/19 weren’t that happy….

    Still you can get some real value out of this bike if you ride it a lot. Not so much I’d it stays in the shed.

  • @ShoeyAU - are you able to share how tall you are for comparison in terms of going for the S?

    Don't own a bike, but considering picking one up to get started and this sounds like a good solution that would last a while.

    • I am 170cm - which is kinda in between sizes but I picked the S because I had a previous bike from Decathlon and the S fitted so I stuck with it. From what I understand, for comfort its okay to go up, and for performance you'd size down if you are in between.

      • VR 900 or the 520?

        • Do you mean the Van Rysel 900?

          I bought the CF900 Ultra last year when it was called B'Twin, was before they rebranded to Van Rysel. That was fulll carbon frame, 105 & Mavic wheels discounted to $999 - that deal was hot (https://www.ozbargain.com.au/node/491477)

          But right now the Van Rysel is an aluminium frame with rim brake costing more. Unless you are after a racing bike geometry I can't see the value (at least just by sum of components wise)? The only other selling point I see is the VR 900 has full 105 groupset whereas this the crankset and brakes is non 105 (I guess hydraulic levers would probably push the cost up a bit).

          • +1

            @ShoeyAU: Thanks mate, I picked up a small sized 520 today :)

            Also, yup I meant the Van Rysel 900 and you summed it nicely - after a bit of reading there didn't seem much point in grabbing it unless I needed a racier unit.

            I just need some cheap helmets and shoes now, unfortunately it doesn't look like the nicer VR helmets are stocked here.

  • What store?

    • Decathlon. Sorry I've updated the title to make it clear now!

  • Are there other sizes at the Tempe store?

    • +1

      Yes - at the very least, there is an XS and (what seems to be) a L that is on the display rack.

  • +1

    My greatest regret for my gravel was that I was tossing up between a higher groupset OR disc brakes and I chose the higher groupset frame…

    Disc brakes are really the gold standard and it makes me sad the frame isn't disc compatible.

    • Just get good pads. SwissStop is absolutely worth it, in my experience.

      You've saved weight going with rim brakes, and only lost some modulation, but no braking power - always remember that!

      • Not true at all.

        I run swissstops right now. They pale in comparison to my trail bike.

        Not to mention how shitty they feel in the wet or muddy conditions.

        • That's a shame. I've had excellent experience with them … and the Kool Stop Salmon pads I'm currently running. But sure - hydro discs never compare to rim braking

  • +1

    Good deal - will fit 35mm tyres. Splash out on some Continental Terra Speeds or Schwalbe G-Ones with the savings, run them tubeless with Stans or Orange and you'll have a kickass gravel bike. Even better - get some Vittoria Air Liners and you can comfortably run at 35 psi and pretty much never have to worry about rim strikes or burping around corners.

    • The other cost effective upgrade for this bike I think is the chainset - it is actually a non series Shimano despite having the 105 look.

      Convert to a single ~30T chainring, fit a 11-40 cassette at the back (its known hack 105 rd can take a 11-40 https://road.cc/content/feature/how-get-ultra-low-gearing-gr…) and removing the FD would also shave a few kgs off which is one of this bike's weakness.

      • yeah that's a great hack. Depends on what riding you're planning, though. 30-11 is too short gearing for any road or smoother gravel riding.

  • +2

    Decathlon:

    The unfortunate news is that the Triban RC 520 was a temporary seasonal product here at Decathlon and has now been discontinued. That unfortunately means that we won't be restocking this bike as it has reached the end of its life cycle. The only stock we have available in Australia is the XL size in our Auburn store and XS in our Tempe store. We also have the XS and S in the Moorabbin store and the XS for delivery. I know that this isn't what you were hoping to hear and for that I apologize. We will definitely be receiving more road bikes in our range that will replace the RC 520 in the future but I am not sure which or when this will be sadly.

    We do however have the Van Rysel 900 AF road bike in Medium available in our Tempe store which is a higher level bike at an amazing price. You can check it out here:
    https://decathlon.com.au/products/van-rysel-900-af-road-raci…

    • +1

      Yup they are removing a lot of product lines, so the B-twinn bikes are going, I think some or all of the Triban series will be going.

      And the Van Rysels are nowhere near as good value, groupsets are worse by 1-2 grades.

      Guess a lot of the French/Euro manufacturing is dead or dying, would imagine Van Rysel being Eastern European or Chinese.

      • +1

        That's sad. I don't suppose you could recommend a similar specced bike at this price point? I'm after a road tourer capable of light gravel.

        • +4

          Any of the alloy frames with a Tiagra/105 groupset, disc brakes, and clearance for at least 700x32-35 should do well if around $1,000.

          The Triban RC 500 were decently discounted when they first released for a alloy disc frame, but had 2 levels down groupsets (Sora vs 105).
          Don't think the current $1k cost is justified.
          https://decathlon.com.au/products/triban-rc-500-cycle-flat-b…

          The Van Rysel 900 AF at $1500 again was not great value as it is only an alloy frame, canti brake, 105 model. It also can't run gravel or light gravel widths (32mm+).
          https://decathlon.com.au/products/van-rysel-900-af-road-raci…?

          I would be looking elsewhere for now.

          Something like a Trek FX 4 disc sits around $1700 but has a simpler 1x11 drivetrain as its running MTB groupsets, so it will suffer on flatter/faster rides, still alloy but with gravel clearances. If you could get it for <$1500 it would be a good gravel bike.
          https://www.trekbikes.com/au/en_AU/bikes/hybrid-bikes/fitnes…

          The FX 2/3 component quality drops quickly and you end up with bottom tier groupsets.

          Bicycles online is generally decent, but you need to keep an eye on their versions and releases because component quality with go up and down based on the year.

          Marin Gestalt 1 $1699 - alloy, 2x9 Sora (mehhhh), disc and good tyres (35mm) - cool name too.
          https://www.bicyclesonline.com.au/2021-marin-gestalt-1-grave…

          A inbetweener mtb/gravel bike - Marin DSX 1 - $1399 - alloy, Deore 1x11, great discs, and faaaaats (45mm tyres are MTB) - flatbar though
          https://www.bicyclesonline.com.au/2021-marin-dsx-1-flat-bar-…

          Reid has upped their game lately with decent components, dunno if you can pickup still some shop locations closed etc.

          Reid Gravel 3.0 - $1299 - alloy, Tiagra 2x10, discs, 37mm tyres - not sure if they made a typo but its running an 11 speed chain on a 10 speed groupset??
          https://www.reidcycles.com.au/collections/cyclocross/product…

          But as you can see meeting those criteria for around $1000 becomes very difficult and one or more components start to suffer in virtually every build.

  • Dayum. I really want this RC520 size M. Too bad I missed out. There was a second hand one off gum tree for $600 and I missed it too :(

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