[brt_mhn]

My Triban RC 100 review

There are a few things in life that give you immense joy. One of those things for me has always been cycling. I’ve been cycling ever since I was 4. My first bicycle was a purple and violet minuscule machine that I had till I was 7 years old. I then got a blue Hero Buzz which I initially struggled to ride thanks to my teensy size at the time. Well, like all things, I did eventually learn to ride “such a huge” bike and spent almost every evening riding with similarly aged chumps. We would race, jump, go off-road, trade bikes for a day and whatnot!



Image for representational purpose only

Eventually, I outgrew this one too when I was around 13 and traded it for a Hercules Roadeo Yago 26T. Why this particular bike, you ask? Well, like all kids I longed for a big, brawny, muscular mountain bike just for the looks despite not deriving any advantage from such a bike. Having both front and rear suspension didn’t hurt the looks either! This was the bike that really brought me into the world of cycling. It was the first one that I used to commute to school. It was the first one I went for a really long distance on. I have so many more good memories associated with this bike that I shall not delve into here in the interest of keeping this post as short as possible. I’d probably have to write a book as elaborate as The Remembrance Of Things Past. I absolutely wore it out to the max. Through the course of its life, it had seen 2 derailleur replacements, 2 mudguard replacements, a chain, and a gear shifter replacement. It has also seen a wider, more comfier saddle and a new adjustable stem. The teeth on the cassette were worn out too. Needless to say, it was extremely difficult to give up as it had so much emotional connect.



For my next bike, I was originally looking at the BTwin Riverside 120 or the BTwin Rockrider ST100. I was sold on the Riverside thanks to its sheer value at 11,999. We then went to Decathlon to take a look at both the bikes. Unfortunately, I could ride only the ST100. It was completely by chance that I took the Triban RC 100 for a quick spin. Little did I know that that would completely change my mind. Yes, it was about twice the price of the Riverside 120. Yes, it had one less gear. Yes, it had a far more committed posture rather than an upright one. But the moment I set my foot on it, I knew it was the right one for me. This feeling was only compounded when we went to look at the Riverside 120 at another store. This one was quite crowded and let me really exploit the handling capabilities of the RC 100. By the time we got back home, the scales had completely tipped over towards the Triban.



Up to speed? Good!

We had placed an order online and selected store-pickup as the option. The whole process was extremely smooth and kudos to the guys at Decathlon Atrium Mall.

Here’s the breakdown of the costs

Triban RC 100 FB: 22,999
Bicycle stand: 699 (I find that utility outweighs the weight and aero penalty)
Memory foam seat cover: 499
Bottle holder: 199
Helmet and bell carried over from previous setup.



Well, now to address the elephant in the room. WHY DID YOU GET THE FLAT-BAR VERSION OF A ROADIE?!
Two things. Firstly, my bike will be used for commuting quite often and with a backpack. I felt that the slightly more upright position gave it a more familiar, approachable and dare I say it, a more comfortable feel. The other reason is that the shifter on the drop-bar requires you to take your hand off the bar and more crucially, the brakes which would have been quite unnerving on our chaotic Indian roads.



On to the bike itself now. The frame is made of an Aluminium alloy and weighs about 1.8 kilos. It comes with three sizes namely, S, M and the one that I picked, L. The riding geometry is far more relaxed than a “true” road bike and you wouldn’t necessarily be wrong for calling it a hybrid. The sloping top tube only further fosters that impression. The frame has plenty of mounting zones for bottle holders, mudguards and panniers.

The front fork is rigid and is made of steel despite which it turns in nicely and is quite agile.

You’ll also find double walled wheels with 700x25 tyres. Interestingly, they seem to have changed the tyres following the refresh. It now gets a different tread pattern. While I haven’t managed to test this in wet conditions yet, they offer good amounts of grip under dry conditions and “kuccha” roads. For stopping power, it comes with rim brakes on both the front and the rear that lack outright bite but you can’t really expect much more at this price. The bright side is that it gets quick releases for both wheels.



Another thing that has changed post refresh is the rear derailleur. It has been swapped out from a Shimano Tourney to a Microshift one. The shifter is made by Microshift too. However, it says BTwin on all the components. While I won’t get into the whole Shimano versus Microshift debate, I will say that the shift action is quick and smooth and I never had a problem with them. The drivetrain continues to have a 44 tooth single chainring at the cranks and a 7 speed at the back with a 12 X 28 cassette.




The handlebar is made of Aluminium too and mine is a Flat Bar as mentioned before. It houses the brake levers and the thumb shifter. I was initially not a fan of having both the up and down levers close to each other as opposed to one operated by the thumb and the other by the index but I’m now completely fine with it. At the ends of the handlebar, you will find super comfortable palm rests that are nice and plush. The handlebar is also wide enough to accommodate a range of accessories like bells, phone mounts and a small bag like I have installed. (Fun fact, it isn’t meant for a bike but I found it just the right size for a phone and anything small that you don’t want flying out of your pockets.)



