Btwin Triban 300

marcg868

Had this bike for about a month now, done about 100 miles so far and off for a couple of weeks due to a sprained knee sustained falling off my mountain bike.
Been enjoying my first few rides and wondering if its worth upgrading this bike or ride it through summer and get rid for something else.
One thing I would like to do is replace the Standard Hutchinson Equinoxe tyres as they don't inspire confidence at all.

Also if its not worth upgrading the bike my next budget would be £600 what should I be looking at for that budget?

gethinceri

Spend on new tyres, ride it until this time next year while saving up £1,000 rather than the £600 then buy something from the 2015 stable at a reduced price.

Anonymous

Not knowing much about you (age, fitness, gearing preferences, what type of bike you would upgrade to etc.etc.) or what your riding plans and weather are going to be for the spring/summer/autumn, I would say upgrade now and enjoy your riding more.
Lifes too short to waste a year on a T3 (if you are already thinking of upgrading) IMO.

Can you not do the £1000 thing now (if you like the above suggestion)?
Cycle to work scheme, part finance, do some overtime or just go without somewhere else?

How about get something much better for £600 now and still save for an even better bike down the line?
Get rid of the T3 while there are plenty of people that will buy it.

Or sell the T3 and get something under budget but still a fair bit better like the £400 Verenti on wiggle or one of the alternative suggestions people have made on the Verenti thread.
You then have a big pot to add to for the next bike rather than starting from scratch.

Possibly still change the tyres on whatever you get to replace it.
If its new, sell the stock tyres as new on ebay before you ride on them ;-)

dstev55

For £600 you can get the Btwin Alur 700. I'm new to road cycling so can't profess to be an expert but the bike feels fantastic and is very light and has some great components for the price.

kajjal

If you go to a good local bike shop you can trade in your old bike if you want to and that will give you a little more to spend. If you look in the sales and are lucky with the sizing there are some good deals around.

Below is an example but there are plenty more about :-

http://www.evanscycles.com/products/can ... e-ec054417

Or even try second hand if you are confident.

Anonymous

Kajjal wrote:

If you go to a good local bike shop you can trade in your old bike if you want to and that will give you a little more to spend. If you look in the sales and are lucky with the sizing there are some good deals around.

Below is an example but there are plenty more about :-

http://www.evanscycles.com/products/can ... e-ec054417

Or even try second hand if you are confident.

Do they? How much do you think they will give for a T3 over any deal they would have done anyway?
Selling privately is a much better option.

Evans do not do trade ins.

kajjal

Carbonator wrote:

Kajjal wrote:

If you go to a good local bike shop you can trade in your old bike if you want to and that will give you a little more to spend. If you look in the sales and are lucky with the sizing there are some good deals around.

Below is an example but there are plenty more about :-

http://www.evanscycles.com/products/can ... e-ec054417

Or even try second hand if you are confident.

Do they? How much do you think they will give for a T3 over any deal they would have done anyway?
Selling privately is a much better option.

Evans do not do trade ins.

I was just giving general advice on options not specific advice

marcg868

Carbonator wrote:

Not knowing much about you (age, fitness, gearing preferences, what type of bike you would upgrade to etc.etc.) or what your riding plans and weather are going to be for the spring/summer/autumn, I would say upgrade now and enjoy your riding more.
Lifes too short to waste a year on a T3 (if you are already thinking of upgrading) IMO.

Can you not do the £1000 thing now (if you like the above suggestion)?
Cycle to work scheme, part finance, do some overtime or just go without somewhere else?

How about get something much better for £600 now and still save for an even better bike down the line?
Get rid of the T3 while there are plenty of people that will buy it.

Or sell the T3 and get something under budget but still a fair bit better like the £400 Verenti on wiggle or one of the alternative suggestions people have made on the Verenti thread.
You then have a big pot to add to for the next bike rather than starting from scratch.

Possibly still change the tyres on whatever you get to replace it.
If its new, sell the stock tyres as new on ebay before you ride on them ;-)

I'm 29 fitness isn't spectacular due to broken leg, knee injury in 2013, achilies tendon rupture in 2014 and I have just torn my meniscus on my right knee this time when I came off my Mountain bike last Tuesday.
But when I'm not injured I do two or three 10 miles mtb rides a week and a 15 mile or 20 mile one on my days off if I get chance.

