So, I had £300 ish to recommend a road bike

[Justin S]

Mate wanted to just get a cheapy roadbike to get him out. Christmas and money in the pot was lacking, so he said £300. He was looking at the Halfords range of bikes and I thought they were terrible. After researching, he bought one of these last night.Didnt want second hand as mony buring a hole in his pocket.
http://www.decathlon.co.uk/triban-3-id_8167038.htm...
Now for the money they are spot on. He even got a set of lights with them as well thrown in. Guy had built 'about 20' in the store yesterday alone. I knew of them from a work colleague who has one and he is always chomping at my back wheel on a ride.
Its never going to be ti this, but with carbon forks and sora bits ( yes we know the shifter button thing but after redoing cables worked lovely, albeit without winter gloves on)). Got it home after PDI'd by Decathlon. And first thing was to strip it down and start again. Gears were never going to work. Rear mech outer too short. Surprise is that all the cables are stainless, rear chainstay has a nice protector. Redid all the brake and gear cables, re-adjusted cup and cone bearings on the wheels, regreased headset and tightened the bars, which they didnt !! and they twisted when I knocked them.
Overall an impressive first road ride. Not that heavy and will get him on his way to maybe a better bike in the future, so a win situation.

[littleandy0410]

Seen lots of good reviews for these, both on forums and in magazines. A colleague of mine bought one on my recommendation, and he loves it. Like you say, may need a bit of fettling, due to a Halfords-esque approach of "stack 'em high, sell 'em cheap" but it's to be expected I suppose, buying from that style of shop. Not sure I'd be so happy with that level of care if I was to buy one of their £1k carbon bikes though.

[jezhumphrey75]

halfords are selling a carrera road bike atm half price i think

http://www.halfords.com/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/...

[ambuletz]

I was in your situation afew months ago and I too ended up buying a triban 3. I love it. Bought it from the thurrock branch. Was rather disappointing that the bike wasn't set up properly, after getting it home I took it to halfords to get the gears indexed properly and shifting smoothly, and recently I had to take it in the get the rear wheel nipples adjusted as it wasn't straight.

Other then that I can't fault the bike it's a joy to ride and many people seem to think its worth twice what it actually costs. It stands out as the best first entry level road bike to bu.

[littleandy0410]

I highly doubt that Carrera was ever genuinely up for £599, and if it was, it was terrible value.

[Justin S]

That was the Carrera he was lookig at. Alloy forks, less gears, screw on freewheel and pretty crap in comparison.

[Benmac]

Bought the missus a triban 3 for Xmas. I did a partial strip down when I got it and was simply staggered at how good it all was. On mine the decathlon build and set up was spot on too. I was taking bits and bobs off to do a bit of greasing here and there but everything I touched already was and properly torqued up too. The only slight glitch with set up was that the rat brake was a bit too closely adjusted so that even slackened off via the lever it was almost impossible to get the wheel out. 30 seconds to adjust and when it was this tight the wheel wasn't rubbing at all so it must be very straight and true.

I am going to adjust and do the wheels and the headset though when I get a mo just to be sure. Headset feels fine but the front wheel I think could be adjusted a touch.

Edited by Benmac on Saturday 29th December 15:59

[Skyedriver]

So what is the difference to warrant a price about half that of a basic Specialized or similar. Cheaper gears or brakes etc>
Cheaper aluminium or carbon that breaks?
Would a second hand fleabay bargain be a better deal?
Just asking as I an considering a new bike v renovating my old 70's Peugeot

[Justin S]

Cant answer the spec and cost relative to other mainstream bikes to be honest. I guess a Btwin is not as snazzy as Specialized on the down tube. Another mate has just bought the £499 Btwin 5 and just checked and stripped for him, just now. Carbon rear seatstays and Wellgo look pedals and a Sora chainset, better bar tape make the difference. Another fab bike for the money. Really nicely made and detailed as the 3 is.

[HereBeMonsters]

Skyedriver said:

So what is the difference to warrant a price about half that of a basic Specialized or similar. Cheaper gears or brakes etc>
Cheaper aluminium or carbon that breaks?
Would a second hand fleabay bargain be a better deal?
Just asking as I an considering a new bike v renovating my old 70's Peugeot

I was looking at them in Decathlon. Bike with similar spec to my £600 Trek (last year's model - Sora/Tiagra, carbon forks etc.) was half the price. Then I picked it up. My Trek is 9 kg (not the lightest for a road bike, but light enough for my fat arse!) but the Decathlon bike must have been at least 15kg. It was heavier than my mountain bike!

[Benmac]

HereBeMonsters said:

I was looking at them in Decathlon. Bike with similar spec to my £600 Trek (last year's model - Sora/Tiagra, carbon forks etc.) was half the price. Then I picked it up. My Trek is 9 kg (not the lightest for a road bike, but light enough for my fat arse!) but the Decathlon bike must have been at least 15kg. It was heavier than my mountain bike!

The triban 3 in 57cm size is 10.5kg according to the decathlon site.

[Justin S]

Must admit the Triban 3 is about the same weight as my Cube bike, so the weights are similar. Frame finish is really nice. Cant think of a downside for the money.If I had £300 or £500 and needed a bike, I wouldnt hesitate to buy one. Mate who got the 3 , has reported back that he is chuffed with it. His first roadbike, mind you, so wasnt sure what to expect, but has been speeding around on it yesterday. The 5's first ride is on New Years Day, although my mate may dodge the rain in the morning to try it out before joining the rest of us on the first ride of the new year.

[seadragon]

please ignore. I missed the OP and put in a recommendation instead, lol, sorry

Edited by seadragon on Monday 31st December 11:43