CyclingTips Field Test 2022: Decathlon Triban RC120 bike review
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- Опубликовано: 3 авг 2022
- The Triban RC120 sits roughly in the middle of French mega-retailer Decathlon’s seven-model range of house-brand road bikes, with an ultra value-oriented price aimed at new riders. But despite its low cost, the RC120 surprised us all with its outsized performance, and aside from one sticking point, Triban has definitely all the marks with this one. It's an entry-level road bike we wouldn't hesitate to recommend if you're looking to get into the road scene.
Visit CyclingTips.com for the full written review that takes an even closer look at this intriguing gravel race machine: www.cyclingtips.com/field-tes...
CyclingTips Field Test group bike tests are never paid for by the participants, but they’re still only possible with some outside assistance.
CyclingTips would like to thank the generous support of Assos for this year’s Field Test. 
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At last, a RUclips review for mere mortals that don't have $8,000 to spend on a new bike. Please keep doing these type of reviews of $500-$2,000 value bikes. These are the bikes MOST PEOPLE buy.
Don't worry, we most definitely will keep doing stuff like this.
@@angryasian74 Thanks James. Good to know. I sincerely hope you keep at it because these types of field tests provide you a significant advantage to GCN, as they have sold their soul to a few specific brands: nowadays is Orbea, Canyon, Pinarello and Ribble. You won't see any other bike brands at GCN but those four.
Additionally, you have an amazing asset that is sadly underutilized: bike tool demigod David Rome. Nowadays, he is one of the most advanced brains in the overwhelming world of bike tools. Cool Tool Tuesday could be a video series.
Reading the usual roadbike magazines I came to the conclusion that a "budget bike" is around U$ 3000.00 and for an enthusiast bike with modest 105 or Ultegra some U$ 6000.00 is the standard. Crazy. The bike shop around my corner said that a solid road or gravel bike is around U$ 10000. I never visited that shop again. 😕
@@DilbertMucStatements like : US $ 3000 for a "Good ENTRY level BUDGET bike", Anything below 2500/3000 is "junk", are put in comments by bike shills and or sales people to try and brainwash prospective buyers into believing that these prices are 'sensible' and 'normal'.
It's absolutely bonkers.
Whenever bike adverts indicate that their engineers have spend years in 'perfecting' this years "'Fresh brand new design".....I know they are bullshitting.
RUclips channels stay afloat because of the ad money that they receive from the top cycle makers...so naturally they would parrot the "$3000 budget bike" nonsense.
@@main_stream_media_is_a_joke According to GCN you always need to upgrade to the newest model, because they are 5% stiffer, 7.8% lighter and up to 11.4% more comfortable than last year's oldschools bikes.
As other brands have gone crazy with prizes, Decathlon it's crushing the market, at least in Europe. I for sure I'm going to get a Triban as my first road bike, as nowadays "entry level" road bikes for first brands are around 1k €...with Tourney on it. Bear in mind that in Europe it's around 550€ not 800€.
Thanks for the review James! I really appreciate it.
I got the same bike and it made me fall in love with road biking
I rode this bike for a bit and was also pleasantly surprised. Here in the Netherlands, we are very familiar with Decathlon. They make some nice stuff. Our kids slept in one of their tents this summer. Cheap and great.
Last summe I was on Corsica camping and overnight a huge storm hit the entire island. In the morning my Hilleberg Tent was one of the few still standing. If you go cheap on the essentials it will bite you in the ass. My Tent is 1200Euro and I did buy it 2nd hand for 400 Euro.
Thats what people NEVER get, you can always find god deals with a little knowlage and patience.
I own 7'000$ bikes ( specialized and Scott) and I did buy them *new* for 3'000k just by making phonecalls and e-mails over a couple of moths. And if you do that you can sell one of those for 6'000$ and then do the math what you payed.
Jesus I have VW-T6 Camper van that cost literally 85'000$ and I payed around 35'000$ at the end.
No one EVER gets that and I do this since 41 years and it always works...
This was the review i was waiting for. I was expecting this to be the bike with the breaking issue. Happy that it wasn't. QR disk brake wheels will limit the upgrade options quite a lot though
Good review, helped me to take the plunge to get back into road biking
Awesome review.... thank you!
