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TECH NEWS

Decathlon launch a new entry-level gravel bike, the Triban RC 120

Disc brakes, 38mm tyre clearance and mudguard mounts for £499.99

Launched quietly in February, the Triban RC 120 Gravel Adventure bike offers an aluminium frame, carbon fork, 1X drivetrain with 10-speed clutch rear mech and plenty of mounting options for racks and mudguards. At £499.99, this could be a smashing entry-level gravel option.

Decathlon says that their new gravel bike has been designed “make it easy to discover gravel riding.” Decathlon says that this means that the priority for the Triban RC 120 was to be affordable and focus on features like a 1X drivetrain, a flared bar, disc brakes and tubeless tyres.

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Triban RC 120 Gravel 5

The frame is made from 6061 T6 aluminium with what Decathlon says is a “Comfort-oriented geometry.” This includes a taller headtube than their road bikes and a slightly longer top tube leading into a shorter stem. This, Decathlon claims, will give the bike a planted feel over rougher surfaces. The aluminium handlebar also gives a nod to control on rougher surfaces with the drops flaring out by 16°.

Triban RC 120 Gravel 2

With tyre clearance up to 38mm, the Triban RC 120 seems to be aimed at less gnarly gravel and riders looking to mix road and off-road sections. The Triban tubeless-ready wheels are shod with Hutchinson Override tyres. These feature a closely-spaced, low-profile tread pattern in the centre of the tyre that expands and gets deeper as it moves out to the shoulder of the tyre.

Triban RC 120 Gravel 3

A gravel bike at this price is always going to have some compromise areas. One of these can be found at the brakes which are cable-actuated Promax discs rather than a hydraulic system. While you may lose out on some power and modulation when compared to a hydraulic system, being disc brakes means that you should at least get consistent stopping power in changeable weather.

Triban RC 120 Gravel 1

Gearing comes in the form of a single 38T chainring paired with an 11-42T 10-speed Microshift cassette. Controlling the brakes and gears are Microshift shifters. Decathlon says that this setup is “precise and very sturdy” with “very comfortable ergonomics.” 170mm cranks are used on all sizes.

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A carbon fork with an aluminium steerer has QR dropouts rather than thru-axles, though there are mounts for mudguards should you want to use the RC 120 as a commuter.

You’ll also find a QR dropout at the rear of the bike along with a post-mount for the disc calliper. But again, you'll find mounts for mudguards with the bonus of a rack mount too. Front and rear rotors are 160mm.

Triban RC 120 Gravel 6 6

The Triban RC120 comes in both a men’s and a women’s version with sizes running from XS-XL for the men’s and XS-M for the women’s. Decathlon claims that a men's size medium weighs in at 10.95kg. Prices for both men's and women's are £499.99.

The Triban RC 120 is currently out of stock on Decathlon’s website. When we contacted Decathlon about this, they were very honest about the delays caused by the current pandemic. But they say that the bike will be in stock soon. As soon as we can get our hands on one for testing, we will.

decathlon.co.uk

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17 comments

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Supers79 | 3 years ago
0 likes

If only Decathom would do a higher spec gravel bike with SRAM Apex, hydraulic shifters and internal cabling to hit around the £1000 price point.....

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Joe Totale replied to Supers79 | 3 years ago
0 likes

From personal experience Apex is rubbish, I'd far rather a Tiagra hydro groupset. GRX would probably be too much of a stretch to be under the £1000 price point. 

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Supers79 replied to Joe Totale | 3 years ago
0 likes

I've never used Apex before but seems to be the cheapest 1x out there.  Your idea would undercut Ribble's Tiagra effort that only has mechanical brakes for £1000. 

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Sriracha replied to Supers79 | 3 years ago
0 likes

Decathlon don't seem to get gravel, you have to look under "Road" to find their other half hearted attempt, an RC520 dressed up with a 'gravel' decal, flared handlebars and the wrong gear ratios.