The seat post can be extended by a wide range to help you get nice and comfortable. There are no quick releases though and it has to be adjusted using an Allen key. As for the saddle, it is fine and does get the job done. However, I won’t lean too much on this because all posteriors are different from one another and what might be comfortable for me may not be good enough for you.

Alright, I know looks are subjective but I feel this is one damn good looking bike! And I will stick with my opinion because I haven’t really found anybody who disagrees. It looks just at home in any environment. It comes only in one silvery-grey colour with a black fork to match. It gets some tastefully executed badging at various locations. I was also pleasantly surprised to note that it had some nice and shiny metallic paint. The welds don’t look half as bad either! Overall, this bike looks clean and minimal, just the way I like things to be.



The whole bike weighs a little over 11 kilos and being nice and light, lets you accelerate pretty quickly from stop lights. And once you attain a good speed, you can hold it quite easily too. Coming from a bike that weighs about twice as much, this was quite a revelation for me. Couple this with the inherent aerodynamic advantage, my average speed has shot up by a lot. I previously used to manage 20 kilometres in an hour give or take a 2 minutes. But now, I can do the same in just about 40 minutes.

To illustrate this further, yesterday, despite having about 11 kilos of books on my back, I still managed to do 12.3 kilometres in 26 minutes without running out of breath! And since a greater percentage of the weight was over the rear wheel, acceleration was not hard either owing to the advantage in traction. REAR WHEEL DRIVE BABYYY!

If you are contemplating moving from a mountain/hybrid bike to a road bike, there is only one thing for you to consider, which is, Ride comfort. Thanks to its focused approach on speed, a road bike is stiff. You feel every bump. But every drop of sweat you shed will be rewarded with you knowing that all the power goes straight to the road without any losses in compressing the suspension.

As for after sales, you get two free services, a lifetime warranty on the frame, stem, handlebar and fork.

Overall, I feel this is a stellar package and if you’ve got 23 grand burning a hole in your pocket and you’re looking for one do it all bicycle, I would keep this one on the shortlist. It’s really fun and gets my glowing recommendation.

[BaCkSeAtDrIVeR]

@brt_mhn what many people don't realise is that the RC 100 is an easily upgradable model. It comes with a 8/9/10 speed free hub and the 7 speed cassette uses a spacer. You will have to replace the derailleur too if you want the largest sprocket to be larger than 32 T, because it is a small cage one. And consequently, shifters too. Easiest and cheapest upgrade though would be to leave the rear alone and put a Claris shifter plus derailleur in front along with an 8 speed chain if you can find a compact 50/34 T square taper crankset.

I am not sure of how the lifetime warranty on forks works. I have come across at least 2 people searching for replacement forks on their RC 100.

BTW, ab earliest by post days that it is the cheapest bike at that weight.

[brt_mhn]

Originally Posted by BaCkSeAtDrIVeR

@brt_mhn what many people don't realise is that the RC 100 is an easily upgradable model.
I am not sure of how the lifetime warranty on forks works. I have come across at least 2 people searching for replacement forks on their RC 100.

Thanks you BaCkSeAtDrIVeR for your inputs. Although, I must say, I find the current drivetrain to be more than sufficient for my current use case. Should I need to upgrade later on, I will definitely consider your points.


Regarding the warranty, the big text says that there is a lifetime warranty on the frame, stem, handlebars and fork. However, the fine print reads that the warranty on the fork is only 2 years long.





I suppose the latter is true given the incidents you have come across.
Thanks

[GTO]

Thanks for sharing, brt_mhn! Moving your post out to a new thread. A new thread means 100X the views & 100X the visibility in search engines, including Google. Will add to homepage later this week .

@ BHPians, if you should spot any good post in an existing thread that deserves its own new thread, please report the post and we'll move it out for greater visibility.

Thank you!

[amol4184]

Originally Posted by brt_mhn

The whole bike weighs a little over 11 kilos and being nice and light, lets you accelerate pretty quickly from stop lights. And once you attain a good speed, you can hold it quite easily too.

Overall, I feel this is a stellar package and if you’ve got 23 grand burning a hole in your pocket and you’re looking for one do it all bicycle, I would keep this one on the shortlist. It’s really fun and gets my glowing recommendation.

Sold my RC 100 FB just yesterday after putting about 4700kms since June of last year. I agree with everything here. The bike is the lightest in that price range (biggest advantage) and looks fantastic with minimal stickering and that color.
Mine came with Shimano shifter and Microshift DR and that assembly has been pretty great.
The only problem I had was with rear wheel : broken spokes. The first time spokes broke, Decathlon changed the whole wheel free of cost. The next time spokes broke they sent a few spokes to me by courier. In general, the wheels are the weak points of RC 100. Many people had issues with wheels. Not severe but something to look after. Keep an eye on rear wheel.

