Thanks for tuning in, this is The Sweet
Cyclists and today we're gonna be looking at
the Decathlon Triban Disc 105 RC 520
road bike. We're very excited to review the
Triban RC 520 which is one of the
best road bike values on the market
today. The Triban RC 520 specs are a
significant upgrade from the typical
entry-level bike. With a retail price of
only $900 it comes equipped with the
latest Shimano 105 R7000 groupset.
A powerful TRP HY/RD 160mm
hydraulic disc brake
setup. The frame is made from aluminum
with a carbon bladed fork and tubeless
ready Triban wheels. We want to thank
Decathlon for providing this bike for
the review. One of Decathlon's missions
is to make cycling more accessible and
with the Triban line of bikes they've
done just that. Now if you're in the US
you may not have heard of Decathlon
before, they are a sporting goods store with
over 1500 locations worldwide and have
only recently made their way into the US.
Now back to the bike, the RC 520 is
designed to be a do-it-all bike. The wide
tire clearance, up to 36 millimeters, and
the disc brakes make a great gravel bike
while the 11 speed drivetrain means you
can also do longer rides. It's also
designed with an endurance geometry
which makes the bike very approachable and
has all the eyelets and fender mounts
needed for commuting. The claimed weight
for the large size frame is 23.8 pounds
while we measured about 24.5 pounds
with Look pedals and some accessories.
Interestingly, the front wheel is about
3.7 pounds
while the rear wheel is about 5 which
means you should be able to shed some
weight with some upgrades.
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Now let's go over the fit and finish of the
RC 520. This is one of the highest specced
versions of the Triban line of bikes.
There is a gravel version of the bike for
$100 more with wider tires and different
handlebars. As a part of the Triban line,
it's designed to be more
aggressive than the entry-level B'Twin
bikes but more relaxed than the Van
Rysel racing bikes. As a result you
have this endurance geometry, you'll note
it has a tall head tube here. That
brings the front of the bike higher up
and it gives you a more natural riding
position and more neutral handling.
Also note that they've included a dropped
seat stay design as you can see here. These
seats days don't connect with the top
tube and that gives you improved ride as
well as better aerodynamics. Colorwise
it's only available in one color and
that's this dark blue navy color.
You'll also note that there's a two-tone
scheme here, you have the dark blue here
and then this dividing line with the
lighter color that's carried through the
bike at the seat tube as well as the
seats stays here, as well as the Triban
logo is ghosted on here with that
lighter color. It's a really nice
modern look with a sort of matte finish.
Now let's take a closer look at
the front end of the bike. You'll
notice throughout the bike we have
this square profile design with
both the top tube and the down tube.
It gives the bike a very distinct look, it's also
carried through to the unbranded stem
here. This is 100 millimeter stem that
comes with the large size bike, it's
a very unique look overall. Also note
that the weld are exposed here, with my
more expensive Felt aluminum bike that's
actually smoothed over to give it a
little cleaner look. But not surprising
on this price and the welds are actually
pretty well done they're very even and
look consistent. Also note that I've
already replaced the bar tape here with
this more grippy Fizik bar tape. I
didn't really like the stock foam one
and I also added an orange accent color
here that really complements tje
rear accent on the seat stays. Here's a
side shot of the handle bars,
these are really nice drop bars. It's
aluminum drop bar with a shallow drop
and as you can see it has a good
extension to it as well so you can find
a variety of positions that match your
riding style. Here's the front end of the
head tube, I wanted to point out that
Decathlon logo is very subtly placed here
with the black outlines. This is
consistent with Decathlon's branding
where the Decathlon part is more of a byline
rather than being prominently displayed
on the bike and it's a very good look.
Also at this angle you can see the
externally routed cables, you'll see that
it goes down the fork externally and
then all the rear mechanisms go down the
down tube. It's a little bit cluttered
but again not surprising at this price
range. Another thing I wanted to point
out here is the carbon bladed fork, a
carbon bladed fork will reduce the
vibration and make the ride quality a
little bit better. This is not a full
carbon fork but you can see it has these
aesthetic elements on the bottom of the
fork and it really does help with the
ride quality. You won't feel the
harshness of the road but you'll still get good
ride feel. Also note that the external
routed cables don't go through the fork
which is a little bit unusual. Typically
the fork has a cable routing in
here. Also you get the eyelet as well as
fender mounts which is another great
touch.
Here's a close-up of the down tube, you
can see Triban is printed really
subtly with that lighter blue color.
Now lets take a closer look at that rear
junction where the top two meets up with the
seat tube.
Again you'll notice that the welds are
all exposed but they're really
consistent and clean. The offset
seats stay here which is not connected
to the top tube for a better ride and
you also see that boundary between the
two colors. You have a darker navy blue
and the lighter blue here. You get a
standard seat clamp here. So here's the
rear of that same junction, again you can
see all the exposed welds. You have
pretty good clearance for the tires up
to 36 millimeters which is great for
off-roading. You can see the minimum
insertion location here at the seat post
clamp as well the fender
locations and the eyelets. Here's a
close-up of the rear tires, these are a
Triban Protect Light 700x28
from the factory. The wheels
themselves are actually tubeless ready
which is really amazing at this price
point. I found the wheel to be rather
heavy, they don't have that fast
acceleration you get with
lighter climbing wheels. It
is one thing that's a easy upgrade
but that's pretty common with
entry-level bikes. Usually they're built
for robustness and not speed. Here's a
close-up of the crank, this is a
non-series Shimano crank. It looks very
similar to 105 though so it really fits
the bill pretty well. I've upgraded the
pedals to LOOK Keos. From the
factory you get the 105 derailleurs and
the important levers, so you get all the
important pieces. The chain set is also
not Shimano. Here's the backside of the
crank again you can see exposed welding
here as well as this interesting little
bracing here which again has another
mounting location for fenders. Overall
though it looks pretty well done, the
bottom bracket is surprisingly not that
large. Typically modern bikes have BB30
or even larger standards, and really
bulky bottom brackets. This is a lot
smaller and more reminiscent of older
steel bikes. With the RC 520 they've
really done a great job in terms of
specs, you get the 105 rear derailleur
and this is the long cage. As you can see
it's quite a bit larger than the shorter
cage version and gives you a lot of
flexibility in terms of gearing. Right
from the factory they give you 11 to 32
Microshift cassette and that's really
awesome. The range gives you enough
to really speed down hills and do a lot
a lot of climbs, especially combined with
the compact crank
which is a 50/34 that means your
smallest gear is actually a 34-32.
