As well as being fast road race bikes need to be agile with quick, sharp handling, but the stretched-out and low flat-back position won’t suit everyone, and if you’re new to cycling, can be a little intimidating. If you want to get into road racing, then choose a race bike, but if you don’t have any plans for racing, there may well be better choices. In more expensive frames, carbon fiber becomes a lot more prevalent.
Alternatively, Decathlon comes to the rescue again with an extremely affordable bike light set that delivers a respectable 25 lumen of front light – but a distinctly poor 3 lumen at the rear. The undeniable fact is that bagging a decent, brand new bike of any kind for under £500 is quite decathlon bike a result, but getting a versatile disc-braked bike for that is well worth paying attention to. Specialized does offer the Allez in more affordable guises though, so if you want the same sporty and durable frame but at a more affordable price point, then there are options for you.
In particular, single-piston mechanical brakes can be rather finicky and require a careful setup for peak performance; even small deviations can have outsized impact, and the Promax calipers are no exception. Although marked as 28 mm-wide, the actual width was just shy of 27 mm. On the plus side, they rolled better than we expected, and grip was actually quite decent . However, when we installed a set of 35 mm-wide Schwalbe G-One RS gravel tires — set up tubeless — the RC120 practically grew a set of wings. It suddenly felt lighter and livelier, it was more comfortable, and certainly more capable.
On the braking side of things, Decathlon have fitted the Triban with a double braking system. The normal brakes are Microshift’s SB-R480S Classic brake levers which have been specially decathlon bike adapted for smaller hands. TheTektro RL 576 Cyclocross brake levers are on the tops of the handlebars for those more used to riding on the tops, in a more mountain bike style.
It rides and handles well, the parts are perfectly functional, and the company did well to avoid the most critical easy mistakes . Even the external cable routing is ideally suited for someone just starting to learn how to fix their own bike. Would a new rider with minimal mechanical skills have had the same positive experience we did?