Appreciate that you reviewed this bike. There needs to be more attention focused on this segment. Didn’t like though the reviewers constantly reminding us they ride much more expensive bikes, and this bike isn’t like their bikes. The review should be done from the point of view of a potential buyer of the bike. They also did not seem to be prepared for the discussion, too many “uhm” and “hmm”…
very good review!
great review.
Just bought one. Haven't had a road bike since I was 12 or 13. Picking it up tomorrow.
How has it been ??
Im riding the rc120 now for 1 year
And i love IT
I Just put a full carbon steer on IT and IT looks/feels awesome...
I have to say that its a good entry bike....
Thanks to my Boss i van lease a better bike soon....i can choose between a cervelo r5 of a trek madone sl7
I think im gooing for the sl7
Really nice to see a review for a budget bike! Hope to see more of these. Also, this bike seems like a great gravel bike too for a beginner, should highlight that as well
Decathlon has the same bike as a GRVL model. And you might look at the 520 GRVL.
@@DilbertMuc For far more money... 1200 euros.
They have actually the rc500 with another frame and Sora for 650€.
You Can fit 700*37c... Gravel testing and commuting.
Another point for the vidéo... Im 2.00m and it's fine. ❤️👍
As for the tires I managed to fit 42mm Continental Speed Rides with quite a bit of clearance left.
Yeah, I'm pretty sure manufacturer claimed max tyre size has to conform to ISO clearance standards which mandate 5mm gaps between the tyre and forks or frame so you can usually squeeze in slightly bigger
wow, so we can go gravel grinding with it 😀😀😀😀
@@upward_onward Most definitely. I've seen many comments of people gravelling on the RC120 :)
nice review. Triban makes very good quality bikes for their price. What about a review of the Triban RC100 gravel bike which costs around 299$? It's super cheap but a very popular bike. I have a MTB and I am kinda new to other models of bikes, though I used road bikes sometimes in short stints that a friend lent me for a couple of minutes, but people like you who are very used to road and gravel bikes of different qualities might have a very interesting take on the Triban RC100.
The first upgrade I would make would be to straighten up that wonky sticker on the rim! 😆
which size you purchased and how tall are you? Great video👌🏼
a nice affordable budget minded bike that will take you many places, nice to see.
You don't have to spend thousands to get out there and have LOTS of fun.
I do use those Leyzene FLOW side load cages tho , love em.
Those are way better looking stacked weld patterns than on my Diverge E5 Elite aluminum frame. On mine they are just unfiled, with too much material used blobs.
The thing about cheap tires is, if you’re riding this bike enough to make it worth $800, you’ll be replacing the tires soon enough, probably with something decent. And if you’re not riding it enough to care about the tires, hey, you’re only out $800.
800 US Dollars?? You guys are getting robbed! This bike cost in Europe arround 550 Dollars, and for the money its really worth it. It is easy to convert it to Gravelbike and is enjoyable to ride on many Terrains. I bought it 6 months ago, use to cycle to work and some sportier offroad rides with 38mm tyres, and for the money I payed it, I couldn't be happier...
Hi Nikola, I have the same bike and enjoy it very much. Could you please tell me which 38mm tyres you mounted on it? Thanks
@@lorenzx84
I mounted Gravel Tyres from Decathlon, 38mm.
Import cost, and it's still a good deal!
Alas! The most detailed and enjoyable review of the RC120. It's price has reduced to around $500 after Decathlon started manufacturing here in India making it a lot more accessible. Love from🇮🇳
The Indian make quality is not up to the level of the earlier one.. that's what people complain about.
@@prasadpappu23exactly also the Indian colour of triban rc120 is bad
@@sasmithalifestyle3250 I care about the bike quality more. The white colour looks cool to me
@@prasadpappu23 what exactly is bad about it?
@@saikat0511 The rims. The brakes.
I would choose cheap rim brakes over cheap, filmsy mechanical disk brakes anyday.
Do you know the brand of the tan wall tires that are on the bike when you are discussing it? They seem to be different form the original tires.
Is there option to install fenders on front wheel during rainy season?
triban rc100 is the best for its price. i love it sooooooo much
You can easily convert this bike to a commuter by adding a rack or to a gravel bike by adding larger tires. I got my rc120 few months ago and I've put around 2500kms already.
