Triban 3 Owners Club

[SatNavSaysStraightOn]

I always get a buzz when out, no matter which bike (sorry I just like fresh air!). just being out is the buzz for me, but I do find I enjoy the speed of the T3 (and suspect it could be more if I was to lose the pannier rack/mudguards etc and actually push myself). however, currently back in bed with a bad chest infection, my asthma playing up something chronic and not having been out of the house since last Thursday except for dr's & hospital right now I would take any old wreck out and cycle if my lungs let me...

@Rockuk I had done 3,800km on the stock wheels before I fell out with them big time, so take your time, get your enjoyment from the bike & the better weather and watch your fitness improve and don't worry about doing much to the bike (except changing the brake pads - that part IMO is essential - stopping being the essential part) and wait till you can't go any faster/further/worn parts out etc until you start changing things around. But more importantly, enjoy yourself and don't worry about breaking spokes. you may have to walk home, disconnect your brakes to cycle home, but spokes are easily replaced. Just enjoy the bike.

 

[Widge]

It's a cool philosophy to simply replace as needed after due wear and tear IMO?

The stock wheels are a bit dubious by all accounts (I'm amazed it had any wheels at all at the price!)....but they can be nursed.

But I suspect SNSSO's experience with them is pretty much par for the course...so why not replace them sooner rather than later?

Or not.

I replaced mine after about 600 miles of winter riding and was shocked by how crapped the hubs were after I had taken them off and investigated them. Perhaps If I had stripped, adjusted and relubed them earlier they would have come out better...but hey...hindsight is a wonderful thing?

Notwithstanding the wheels.....I hope I'm not restating the obvious by saying that all-in-all the T3 is a remarkably sorted machine.
Beyond rubber and pedals (and eventually wheels unless you work some magic on them in time) everything you need to just enjoy the ride is in place.

 

[andyoxon]

I feel like a streak of ditch water reading the above as I got the 60cm size being 6' 2" and only 12 stone 7pounds I see that the pothole advise is something we all agree on as there are lots in even the main road in this part of N Somerset I've not cracked my first thousand on mine yet but have fitted new clarks brake blocks to the rear as the bog standard one that came with the bike didn't seem to slow me down as much as I liked. The wheels are not that good as already got a slight twist in the rear one (B potholes) But what do you expect for £300 quid.
For me I think the bike worth that just for the frame and the forks So at this point do I up grade the bike with better wheels and the better Shimarno gears and all the bits or do I ditch it and go up market to a full carbon spending about £1,500 I could do it but really can't justify it to myself after all I can do 70 odd miles in a day now so would I do any more on an up market carbon bearing in mind that I'm no youngster. being 66 years this time round
I must just ask you all after being out on the bike. Do you still get that buzz when you get back from a ride be it 7miles or 70miles? I'd be interested to know. Thats if youv'e read this far down my ramblings.
Regards All Antnee.

I'm also 6'2", 12.5st, and riding the 60cm. I really enjoy the fast, light aspect, but I have to say that I'm finding 23mm tyres a bit too harsh a ride given the patched, potholed, uneven roads around here. Will have to try 25C and see if there are some mudguards or other that will fit (currently using crud RRs). Probably finding the right saddle will help too.

 

[valexone]

hello everyone, I'm worth and I write from Italy, I stumbled upon this forum and I wanted to present my Triban 3 with some modifications

http://imageshack.us/a/img547/4517/20130508145642.jpg
http://imageshack.us/a/img33/1867/20130508144602.jpg
http://imageshack.us/a/img834/5135/20130508144607.jpg
http://imageshack.us/a/img211/2125/20130508144518.jpg
http://imageshack.us/a/img194/7305/20130508164640.jpg

wheels Shimano WH-501
Shoes Shimano R55C3
Crankset Miche Team Evo Max 50 34
Pedals Welgo M21
Chain Shimano HG73
Sprocket Sram PG850 12-26
Shimano 105 RD5701
Front derailleur Shimano 105 FD5700

currently weighs about 9 kg

hope you like it

 

[antnee]

No I'm sold on 23mm tyres now well at least till it gets bad weather and slides on wet leaves. Though some of the cycle paths/ tracks around N Somerset are not good so I do tend to avoid them on the T3 and stick to the roads whic as I said before (some) are not much better As to the saddle Its a good idea if you can try before you buy, see the separate Thread on the forum where you can arrange to try some diffferent ones Though I see you must have at least 150 posts up on the CC forum.
I've fast come to the concluison ? (thats not how you spell it but you get the drift) That you have got to feel at one with your bike and lets face it if your points of contact i.e seat, pedals and handlebars don't feel right then you have to fiddle about till they are or go to a LBS and have a bike fit I' been told by a guy I met teh other day on my travels that fizik saddles are good and having looked at the price. well some of ther range are a third of the cost of the T3! But the default T3 saddle is ok but not hardly in the top range as after 78 miles in one hit my bum tells me to investigate into alternatives.

