B'Twin Triban Trail 3

i bought mine second hand, the owner had used it three times any i got it for half price. bargain. gears needed adjusting but apart from that and new thicker bar tape it was good to go . a lot faster than you would think i pumped the front to 100 and the rear to 110 great bike for the money and a super winter bike for me

The BTwin Triban 3 road bike is an entry level bike sold by Decathlon (Netherlands, also available in UK, France, USA, etc).

Some specs of the Bike:

- 6061 Aluminium Alloy frame

- Carbon front fork

- Shimano 2300 groupset except for the front derailleur, which is a ProWheel Ounce tripple black (50/39/20).

- BTwin brand brakes, wheels and tires

- 10.5 kg

In the store

Decathlon is a sports utility store, with separate departments for each sport. The cycling department focusses mainly on MTB and leisure bikes, but also they also have a selection of road bikes and road bike accessories.

I took a short test drive around the shop, the salesman/mechanic said the frame was of an appropriate size (54) asked some questions on the feel of the bike. After i said i would take it, he took the bike for a last minute inspection and 10 minutes later i was good to go.

First ride

My first ride was somewhat disappointing as the gears were not aligned at all. After a few kilometers i returned home to tinker with the gears. The guy at Decathlon could have done a better job. After an hour of tinkering, the gears were pretty well aligned, the brakes as good as they were going to get and some screws fastened a little tighter.

Frame

The frame is extremely good value for money. It is a bit heavy, but does a beginner need a frame of 2 or 3 lbs? I don't think so. Also the fire-engine red colour looks great. The front fork is carbon! A bike of 350 euros with a carbon fork would have been impossible just a few years back. The carbon does a good job of dampening the small irregulaties of the road, which is good for hands and arms.

Groupset

The 2300 Shimano is the low end of the Shimano groupset spectrum, under Sora. But yesterdays Sora is todays 2300 as parts tend to get better with development. It is 8 speed on the rear. The brifters shift up through separate thumb tabs, which cannot be reached when on the drops. For me this isn't a problem as I am rarely on the drops. Time will tell how fast the 2300 components will wear, but replacements are dirt cheap. The rear cassete is perhaps a bit heavy, but again, does the bike have to be lighter than your wedding ring?

The crankset is a bit of a mystery, couldn't find much on ProWheel, time will tell.

Brakes

The brakes are BTwin brand, which look exactly like Shimano. Braking could be better, my guess is better brakepads will improve stopping power at high speeds.

Wheels/Tires

Also BTwin brand. Wheels feel a bit heavy, but look great in black. On dry roads the tyres have good grip, no problems as of yet. Not been cycling in wet yet.

Overall

The BTwin Triban 3 is a great entry level bike at a very low price. If you want to start cycling, don't listen to people who tell you to spend a fortune on a new bike or even a small fortune on a second hand bike. If don't want to spend thousands of euros/dollars/pounds then this is a great choice. You can always spend a small fortune later when you know you want to continue cycling.

The bike goes like the wind. You probably have to tinker with the gears a bit for the first ride and replacement brakepads will improve braking.