Otherwise, a really fast and comfortable bike with reasonable components. I was able to keep up with fastest road bikers in a recent group ride.

All the best!

[tatafanatic]

Congratulations on new cycle

Its a good ride and does the job of daily grinds efficiently. Do attach side mirrors which are available at Decathlon as they come handy many a times.

Wish you many happy miles on the Triban

[brt_mhn]

Originally Posted by amol4184

Sold my RC 100 FB just yesterday after putting about 4700kms since June of last year. Keep an eye on rear wheel.


All the best!

Thank you so much Anmol! I will keep a tab on the wheels. What are you replacing the Triban with?

Originally Posted by tatafanatic

Congratulations on new cycle

Its a good ride and does the job of daily grinds efficiently. Do attach side mirrors which are available at Decathlon as they come handy many a times.

Wish you many happy miles on the Triban

Yep! I'm loving it so far. Regarding the mirrors, I did get them from Decathlon 2 years ago. But I never got around to installing them.

I'm happy looking over my shoulder for now

[Junaid42465]

Mode note: Trimming quoted post, please avoid quoting entire large post for short replies. Thanks.

Originally Posted by amol4184

Sold my RC 100 FB just yesterday after putting about 4700kms since June of last year.
=======
All the best!

I had been given similar feedbacks about the wheels on RC 120 as well. However, touch wood, 3,200 km done on my RC 120 and not a single issue till date. I do check my spokes regularly and tighten them as needed.

Might be, this new RC 120 is made in India and not the imported for China version like the older ones, hence surviving your Indian roads.

[amol4184]

Originally Posted by brt_mhn

What are you replacing the Triban with?

Looking at drop bar endurance framed bike. Cannondale Synapse, Canyon Endurance 6 and Specialized Allez are on my radar. I'm open to Trek Domane too. Let's see!

Originally Posted by Junaid42465

I had been given similar feedbacks about the wheels on RC 120 as well. However, touch wood, 3,200 km done on my RC 120 and not a single issue till date. I do check my spokes regularly and tighten them as needed.

I think RC 120 wheels could be better spec too. But I'm glad it's working fine and hope it continues to be so. Not all RC had issues though. The roads where I used to ride are terrible too, probably causing more problems.

[ajayc123]

I don’t see any mudguards on this bike. In the past, I had experienced mud splashes on the back of my T-shirt while riding in wet conditions on a decathlon bicycle without mudguards.

[nissar]

The extra seat cushion you have installed is generally a bad idea. I will suggest you to try to ride without it and confirm if it really helps. If without seat cover is uncomfortable then the issue is probably due to incorrect positioning of the saddle or the saddle just doesn't suit you and it better to find a new one.

[amol4184]

OP, forgot to mention, one of the best and cheapest "upgrade" you can do is replace those rubber grips with foam grips from decathlon that cost 250 bucks.

[brt_mhn]

Originally Posted by ajayc123

I don’t see any mudguards on this bike. In the past, I had experienced mud splashes on the back of my T-shirt while riding in wet conditions on a decathlon bicycle without mudguards.

The decision to leave out mudguards was very intentional to assist the efforts of saving weight and avoid the aero penalty. However, they can be mounted easily as mentioned above.

Originally Posted by nissar

The extra seat cushion you have installed is generally a bad idea. I will suggest you to try to ride without it and confirm if it really helps. If without seat cover is uncomfortable then the issue is probably due to incorrect positioning of the saddle or the saddle just doesn't suit you and it better to find a new one.

The seat memory foam seat cover is definitely only a temporary fix. As soon as I get the time to try out more saddles, I shall be replacing it. And yes, I have tried changing the position.

Originally Posted by amol4184

OP, forgot to mention, one of the best and cheapest "upgrade" you can do is replace those rubber grips with foam grips from decathlon that cost 250 bucks.

Thanks! I will take a look the next time I visit. For now, I find the rubber very comfortable.

[skarface]

Thank you brt_man for this thread. Helped me in choosing my first bicycle after ages. Got my RC100 FB a few days back and so far I’m loving it. Hope to put it to good use.

[sunilrs]

Originally Posted by brt_mhn

My Triban RC 100 review

Overall, I feel this is a stellar package and if you’ve got 23 grand burning a hole in your pocket and you’re looking for one do it all bicycle, I would keep this one on the shortlis.

Thanks for a great review, I also own the Triban RC 100 with the same flat bars for the last 2 years now and would endorse all the points that you made in your review. It has been an awesome companion for many rides first in Delhi and now in Mumbai.

Though after the good roads in NCR, getting used to the general poor road conditions in Mumbai has been a challenge since you feel every imperfection of the road with this bike.