Managed four of 20 mile rides on my Triban 3 so far and could of done more if I wasn't watching the time.
My Aims for this year are to hit the 50 mile barrier and hopefully do Bolton to Blackpool and Back a few times this year which is roughly 80/90 miles.

Not itching to upgrade but I bought the Triban 3 as a foot in the door to see if id like road cycling and in the few rides I've done I already think I'll enjoy it a lot.

I doubt the missus would let me have a £1000 budget until I've done a few years but £600 is doable this year. I quite like getting the basic model in a range and upgrading bits as I go. My Mountain bike is a Cannondale SL5 and have upgraded the forks, wheels, and put a mixture of SLX and XT bits on. So Id quite like to get a Cannondale Road bike also.

and Id keep the Triban 3 as a commuter and winter bike.

jameses

Given that the Triban 3 is reckoned to be pretty decent for the money, you're unlikely to get anything substantially better for £600 unless you're buying second hand. My advice would be to put some decent tyres and good brake blocks on it, get some reasonable quality kit (if you haven't already) and ride it through until next spring. By then you should have a better idea of what you want as a summer bike and (hopefully) would have persuaded the SO that £1500 is a sensible amount to spend!

prhymeate

I agree with those who said ride it into the ground and save up. I rode my Triban 3 for about 2 years, replaced the wheels after the first year because the bearings went (cost about £150) and the new wheels gave it a new lease of life so I kept it going for another 10 months or so. It's a great bike for the price, mine got me over the Alps and through loads of great rides. Unless you are made of money, it seems a bit daft to be looking at buying a new bike after you've only had it for one month. I'd save it for summer kit and all the other bits and bobs that you'll convince yourself that you must have the more you cycle, we're all experts at doing that.

apreading

Tyres, Brake Blocks, Wheels - these things are well worth replacing on your Triban as they will show most benefit for the money and are probably the key parts that hold back what is essentially a very good bike for the money.

The other key components that you will soon want to upgrade are the forks (for carbon ones for comfort) and the shifters/gears that are a bit agricultural but both of those are expensive upgrades and probably not worth doing.

The other benefit to doing the tyres/brakes/wheels is that there is no downside - they can all be transplanted to the better bike you get later - you havent lost anything. even if the better bike you get later already has better tyres/brakes/wheels they will wear out eventually and you will want a winter set of wheels for trashing in poor weather.

I would look at something like Conti GP4000S or Michelin Pro4 Endurance in 25mm, some Swissstop like this: http://www.merlincycles.com/sram-by-swi ... 68078.html and some R501 wheels like this: http://www.merlincycles.com/shimano-r50 ... 49086.html

Ride the whole spring/summer and see what you want from a bike - that way you maximise the chances of picking the right bike for you when you do spend more money.

supermurph09

Keep hold of this bike, ride it, get your fitness up and then when you feel able, use this as a winter bike and buy yourself something better. Biggest mistake I have made so far is selling my current bike (twice) to fund a newer purchase.

Anonymous

JamesEs wrote:

Given that the Triban 3 is reckoned to be pretty decent for the money, you're unlikely to get anything substantially better for £600

Really?
I cannot be bothered to look but there are plenty of bikes that would be worth upgrading to, even at list price, yet alone in a sale.

The T3 may have been the only list price bike worth considering at under £400 a couple of years ago but its probably not now, and £600 opens up loads of options.

Thats double (triple if you get a £900 one in a sale) the budget of the original bike. How can the new bike not be substantially better?

The fact people still speak about T3's like you have is the reason it should be cleaned up and sold for top buck now

marcg868

Think riding this bike for 12 months and then see how I feel is the best option. Upgrade my body before I get a new bike.
I don't think she will shift on the no more than £600 budget though. And as I say I wouldn't mind upgrading a £600 bike and keeping my Triban as a winter commuter.

I'm just gonna get some new tyres, a Garmin which I can use on my mtb also and a Road specific Helmet. Got all the rest of the gear I need for the road, lights,bib tights etc. Just using my MTB Helmet at the moment so look a bit of a cock.

Man Of Lard

Start building a 'fun fund' - all my subsistence claims at work go in to mine... You could just as easily do it by saving £2 coins or whatever... Then when bike shopping comes around you have some 'off the radar' wealth to play with that you probably didn't miss as you built it up.