I love it! It's the perfect project bike for me. The one to do it all.
p.s - standard tires are shit.
Stock tyres on all bikes (unless you're buying top end, $$$ bikes) are always crap lol. First thing I always replace
I agree for the tires. I blew a tire after litteraly 1200m. Was pretty pissed.
Must be inflation, but I bought my 2014 TCR special edition SL frame with SRAM Red for only 1000 dollars! It still outperforms every single new bike in this price range 50k+ miles later.
When you actually do the inflation adjustment that's about 1250 in 2022 dollars. So still a great deal.
Is there a way to remedy the quick release issue? That it gets harder to close?
I have some ''Old'' good condition Dura Ace 9 speed shifters, rear derailleur and cassette/chainn... If I get this bike, can I simply swap over my parts and convert this to a 9 speed? Not sure if the 9 speed cassette would work on the stock hub...
Are that hutchinson tires? Can you Send me the link?
Thx
I wasn't expecting external cable routing. Makes it way easier for newbies to learn how to maintain a bike or let a mechanic work on their bike.
Definitely!
Interesting review. I'd love to see the team review this bike's bigger sibling - the Decathlon RC520.
It looks like it might offer quite a bit more performance for not much more money.
Cheers
Here in Chile the 520 costs double the 120 🥴
@@DY142 That's a bigger difference than I expected.
Then again, it turns out to be academic for me -- the RC520 isn't available here in Hong Kong!
Cheers
This review made me buy the RC 120. No regrets.
Though they don’t have the disk brake version of the RC 120 in my neck of the woods (Philippines) but still, a rim brake is good enough for someone like me who cycles for leisure.
5 months later how has it been ??
@@askherbsi think the pad brake version is better for road bike at this price point, it is cheaper and lighter, and you can easily replace them for better pads to upgrade braking power; with good tires it would be a nice entry level bike and not that heavy (probably less than 10kg).
For gravel, the disc brake version with gravel tyres is very good.
@@askherbsit is good enough and lighter, i think it is better, just need to change the pads to better ones. Check if the fork is carbon, here in France we only have the disk brake version currently and the rim brake version is now the rc 100 but with other transmission 1x and a lever for 7 speeds and a steel fork.
Got one preowned for 200 pounds, best purchase ever - wish i went for S instead of M being 170cm tall but 60mm stem fixed the issue
Im 173cm in height, will Medium fit for me ?
@@upward_onward i would still go for S, better to replace stem for longer than reduce size
@@yaqoublewatermelon80 thank you for the information
@@upward_onward best would be if you could try at the store, i am having hardcore back pains with stem 80-100 - back & neck pain went away after reducing stem to 60mm which apparently is quite unusual - but it worked for me also made me feel much more stable on my bicycle
@@yaqoublewatermelon80 i see
In England I just bought one for £350 and it had rim brakes which are excellent. Seems to me it is a good bike, I do wonder why pay thousands of dollars/pounds for a bike that doesn't give much more it seems ? I have just returned from a bike ride and it continues to give a great predictable, but fun, ride. I am well pleased with this bike. I would find it hard to spend thousands on a bike as I am mainly a leisure rider, who enjoys the fitness it produces for me as well as the opportunity to get out into the real world. The tyres are absolutely fine.
I want those brakes, good purchase
Seems like a new version. The rc120 i saw here still have the cables sticking out of the brake levers.
can this drivetrain be upgraded to 105?
Hey mate could you please tell me the size of the bike?
TRIBAN de decathlon se está posicionando muy bien en muchos países del mundo como la bicicleta ideal para quienes nos iniciamos en el ciclismo😃👍 yo tengo una y cumple muy bien sino quieres rodar en grupo y en carreteras con subidas muy pronunciadas el asiento de la bici es muy cómodo las primeras 2 horas después a mi me cansa pero usando un culotte de gama media, problema resuelto o muchos en España he visto que cambian el asiento por uno de 30 euros y listo, la bicicleta permite montar un grupo shimano sora y mejora mucho el desempeño y también baja el peso! O también hay quien le monta un grupo sram de mtb monoplato el más básico de esta marca y la bici se desempeña muy pero muy bien en gravel por su rodado algo grueso y si es algo rígida y el aluminio no es más ligero pero es fuerte y resistente!! 💪 Y como bici urbana es muy usada en cdmx para ir al trabajo y si coincido lo que comentan empiezas en el ciclismo con una triban y no gastas mucho dinero y de a poco se hace un tunning cambiando los componentes y tienes bicicleta para 4 años😃!!
