Triban 3 (Now SS)

buddy_club

Hi,
'Bout time i made a post on this, had it for a few weeks now, and enjoying getting out an about on some longer rides (did my first 50 last weekend). Straight from Decathlon with some SPD pedals, so i wont bore you with the spec.


And after getting a bit dirty on its (very soggy) first ride:


Saddle has been made level now by the way :roll:

tim_wand

Good choice, Enjoy.

I had one (a red one) a couple of years back, when the time comes maybe change the cassette for a Sram PG850 the O/E one is made of tin.

buddy_club

tim wand wrote:

Good choice, Enjoy.

I had one (a red one) a couple of years back, when the time comes maybe change the cassette for a Sram PG850 the O/E one is made of tin.

Thanks, i'll take that into account, current plans are some new wheels and a carbon fork so perhaps I'll change the cassette with the wheels

tim_wand

Yer, shame they changed the fork from full carbon, really was a bargain in those days.

I really went to town on mine in the end, Ultegra groupset, WHR500 wheelset and Sram cassette and Chain, it was such a great frameset it warranted it.

Check this site out if you get chance , Loads of enthusiasts for the brand on there.

http://triban3owners.freeforums.net/

buddy_club

tim wand wrote:

Yer, shame they changed the fork from full carbon, really was a bargain in those days.

I really went to town on mine in the end, Ultegra groupset, WHR500 wheelset and Sram cassette and Chain, it was such a great frameset it warranted it.

Check this site out if you get chance , Loads of enthusiasts for the brand on there.

http://triban3owners.freeforums.net/

Already on it - cheers mate - wow! I'm probably not going to go to that extreme, but I'm thinking tiagra 9 speed when the time to upgrade comes - yes it was a cracking deal before, shame that they only have the really small sizes in stock now - but it is still a good deal

RideOnTime

Need to update that signature...

sloppyschleckonds

White bikes always look good, swap those hoods and get some mudguards!

buddy_club

SloppySchleckonds wrote:

White bikes always look good, swap those hoods and get some mudguards!

Cheers, the hoods? Nah i kinda like them , Idk if there are many microshift hoods around anyway, im looking at mudguards at the moment but i might just wait till after the summer, if we have one... :roll:

buddy_club

Ordered a few bits for this today, I'm away in the week but I should have them on at the weekend when I'll get some pictures:
First off a charge spoon as I really wasn't getting on with the stock one - even on short rides I was getting a fair bit of pain.
Then some red hope headset spacers so I can bin the dodgy clamp and boring black spacers for some bling red ones
And to match the new red spacers a red ABR cheapo seatclamp - had to measure/guess the size with a ruler - no info from decathlon or on the owners page - oh well if it's the wrong size I'll send it back and swap

buddy_club

Sooooo i got those bits fitted today, still had one 2mm spacer left from the stack, but just another bit for the parts bin ay! Got lucky with the seatclamp, actually managed to measure/guess it right first time! Love the spoon as well, went out for a short hour or so today, and was a noticable improvement over the stock btwin saddle!

tim_wand

Some nice subtle touches there! accenting, Your getting the bug!

Wont be long before you drop some new components on, I found the rear cassette really is made of tin, and shifting benefits from a swap out to a Sram PG850, can be had off E bay for under a tenner.

Wheels and tyres should be your first swap out, I still use the O/E set that came on my Triban on my commuter and they are a strong wheelset, but my god they are heavy.

Not criticising and Its hard to tell with the saddle bag fitted, but your seat angle looks as though its pointing a bit far forward, have you checked it?

buddy_club

tim wand wrote:

Some nice subtle touches there! accenting, Your getting the bug!

Wont be long before you drop some new components on, I found the rear cassette really is made of tin, and shifting benefits from a swap out to a Sram PG850, can be had off E bay for under a tenner.

Wheels and tyres should be your first swap out, I still use the O/E set that came on my Triban on my commuter and they are a strong wheelset, but my god they are heavy.

Not criticising and Its hard to tell with the saddle bag fitted, but your seat angle looks as though its pointing a bit far forward, have you checked it?

Haha thanks, thinking I might go red white and blue - very patriotic hahaha, just recently turned 15 so upgrades will come when I get money, currently looking at shimano R501's or Mavic Aksiums wheel wise - I'll have a look at the cassettes, cheers Also tyres will probably be Continental Grand Prix something or other, but for now just use the hutchinsons - seat angle? Yeah I pointed it down a few degrees after a bit of discomfort in the you-know-where's - but it's clamped right in the middle of the rails finding it much more comfortable compared to the stock one gonna head over to Aldi tomorrow to pick up one of those work stands but I'm off school now for the unmet and I've got a job for a few weeks so might have a bit of cash to splash come September!

imposter2.0

Level the saddle - your knees will thank you for it...

apreading

Going by my son's Triban 3 Red, the best upgrade you can make is these: http://www.merlincycles.com/sram-by-swi ... 68078.html Waay better stopping power and a bargain compared to normal.