This effort seems to be little more than the regular RC120 with a gravel tax added.

I guess their home market DNA is drawn from the TdF gene pool.

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Supers79 replied to Sriracha | 3 years ago
1 like

'Gravel tax'- so true 

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peted76 | 3 years ago
0 likes

This 'could be' my Daughters new bike.. she's 11 and just about tall enough for the XS.. would probably want shorter cranks on though if it's all specced with 170's. Will have to get her to have a test on one first, probably after lockdown now! I think this 'sounds great' for £500.

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Joe Totale | 3 years ago
3 likes

Controversial idea perhaps, but maybe a flat bar version of this bike would allow for hydraulic disc brakes and still for it to meet a keen price point (It's crazy how much cheaper MTB hydraulic disc brakes are than STI shifter ones). 

Given that this bike's remit will mainly be off road/commuting flat bars wouldn't be the worst thing in the world...

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jollygoodvelo | 3 years ago
0 likes

Another vote that cable discs are a reasonable compromise at this price, though if there was a version with Apex 1 Hydro at maybe £700 that would probably sway me.  Perhaps the Microshift parts have improved over the years?

Would also be slightly concerned about the lack of separate derailleur hanger, I'd be tempted to fit a bashguard to protect it.

Look forward to a review, although with Decathlon's inexplicable choices for store location (seriously - Telford and Tamworth but not Bristol and Bath, are they nuts?), I might never actually see one!

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Zigster | 3 years ago
3 likes

I like it.

Those saying it needs hydraulic brakes, etc, are missing the point - this is supposed to a cheap as chips entry level bike.  Adding £100 to the price is proportionally a lot.

If you want hydraulic brakes, buy a more expensive bike.

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whunt18885 | 3 years ago
0 likes

I think they should have done something a bit left field. A Giant conduct conversion kit would be able to convert the cable levers via a stem mounted reservoir to full hydraulics (rotors in the kit). Its about £95 retail so they could get it for less and that would give hydraulic braking without using the pig ugly TRP Hy/Rd calipers.

Or use TRP Spyres - Still mechanical but dual piston movement and generally considered the best cable discs available.

That would make this bike a very compelling prospect.

 

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ChasP replied to whunt18885 | 3 years ago
0 likes

The Promax brakes are actually OK, I bought some off their website for a winter build. I'd rather use them than hydraulic in winter as it only takes a tiny bit of corrosion from road salt to wreck hydraulics. These can be easily maintained or cheaply replaced.

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ChasP replied to whunt18885 | 3 years ago
0 likes

Duplicate

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Secret_squirrel replied to ChasP | 3 years ago
1 like

Eh? What do you mean? I've ran the same set of deore hydralics through 2 winters with no clean apart from a couple of damp sponge wipes. Chain rusted to buggery on the plates but rest of bike is fine.

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fincon1 replied to Secret_squirrel | 3 years ago
0 likes

Secret_squirrel wrote:

Eh? What do you mean? I've ran the same set of deore hydralics through 2 winters with no clean apart from a couple of damp sponge wipes. Chain rusted to buggery on the plates but rest of bike is fine.

Same here. I've been running 105 hydraulics on my commuter gravel bike for three years, year round. I've gone through chains and cassettes, but aside from new pads every so often, the brakes are just fine. I haven't even had to adjust them.

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jimbo2112 | 3 years ago
0 likes

I know people want value, but that could really do with hydraulic brakes. Worth an extra £100. Great flexibility with the mounts though.

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gary p replied to jimbo2112 | 3 years ago
1 like

Unfortunately, there really aren't any cheap hydraulic brake options for drop bar bikes like there are for MTBs.  A SRAM Apex 1 hydraulic or Shimano GRX 400 or Tiagra Hydraulic groupset costs more than this entire bike.   

 

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mtbtomo replied to jimbo2112 | 3 years ago
0 likes

It might be better with hydraulic brakes but not everyone can afford that "extra £100" in the first place or necessarily wants to.

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