I hope u try out their gravel 120 with microshift 1 buy system
This certainly won't be the last Triban we test.
Man, people around the world really have a different definition of 'budget' and or 'starter'.
As someone living in a third world country 800-900 USD is literally my monthly in hand income being fairly qualified and considered extremely privileged in my country.
While I understand 5-6k bikes being the usual norm in the Bicycling community on RUclips please consider reviewing even cheaper bikes
Should have reviewed the Gravel specific version of this bike called as "Triban GRVL RC120" and "Triban GRVL RC520".
These are way more expensive...
GCN says a good entry-level budget bike is around EUR 3000,- Yeah, right...! 🤨 Please do more reviews for affordable bikes . There are more Decathlon bikes like the Triban 520 GRVL or the Riverside 920 (Gravel Touring) and also Cube has great bikes under EUR 1000,-
i dont think they ever said that...
So i know this video is older but anyone with first hand experience with these would be if huge help. Where i am its difficult to try and size these bikes in person. Their sizing claims 154cm to 165 cm height for xs and small is 165cm to 173cm. If i am around 165/166 could j get away with the xs? Thats all this bike has jn stock right now unless i go to the higher priced option
easy use
Hey what would be a step up for this bike like I’m want a budget bike like this but I definitely want the best bang with the overall features
It's really difficult to say. Depends where you live and what is avaliable. But the Triban is a great bike for the money. - Dave
Gotcha compared to the rc520 is it worth just spending the extra ? Or
@@_CashFlowTyyou should check out the canyon grizl 6. its on sale right now $200 off. its a fair price right now but probably wouldnt get it if it wasnt for the sale
In Europe the rc120 comes in at 499€ which makes it a very good deal
Yeah I was expecting it to be a 1:1 Dollar to GBP (Like every other brand) but its also £499! So even better.
Can your backs handle it? Its an aggressive bike 😂
The triban range is good, baring the shit wheels. They are fun, they are fast. Upgrade the tyres, saddle and your good to go. Scratch up your 5k bike and you cry…. Scratch up a £500 bike, no issue.
bought that bike used for 250$ and its ok out of the box. still kept only the fork, the frame, the crank and the cassette. replaced almost everything else. wheels (which are really terrible and heavy!), tires, brakes, levers, bottom bracket and gearswitch - still only cost me only 600$ and the bike is so much better now, it is comparable to any bike that is almost 4 times the price.
May I ask which wheel did you change to?
@@VincentForDesign I bought the DT Swiss C1800 Spline 23 for around 200$ - they come fully set up for tubeless and with an adapter to mount 6-screw disc brakes - I really recommend to change the wheels asap for this bike, the difference is day and night. the rest is decent, but I dont like the microshift gearset so I replaced that too, and also I like wider tires.
@@blinzi69 can you describe how is the experience day and night?
@@VincentForDesign rolls better, more comfortable, more agile, faster, smoother, lighter
@@blinzi69 thank you! This will be my next upgrade! Just curious? What was your average speed with stock wheels and what’s the speed with the new wheels?
Can someone provide more detail for the criticism of quick release skewers? Is it just the cheap ones or all of them? I ask because I have ridden bikes with quick release skewers for 40 years until now and never had a problem with them.
The concept of quick-release skewers is fine. The issue is with quick-release skewers that use a large-diameter cam that's integrated into the lever and is exposed to the elements. Those cams usually ride on nylon carriers, and while they can work ok when new, they often develop a lot of friction as that interface gets dirty. Once that happens, too much of your effort goes to overcoming the friction of just rotating the lever, instead of being translated into clamping force.
@@angryasian74 Thanks James. That answers my question.
Also the issue is, quick release works great with rim brakes. Quick release ain't as good with discs because a through axle keeps the rotor stiff. But with a quick release system, they twist a bit and this causes break squeal.