Here's the rear brake calipers, these are
TRP HY/RD which are mechanically
actuated hydraulic disc brakes. They're
really great intermediate between full
hydraulic system and a mechanically
actuated disc brake. Having ridden
mechanical disc brakes I can tell you
they're pretty terrible, I'd much rather
have a nicer set of rim brakes but with
these it's a great in-between. You don't
have to run the more expensive levers
but you get the excellent modulation. So
if you're going down a hill at 40 miles
an hour or just coming to a stop sign it
always feel the same, it's really smooth.
I also wanted to point out here is
that these are post mounted, and you can see
part of the reason this bike is so heavy
is all these welds and the additional
brackets here. So you can see it's not a
flat mounted, with a lot of carbon-fiber
bikes they're really designed with disc
brakes in mind so the actual mounts
are flat. So it would be really flush you
wouldn't have to have all this extra
additional structure here. Here's the
front caliper again, same issue you have
post mounted TRP HY/RD a little bit
bulkier. With more expensive bikes they
will be flat mounted which gives
it a much sleeker appearance. Also the
cable routes here is a little odd, and it
does have to come all the way around
instead of going through the fork. Now
let's take the Triban Disc 105 RC 520
on the road, here I have some footage of
me on a local ride and as you can see
I've already had a professional bike fit
done at a local bike shop. Being 6' 1" with
longer legs you can see the seat post is
rather high, this is the large size frame
which is similar to a 56 cm bike
and it's on the lower end of the bikes I
typically fit so I have to have the seat
post higher. Overall I would describe the
handling of the bike as being very
neutral due to that endurance style
geometry. The head tube is taller which
means you're in a less aggressive
position and as a result of that it's
less twitchy so if you're looking for a
very aggressive road bike that has fast
handling the Triban is not quite for you.
It has a more neutral feel to it and
it's happy to go on a straight line.
It also handles well though if you need
to do but it's just less eager to do so.
Now let's talk about the drivetrain, I
really like the Shimano 105 drivetrain
on this bike. Unlike a lot of entry-level
bikes which have eight or nine
speed clunky drivetrains this
generation of 105 is really crisp and
clean. It's also a modern 11 speed which
gives you great gear range and with
every generation Shimano also always
integrates all the improvements from the
older Ultegra and Durace lines down to the
105. So this generation of 105 is as good
as previous generation Ultegras. The levers
are also very ergonomic and really easy
to modulate. As I mentioned I really
love the gear ratios on this bike, you can
really tell a cyclist put some thought
and effort in this with the compact crank
and the wide 11 to 32 cassette on the
back. You can really take on a lot of
steep climbs while staying in a granny
gear and then also do a fast ascend with
the higher gears. So now let's talk about
the brakes, this bike comes equipped with
the TRP HY/RD hydraulic disc brakes
which are mechanically actuated
hydraulic disc brakes. I've heard some
people say they don't really like this
but I don't think they've actually
ridden it. As someone with both rim
brakes and TRP mechanical disc brakes I
think these are really great improvement.
They're as good as a really solid rim
brake and even though they're not fully
hydraulic they give you all the benefits
of a hydraulic disc brake which means
the modulations is very soft. Whether
I'm coming down a steep descent or just
going to a local stop sign it always
feels really smooth and very easy to
modulate. Another thing is responsiveness,
with the design of this bike and the
more entry-level
wheels and tires it really doesn't feel
fast off the line. So you don't feel like
you're going fast until you really get
up to speed. I think the problem with
this is a combination of the higher
weight and the wheel/tire combination
which is not surprising especially on
entry-level bikes. The wheels and tires
are great for commuting or off-roading
but if you plan and do long or faster
rides I highly recommend getting some
lightweight climbing wheels and low
resistant tires on there and that's
something we're gonna explore in the
future. So now let's go over the final
scorecard for the RC 520. In terms of
design it is an A-. The two-tone color
scheme is really well done and gives it a very
sleek and modern appearance. Even
though you have externally routed cables
which make it a look a little bit
cluttered, I think they've done a great
job overall. In terms of components I've
definitely give it an A, for this price
point you just don't see Shimano 105
components and the hydraulic disc brakes
are a really great addition. Handling
wise I'd give this a B+.
It has a more endurance geometry and as
a result it has more relaxed handling
to it so it's less responsive than a
more aggressive carbon bike would be.
Overall though the value of this bike is
definitely an A+, you just don't find
specs like these on a $900 bike. It
really makes a entry-level bike a lot
more premium and even though the overall
weight of the bike is a little bit heavy
and has some negatives like the
less responsive handling and wheels
entire combination, I think it's a really
great value. Whether you're looking for a
good commuter or just looking for a bike
for centuries or even as a winter bike I
think it's a great all-around bike. You
can definitely adjust it and modify
parts as you see fit to really
improve the various characteristics.
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