Recommend these R501s: http://www.planetx.co.uk/i/q/WPSH501/sh ... r-wheelset
And Continental 4000S are the business - always on sale somewhere.

tim_wand

Yep, Cartridge backed brakes are definitely are good up grade (Kool Stops come in cheaper than the Sram)
Don't bother changing the original calipers out though, I did that on mine and actually found the Shimano 105's I swapped out for were no better (than originals with cartridge pads) and a tad heavier.

One slight observation, I would take out the original bolted spacer on the steerer and move one on your Hope 5 mm above the stem (if you don't want to cut the steerer) any more than 30mm of spacers puts a lot of pressure/leverage on the steerer tube (maybe not so critical with a steel steerer tube on the fork).

I don't know how far you ride? but the under carriage will adjust, I just think by tilting your saddle that far forward you are putting a lot of pressure on your wrists, and these wont adjust.

Otherwise looking good, keep it up.

buddy_club

tim wand wrote:

One slight observation, I would take out the original bolted spacer on the steerer and move one on your Hope 5 mm above the stem (if you don't want to cut the steerer) any more than 30mm of spacers puts a lot of pressure/leverage on the steerer tube (maybe not so critical with a steel steerer tube on the fork)

Not quite sure what you mean by take the original bolted spacer, but i could remove the small spacer from between the middle of the other two spacers and put it on top, but i found it hard getting the spacer to sit in line with the stem when i first tried that- and any more spacers in the overall stack and the bolt isnt long enough to reach the star nut

tim wand wrote:

I don't know how far you ride? but the under carriage will adjust, I just think by tilting your saddle that far forward you are putting a lot of pressure on your wrists, and these wont adjust.

Otherwise looking good, keep it up.

Normally about 25-30 miles with about 1,900ft of climbing on my local route, i,ll tilt it back a bit tomorrow before i go out on it again, and just wait for it to break in :twisted:

apreading wrote:

Going by my son's Triban 3 Red, the best upgrade you can make is these: http://www.merlincycles.com/sram-by-swi ... 68078.html Waay better stopping power and a bargain compared to normal.

Recommend these R501s: http://www.planetx.co.uk/i/q/WPSH501/sh ... r-wheelset
And Continental 4000S are the business - always on sale somewhere.

Cheers for the link to the brake pads - is the actual surface name 'cartridge' or is it just the material of the back of the pads? and wow - those r501's are the cheapest ive seen them anywhere!

apreading

Cartridge means that the pads can be removed from the holder and replaced with another pad, rather than replacing the whole unit. Of course, when they are cheaper to buy with cartridges than the pads on their own, it makes little difference! The surface/pads are Swissstop Flash Pro Black (Brake Compound) Blocks - pretty well regarded I think. I cant compare to cool stop as I havent tried them.

Those R501s are a superb bargain - I got some when they were £59.99 a couple of months back but havent seen them that price since.

buddy_club

apreading wrote:

Cartridge means that the pads can be removed from the holder and replaced with another pad, rather than replacing the whole unit. Of course, when they are cheaper to buy with cartridges than the pads on their own, it makes little difference! The surface/pads are Swissstop Flash Pro Black (Brake Compound) Blocks - pretty well regarded I think. I cant compare to cool stop as I havent tried them.

Those R501s are a superb bargain - I got some when they were £59.99 a couple of months back but havent seen them that price since.

Ah right, cheers mate - they're save to my favorited and I'll order a couple insets when the money comes - and ideally some wheels

buddy_club

Well the triban has done a fair few miles now, but i hadnt ridden it for about two months as ive just been riding the mountain bike. So i've decided to convert it to singlespeed as i had a 26er SS but wanted something a bit nippier to ride to college and just hack about on over the winter. I brought some Deda bars with Tektro levers fitted from a mate, swapped the crankset with the one off my other singlespeed (i wanted to use my 42t ring but the original crankset was a 5 bolt and the ring a 4 bolt) and then fitted the SS kit. Had trouble with the brake cables so will need to take the tape off the bars to thread the inner cable through. However a dodgy brakeless ride around the block has shown that its a pretty solid ride! Smooth and quiet.
Apologies for the crap photos as i took them just after finishing.