They do have a rim brake variant
For this RC120, is it possible to upgrade the groupset to a Shimano one, such as Sora, Tiagra or 105?
You will be able to use groupsets that use an HG freehub. That would take you up to 10speed groupsets. Though you'll probably have to replace the cranks/bottom bracket. If you want 11 or 12 speed then you'll also have to replace the rear hub (or just buy a new wheel). This is why most people don't upgrade bikes at this price point. You'll spend more replacing all the necessary things than would just buying a new bike and selling this. If you know you want 11 or 12 speed, just go ahead and buy that bike. Triban RC520 comes with 105 at a decent price.
You easily can. I upgraded to 105. Altough, the freehub is a 10 speed only, the 11-34 cassette HG-700 or HG-800 has a 1.35mm spacer and can be used on a 10 speed freehub.
Yes but why would you bother? All this upgrading to this or that is often based on sheer snobbery. Even the bottom end equipment from a company like Shimano works fine.
Really good review, looking at this bike myself, I see you get the small size, can I ask the height of James?
Sure! I'm 1.73 m / 5' 8".
The QR vs. thru-axle seems to be the issue when it comes to entry level gravel-capable bikes. I've been looking for something cheap that I can upgrade by throwing Sensah 1x12 on it and better wheels, but it's getting difficult to find those cheaper upgrade type wheels with QR hubs. In a few years it may be impossible, which makes a bike like this not viable long-term if you really plan on abusing it.
I'm pretty sure there are TA -> QR adapters so you can always buy a TA wheel and still use it.
@@dolorismachina2 oh interesting, haven't heard about those before. Thanks! Would there be spacing issues, though?
@@ryanw8987 I'm not too sure but I think I saw one where it goes inside the axle so there was no spacing issues. It's not something I cared about much but I know it's a thing. People make everything nowadays.
There are adapters available for Thru Axle to QR. Also some manufacturers like ZIPP has the feature where you need to just replace the end caps on the hubs.
I own the Triban RC520 and swapped the wheels for 800 g lighter Fulcrums - had to use the TA to QR adapters which I bought for cheap on aliexpress and they work great. Must say that new wheels made the bike into something positively different! I'm coming from the MTB so this is my first road bike cuz I moved to the more urban area and missed the cycling but I didn't regret any minute of using it.
haha, costs like half in Europe :D import taxes in US?
Does the bike come with pedals?
Yes at least in my country they come with some basic pedals.
I hope someone can help me out here.. I'm looking for a comfortable road bike for eastern european roads (a.k.a. POS roads..), so I'd like to have something that can handle the rough surfaces. I want it to be comfortable as I will not be racing with it, I just want to get fit. Looking at the Triban and the Specializet Allez. Only 175 USD price difference here where I live. I can't get an unbiased opinion, if I talk to someone that sells Triban (Decathlon), they don't sell Specialized and vice versa. My friends are either "get the cheapest, anything else is a ripoff" or "only this full carbon bike with 105 Shimano is good enough"...
Should I just go for the Triban, or with this price difference I should go for the Specialized?
Thank you
In general Triban is a better bicycle brand than Specialized. I would go for Triban.
Even better. If you are an ordinary leisure cyclist looking for a moderately priced bike, l can thoroughly recommend the Triban RC 100. It uses the same frame as the RC 120, but has fewer, but adequate, gears and uses cheaper, but perfectly efficient drive train components. I have it's predecessor, the BTwin Triban 100, bought as a cheap replacement for a much more expensive road bike I had stolen, and it actually rides just as well and is not much heavier. An excellent bike for the money, which will do all you want it to.
Ah, exactly what I want out of a bicycle review, 3 people sitting around a table.
Pre-Covid price €365 (Nov 2019)
And now it’s 550€ 🥲
It should be called the Triban R.C. 1/20th - really cheap, and a fraction of the price.
It's 250USD in Singapore.
That’s for the straight bar
Got this for a week, bike is decent if you are casual rider . Microshift is not very good , will upgrade to my spare 105 set and test again .the mechanical disk break is not as good as a C clamp, id say approx 30% weaker, bike is very heavy over 10kg, no problem get to 30+kmh easily , but uphill, it is painful. For a newbie it is better to get a lighter bike , approx 9kg range one , like scr 1 or 2
Common, I have ridden bikes one 8.5 kg and another 12 kg up hill I could barely feel the difference to be honest.
