Carerra TDF Vs. B'twin Triban 3

♠ChumBucket♠

I would up the budget a little & go for the Triban 5, all problems solved! Carbon fork, Italian made frame, full 2013 SORA gears with NO thumb levers!!

spitfire355

Another vote against the Carrera, I have the Vanquish from around 2009, and the weight of the frame is about twice that of my cannondale, despite them both being aluminium. This may be another thing to consider; although they are both aluminium frames there may be considerable weight differences between the two

the_gills123

Have you thought about going second hand? Bikes don't tend to hold value that well from new so you could find a better deal in the classifieds forum on bike radar, eBay, gum tree etc. for £350 you should be able to get a bike with carbon forks and Shimano sora groupset (1 up from the 2300).

If you do decide to buy new, I would go against getting carrera as it will probably end up being a cheaper or more difficult sell compared to the triban... As they're effectively Halfords own brand, they're not held in such high regard. That's not to say that the bike itself is the poorer option of the two though.

Neil_aky

I went through all of this in February and bought the Red Triban 3 (Carbon Forks). I love the bike, but more importantly I am loving cycling. Any of the bikes you are looking at will be fine, just buy and start riding it.

Your next questions will be about upgrades etc - again just ride the bike, keep it serviced and replace stuff if it breaks / wears out. Decathlon service is really good so if you live near one, this could be the deciding factor...

2300 shifters are fine, you'l probably spend most of your time on the hoods, from where they work really well for me. The thumb shifter is a little stiff, but really I am nitpicking.

Triban 5 looks like a nice bike and probably better value but you will enjoy riding any of these bikes (frame on the T5 is the same as T3 by the way); also there is nothing wrong with the carbon forks on the T3 but like everyone says, steel forks worked fine for years...

Just enjoy riding whatever you buy - its about the riding more than the bike, just make sure whatever you buy is a good fit and is comfortable to ride.

elderone

Here is my 2012 Carrera virtuoso ltd which came in GB team colours.After a few mods and bit of effort it looks
different now.

Bustacapp

elderone wrote:

Here is my 2012 Carrera virtuoso ltd which came in GB team colours.After a few mods and bit of effort it looks
different now.

Hard to believe that's the same model as mine!! Nice wheels!!

City51

I was torn between TDF Triban 3 and also 5 I have bought The TDF due to it being £249 on sale and have added carbon forks £50 Velo plush seat £25 11-32T Cassette £17 also on sale reduced from £39 Took for a long ride and realised the gearing for going up steep hills was not great so I now need 34-50 Double chainset another £60 the TDF now stands me at £402 with a lot of messing about but I suppose I will be happy when ive fitted the better geared chainset . I would of bought the Triban 5 for £429 if I knew what I know now.

Emphursis

City51 wrote:

Took for a long ride and realised the gearing for going up steep hills was not great so I now need 34-50 Double chainset another £60

That's part of the reason I bought the TDF over a Triban, I didn't want a triple (or even a compact) because (in my opinion) the harder gears will help get me fitter faster. That said, I have been toying with the idea of switching from 12-26 to 11-27.

I did, and still do occasionally, find it hard to get up steep hills at 39-26, but if you grit your teeth and push through it, you'll see the benefits quite quickly.

samthesham

elderone wrote:

Here is my 2012 Carrera virtuoso ltd which came in GB team colours.After a few mods and bit of effort it looks
different now.

What an absolutely stunning bike!! Well done mate!!!

diamonddog

samthesham wrote:

elderone wrote:

Here is my 2012 Carrera virtuoso ltd which came in GB team colours.After a few mods and bit of effort it looks
different now.

What an absolutely stunning bike!! Well done mate!!!

^^This

richard_farrant

How do you go about stripping the paint off? have my old TDF frame in the shed which I am thinkng about building back up as a winter bike/cx/canal path bike

Daz555

Emphursis wrote:

I did, and still do occasionally, find it hard to get up steep hills at 39-26, but if you grit your teeth and push through it, you'll see the benefits quite quickly.

Fair play to you. Pushing through causes me knee issues so I prefer to spin - so a triple is perfect for me on the steepest stuff I try to get up.

elderone

Richard Farrant wrote:

How do you go about stripping the paint off? have my old TDF frame in the shed which I am thinkng about building back up as a winter bike/cx/canal path bike

I used nitromors to get most of paint off,then wet and dry of differernt grades to get to bare metal.
Once you are down to the metal I used wire wool from rough to fine with metal polish and get the metal smooth and it,s just polish until shiny after that.