Triban RC520 Women’s Disc Road Bike

The Triban RC 520 Women's Disc road bike is incredibly versatile, offers a comfortable ride on our increasingly rough roads and is quite simply serious value for money. If you're looking for a bike that can handle the daily commute as well as take on some gravel trails and a bit of touring, the Triban is well worth considering. Just be aware that there are limitations with its geometry; it's not a racing machine.

I must confess I wasn't screaming with excitement at the prospect of riding the 10.5kg Triban. I'm not averse to a bit of weight – I ride an aluminium Dolan Preffisio to work that's similar on the scales – but I started testing the Triban during the worst of the floods earlier in the year, and it was absolutely necessary to fit mudguards, adding on a few more grams and some wind resistance – though who's counting when you get above 10kg…

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When I got it out on the road, though, I was genuinely surprised. It rolls along really well once up to speed, and getting it there isn't as arduous as you might expect, with gearing to help on the hills.

The more upright riding position might take away an element of fun on road descents that some seasoned roadies are used to, and cornering felt a little compromised in comparison to something that offers a low, race position, but it's unlikely to be an issue for the Triban's target market.

The 28mm tyres help hugely with the comfort of the ride. I ran them at 70psi and found them to be pretty forgiving on the rough lanes and potholed roads around the Cotswolds.

I also switched them out for some 32mm Hutchinson Gravel tubeless tyres and took the Triban off the tarmac. This bike isn't designed specifically for gravel – for that you'll want the Women's RC 120 Gravel Adventure Bike (when in stock) or the Triban RC 520 Gravel which Stu tested last year (also currently out of stock) – but on the stony tracks and broken lanes that I rode it on it certainly wasn't uncomfortable. It's fully capable of handling the tame stuff, making it a good choice if you want to experiment in all sorts of riding.

I took it on some off-road trails too, though it really needs more than 32mm tyres to handle any boggy terrain confidently. That it's compatible with tyres up to 36mm certainly adds to its versatility.

Geometry

I am 173cm tall, which according to Decathlon's size guide puts me on the medium Triban. There are no details about frame geometry on the website, but that's not that surprising – the commuters, entry-level club riders, and first time buyers it's targeted at will probably be happy to pick a size based solely on their height and inside leg measurement.

No frame geometry numbers does mean it's difficult to tell what sets the women's Triban RC 520 apart from the men's. Without the two models next to each, a tape measure and plumb bob to hand, I can't say if there are significant differences. The paint job is virtually identical.

On this medium size the effective top tube is 51.5cm and the head tube almost 160mm, which makes for a more compact and upright riding position than my preferred low, race position. That's fine: what you have is a position that's perfect for commuting, endurance rides and adventures away from asphalt.

It makes the Triban a versatile bike that will appeal to a very wide market. I've used it for wet rides, commuting, gravel riding and touring. Aside from road racing, there's not much it can't cope with.

Frame and fork

The aluminium frame is well up to dealing with the roughest roads, and comes with a lifetime guarantee (as do the bar and stem).

The fork blades are carbon, while the crown and steerer are aluminium. The fork is stiff enough, and the 28mm tyres, run at a lower pressure, go some way to make up for it not being full carbon, though going tubeless and running the tyres at even lower pressures helps even more.

The welding isn't the tidiest, and for the price it's not surprising that it has external cable routing. It doesn't look as sleek as internal cabling – and if you don't ensure the silicone sleeves are seated correctly, you can damage the paint work – but if you are planning on maintaining the bike yourself then external cables are far less faff and fiddle than internal – it also has to be said that far more expensive externally cable routed adventure/gravel bikes than this come without any such paintwork protecting sleeves.

Up front, there are rack eyelets halfway up the fork leg, but no eyelets forward of the dropouts, which are also required for a front rack to be fitted.

There are standard mudguard eyelets at the ends of the fork behind the dropouts, but Triban's decision to use post-mount TRP HY/RD brake callipers, despite the fork clearly having been designed for flat-mount callipers and flat-mount versions of the HY/RD callipers being available, which makes fitting standard mudguards harder than it could be.

All this means having to use the rather cumbersome looking flat-mount to post-mount converter, which results in a lot of brake calliper and bracketry to get your mudguard stays around, though it's not impossible.

At the rear things are equally awkward, mudguard-wise. If you have no intention of fitting a rack then you have a choice of which eyelets you use; if you want a rack then you need to fit it to the upper of the two eyelets, which means you have to use the lower 'recessed' eyelet for the mudguard stays.