Does this come with the rim where puncture repairs are almost impossible?
Sadly yes.
What do you mean? We didn't have any issues swapping tires on our test sample.
i had to go to the decathlon store to swap my tires. Even they agreed that the wheels are too big. It took them almost an hour to swap tires. I bought a new set of wheels.
@@HansanaGunaweera what kind of wheels did you get, sir?
Biggest snobs ever, holy
Ellen Noble looks like a bike-riding renaissance painting.
Quick-release on disc brakes might cause alot of hassle when aligning the wheel-disc-dropouts interface.
From TheDarkInstall (ruclips.net/video/aZvZefu-6Mg/видео.html), there's a chance that the QR slips minutely during a ride, possibly.
And on rim brakes myself, I find that it can be OCD-triggering. Everytime I take the wheel out to clean and put in back in, I have to align the wheel and close the QR cam multiple times to get the rims equal distance from the brake pads. I will also try to bang the dropouts into the wheel's axle a few times to ensure it's seated fully in before closing the QR.
But that's on rim brakes, where the braking surface is far enough from the wheel's axle that any misalignment is exacerbated and can be observed clearly.
On disc brakes, will QR make the misalignment obvious?
I have a quick release disc brake on my commuters front fork and I've never had an issue with it tbh.
@@htdtr commuter bike I see.
Do you take the wheel out often?
That shouldn't be an issue if the dropouts are precisely shaped, and using internal-cam skewers will almost always prevent the slight movement after the fact that you can sometimes get with external-cam skewers. Either way, the clearances on cable-actuated disc brake calipers are more generous than hydraulic ones, so it's less of an issue in general.
Where's the Canadian pricing love?
They can’t include every country pricing..
@@Hintonbro. I want to see rubles and pesos and zloty mucking up the screen! Just kidding of course. I know they can't do that, but I'd love it if they did, especially since there's more people in Canada than in Australia. Wishful thinking.
There are more viewers of cyclingtips in Australia (than Canada) as it started in Melbourne by a Canadian 🇦🇺🇨🇦
$900 at Decathlon in Montreal
what annoys me are the cheap jokey wheels please put some decent bearing jokey wheels on the bike also 2 different types of brake systems
Walmart has it on sale for 548$ Plus tax and shipping.
Jeez, that is a seriously screaming deal.
1600 canadian for shimano 105 omg thisbxant be
Lol, what do americans know about road cycles anyway, the only times their cycles have won tours de france were back when there were doping substances along with the rider. At least this is a french bike, I will certainly buy it
I read declathon Taliban
Funny the stem says "BTwin 100" - they did not even bothered to rebrand their old remaining stock. that is crossing the line from affordable to band cheap
zzzzzzzzzzzz
RC500 is way better bike for just a little more.
Definitely, the RC 120 has a more relaxed geometry with higher stack height.
The RC 500 & 520 has a smaller rear triangle, making the frame 100 gms lighter and the head tube being about 10 mm shorter, a lower stack height. Resulting in tad bit more aggressive than the 120.
Its more of the groupset than geometry. Shimano Sora has better shifting and ergonomics than the Microshuft
Wow, extremely critical and nitpicky in the interview half. Back in 2010 my first bike had a cannondale with claris groupset with "too many buttons" and it was north of $800.
CAD$650 for something like this is incredible by 2023 standards, with most beginner bikes these days running CAD$1200+
they're pronounced buTTons, not bu-uns.
There are a lot of better spec'd secondhand bike with that money. Seeing the specs, good luck not having any problem before the year ends. lol
I own one. I’m a beginner and done about 4,500 km till date. Rode it on roads, gravel, trails and also did some 20% climbs.
Being in a remote area, I maintained all the bearings personally.
No issues till date, except for replacing the chain. 🍻
I've also done around 2500 kms.. no issues yet. I changed the wheels and tires tho.
Avoid this bike. It doesn't have a replaceable derailleur hanger. Which means one good hit and you'll bend the frame. Really poor design.
So shimano has too many buttons that’s talking crap