Triban 3

bojacobsstrom

I have chosen to buy the B'Twin Triban 3 as my first road bike and have reserved the red model as unlike the white it includes carbon forks, however I have seen some negative reviews concerning the wheels and gears which are not there on the white model as they have been upgraded at the cost of the carbon forks, any Triban 3 owners out there that could tell me which to get?

prhymeate

I wouldn't upgrade anything to begin with. Ride it into the ground and then check whether you want to upgrade the components or put the money towards a new bike.
I have a Triban 3 and have had no problems with the gears, the wheels lasted me just over 2,000 miles until the bearings went. I was tempted to buy a new bike but I was about to go on holiday with my bike and didn't want to rush into it, so I upgraded the wheels to Mavic Aksum's. That was 6 months ago and I'm really happy with them, I don't see myself in the market for a new bike now for quite a while.

IrishMac

Well I'd consider the white triban 3 as an downgrade from the red one. The red triban 3 was so popular no one bought the dearer triban 5, to stop this they got rid of the red triban 3 replaced it with a white one with crappy microshift shifters and charged an extra 200 pound for basically the same thing as the red one bar they changed the name, to Triban 5, colour,to black and blue, and slightly but pointlessly better shifters

bojacobsstrom

Prhymeate wrote:

I wouldn't upgrade anything to begin with. Ride it into the ground and then check whether you want to upgrade the components or put the money towards a new bike.
I have a Triban 3 and have had no problems with the gears, the wheels lasted me just over 2,000 miles until the bearings went. I was tempted to buy a new bike but I was about to go on holiday with my bike and didn't want to rush into it, so I upgraded the wheels to Mavic Aksum's. That was 6 months ago and I'm really happy with them, I don't see myself in the market for a new bike now for quite a while.

do you own the red or the white

bobones

bojacobsstrom wrote:

I have chosen to buy the B'Twin Triban 3 as my first road bike and have reserved the red model as unlike the white it includes carbon forks, however I have seen some negative reviews concerning the wheels and gears which are not there on the white model as they have been upgraded at the cost of the carbon forks, any Triban 3 owners out there that could tell me which to get?

The red is definitely a better bike than the white. There's nothing wrong with the gears: Shimano 2300 works great if adjusted properly. The main complaint is that the thumb activated button for upshifting the rear or downshifting the front can't be activated from the drops, but it's really not that big a deal. The wheels are basic and heavy and could probably do with a bit more grease in the hubs and adjusted if they're a bit tight. I wouldn't be rushing to upgrade them during the winter if I were you: just get out there and enjoy the bike as it is. Come spring, you might want to fit some nicer wheels and tyres. Spend your money on clothing and other essential accessories like mudguards, lights or even a Garmin.

prhymeate

bojacobsstrom wrote:

Prhymeate wrote:

I wouldn't upgrade anything to begin with. Ride it into the ground and then check whether you want to upgrade the components or put the money towards a new bike.
I have a Triban 3 and have had no problems with the gears, the wheels lasted me just over 2,000 miles until the bearings went. I was tempted to buy a new bike but I was about to go on holiday with my bike and didn't want to rush into it, so I upgraded the wheels to Mavic Aksum's. That was 6 months ago and I'm really happy with them, I don't see myself in the market for a new bike now for quite a while.

do you own the red or the white

The Red, sorry, should have specified that.

shamrock134

My mate has the white Triban 3 and he's put maybe 1500 miles on it. It has recently started to fall apart. The cheap and nasty wheelset and Microshift groupset are definite weak points and would make me recommend the Triban 5 instead, although I suspect that has the same £25 wheels.

Gpfanuk

I bought the Red Triban 3 in January this year and have completed just shy of 4000km, including three sportives (Cheshire Cat, Yorkshire Weaver and the Cumbrian Cracker) and my first century ride. Changed the tyres with the onset of Winter to gatorskins and added full length SKS Chromplastics but that's about it. Yes the wheels are heavy but sturdy but if you are only just starting off with road cycling (like I was), then you won't really have anything to compare them to will you? The only points I would make are that you have to keep on top of adjustments with the low end groupset and ensure that you keep the chain clean and lubed. Overall it's a great bike and for £300 you really can't do better as an introduction to the basics of road cycling. I have had a ball with my bike and alhough I'm upgrading to a more polished bike early next year the failthful Triban will be kept as a winter/commuter.
Go fo it, you won't regret it and if you don't take to it then you've not spent a fortune have you?

PS..If anything does go wrong you get a two year parts and labour warranty - I have had a new bottom bracket and rear wheel (broken hub) replaced with no quibble whatsover!

kingofthetailwind

I have the red version. The hub of the rear wheel went very quickly, as did the replacement. Doing as bobones says above adding more grease would probably prevent this.

I upgraded to Aksiums instead. Decathlon might take the price of the standard wheels off the price of Aksiums. Well worth doing in my opinion.

rokt

I picked one up for my 9 year old son a few weeks ago. It's the very smallest frame available and I must say for the money, does anything come close ?? I spent a good few weeks looking round at all the children's road bikes available and I came across a post on this forum by a guy that purchased a Triban 3 for his son that was quite helpful. The red Triban 3 has to be worth the money all day long and it's a good point to start at, you can upgrade to your hearts desire.