You absolutely need to find some appropriate spacers of the right outer diameter here to space the stays away from the dropout, otherwise you won't be able to clamp the stays to the dropout successfully.

The design of the basic geometry around these lower eyelets is tight, and there isn't much room around the threaded holes to allow the mudguard stays to interface with the dropouts squarely.

Also, the eyelets for the rack on the seatstays sit quite low. I fitted a Claud Butler rack without issues, but I'd say try before you buy as neither of my other racks – a Blackburn MTN and an Axiom – were going near it.

Gears

Back to the positives... The Shimano 105 R7000 gear on the Triban really does make it an outstanding investment as a bike. Even Specialized's Allez Sport only manages Sora.

The finishing kit is very similar to that of the Men's Triban RC 520 that Ashley reviewed last year, and I'd agree with his comments on performance, quality and reliability.

The 105 derailleurs, combined with 105 levers, give a crisp, smooth and efficient shifting system. The levers share the same ergonomics as Ultegra and Dura-Ace, and just feel 'right' in the hands. Even though the chainset is a non-series RS510 model, it doesn't look like a cheap substitute and certainly doesn't reduce performance.

I've already briefly mentioned the 'considerate gearing' for the hills – to be more specific, the Triban comes with a compact 50/34-tooth chainset and an 11-32-tooth Microshift cassette. This is perfect for commuting and entry-level rides on any terrain, though you might want to go lower for loaded touring.

Brakes

As mentioned, the brakes are TRP's HY/RD open hydraulic system with 160mm discs – a mechanical operation at the levers with hydraulics at the calliper.

If you are used to rim brakes, this setup isn't a bad step towards fully hydraulic discs on the road; the Jagwire cables damp the force you put through the lever, and the braking action still feels a little bit spongy and rim-like. However, the win is that performance and power is dependable in any weather. Read the review of the brakes for more detail on the simplistic maintenance if you still need winning over.

Wheels and tyres

The wheelset falls in line with the Triban frame – they're heavy, but reliable and well up to the job. And weight-wise, you wouldn't be expecting much less at this price. With 28 crossed steel spokes, 6106-T6 (24mm) aluminium rims and sealed cartridge bearings, it's a 2kg pair of wheels that roll smoothly, are pretty rigid and certainly up to handling what a commuter or entry-level road rider might throw at them.

They are also tubeless ready, an absolute winner in my opinion. I'd wholeheartedly recommend throwing a conversion kit into your basket on your way to the till.

The 32mm Hutchinson tyres (available in Decathlon) that I converted them to offered outstanding grip, and a seriously smooth ride. As I've said, they've been on plenty of trails and tracks and are clearly very durable.

If going tubeless isn't for you, you're still getting a great endurance tyre with the Resist+ clinchers. They feel grippy in wet and dry conditions, I didn't have one single puncture and they weren't showing a huge amount of wear when I took them off after four weeks of daily riding.

Finishing kit

You get solid B'Twin finishing kit including an alloy bar, stem and 27.2mm seatpost. The bar is nicely shaped if you want to tuck down into the drops, and the stem does its job, but a special mention goes to the saddle.

I am quite fussy when it comes to saddles, and the Ergofit impressed me. The cutaway is well proportioned and placed. Personally, I wouldn't select such a soft saddle, but I am certain that this will be a big plus for many riders out there.

Value

You are going to struggle to find a bike that comes with Shimano 105, disc brakes, tubeless-ready wheels and a plethora of eyelets for less than £800.

> Buyer’s Guide: 13 of the best road bikes for £500-£750

If you want a 'racing' bike, you could forfeit versatility and consider Specialized's Allez Sport for £845, which is lighter but not female-specific, and comes with Shimano Sora. (Or there's the Shimano Claris-equipped version Stu tested for £645.) 

If you are keen to stick with a female-specific model, Liv's Avail 1 is £749, again lighter, but also with Sora not 105, and Trek's Domane AL3 is £750, with a claimed weight of 9.89kg for a 52cm size, but also Sora-equipped.

Or you could look closer to home, as Decathlon also offers the Van Rysel Women's Ultra RCR AF Tiagra for £749.99. 

Conclusion

Yes, I did have a few gripes, but in the grand scheme of things they are very trivial when you consider what you are getting for your money here. The Triban RC 520 is well specced, versatile and affordable. Whether you are commuting, road riding, touring or hitting the towpaths or gravel tracks, the Triban is up to it all. You'll love the ride, and so will your wallet.

Verdict

Commuter, tourer, even a bit of gravel... this is a hell of a lot of bike for the money