 

[antnee]

hello everyone, I'm worth and I write from Italy, I stumbled upon this forum and I wanted to present my Triban 3 with some modifications

http://imageshack.us/a/img547/4517/20130508145642.jpg
http://imageshack.us/a/img33/1867/20130508144602.jpg
http://imageshack.us/a/img834/5135/20130508144607.jpg
http://imageshack.us/a/img211/2125/20130508144518.jpg
http://imageshack.us/a/img194/7305/20130508164640.jpg

wheels Shimano WH-501
Shoes Shimano R55C3
Crankset Miche Team Evo Max 50 34
Pedals Welgo M21
Chain Shimano HG73
Sprocket Sram PG850 12-26
Shimano 105 RD5701
Front derailleur Shimano 105 FD5700

currently weighs about 9 kg

hope you like it

I do like it, you must have spent quite a lot of money on it. I see you have done a lot to your T3 which must make a huge difference, But how do you fine your saddle? As I see you have not chaged that.

 

[SatNavSaysStraightOn]

I'm also 6'2", 12.5st, and riding the 60cm. I really enjoy the fast, light aspect, but I have to say that I'm finding 23mm tyres a bit too harsh a ride given the patched, potholed, uneven roads around here. Will have to try 25C and see if there are some mudguards or other that will fit (currently using crud RRs). Probably finding the right saddle will help too.

I have managed to fit 25c tyres & mudguards but the solution is not pretty for the mudguards. Some of the issue is my choice of 25c tyre - schwalbe durano pluses are thicker than some 25c tyres because of their puncture protection and there was a noticable (to me) drop off in speed due to that extra weight. But I prefer them to the stock 23c tyres and have much more confidence with the bike's handling even in the wet or ice (I ride all year round irrespective of the weather). when I wear them out, I will probably drop to the 23c durano pluses to regain the extra clearance - the rubbing on mud drives me mad and I live down a road that has lots of mud and only one way out and I live at the very end of it... dropping the tyre pressures just a touch will give for a softer ride - only talking about 15psi drop (ok you will also find it slower as well) but I would start the experiment there - drop to the minimum psi rather than the max (assuming you are on the max) and see if that helps.

 

[Psyclepath]

I'm expecting my red T3 today or tomorrow. Just got into club cycling and wasn't quite planning on getting a road bike just yet but these seem so good (and in short supply) that I thought I'd get one now anyway rather than pay £500+ for a suitable road bike in a few months. I've been a cycle commuter for over 10 years and unfortunately I'd just splashed out on a new half decent hybrid in February and was using that for social club rides, but I'm the only one on a hybrid and we've been doing 50miles+ some weeks!
Not sure if I'll use the T3 for commuting though, my suit trousers will get caught in the chainwheel.

 

[Onthedrops]

Not sure if I'll use the T3 for commuting though, my suit trousers will get caught in the chainwheel.

Bicycle clips?

 

[Widge]

Nah...tuck 'em into your socks!

Works for me?

 

[blimpnoddle]

OK - I have my bike back. It has had

• new rear hub innards
• new bearings (front & rear hub)
• new (upgraded) bottom bracket (parts broke when they removed it!)
• new cables & end caps (which we had fitted & were missing when we purchased them)
• everything regreased... (except seat post - no issues there, hate people moving my seat for me!)
• front & rear derailuers's dismanteled, cleaned, & greased, plus (obviously) adjusted.
• rear wheel re-trued
• freewheel cleaned & regreased (full of mud which was causing me issues in cold weather).
• my (2 week old) chain, cleaned & lubed

Everything has been done under warranty.

I accept that for some people such as yourself it's not very convenient to return to Decathlon when there's a problem but surely that's the best thing to do if it happens within the first 2 years and have it fixed by them under warranty, especially with wheel hubs which requires considerable expertise to avoid making things much worse, particularly with regard to cone adjustment, as sheldonbrown mentions:
"If the cones are not screwed on far enough, the bearings will have "play": the wheel will be able to shake back and forth on its bearings. This is an unpleasant sensation, and may cause control problems.
This adjustment is very critical; corrections on the order of 1/10 of a turn or less are needed to get the optimal adjustment."

I'm glad to hear everything was sorted under warranty but Decathlon would have been within their rights to have refused because you had invalidated the warranty by tampering with the parts. Another store may well have been less accommodating.

I think it's very irresponsible for this forum to suggest owners should try and fix hub problems themselves because they will invalidate the warranty and very likely make things worse.

 

[Radchenister]

You're entitled to your opinion, even if it's nonsense - it's a simple job and well within the realms of normal maintenance, it can be done by anyone who can hold a spanner and the cone adjustment is designed into the wheels, the same as the callipers are designed to allow for removing the wheels and the adjustment screws are there to tweak the settings on the dérailleurs.

It is expected that you will adjust things from time to time - if you're a regular rider and you didn't, you'd be travelling back to the store perhaps twice a month, which for those of us with a 200 mile round trip, defeats the object of owning the bike in the first place. Greasing and adjusting cones is no more complicated than making an Omelette IMO; if Decathlon wanted to mess their customers about, they'd soon reap consumer back lash but I don't believe they do wish to act like this from the vast majority of owner's experiences (and we can also consult actual members of staff to confirm this on the owner's site).

 

[malcermie]

Been an amateur spanner monkey all my life and agree that cone adjustment is a very simple process, plus there are copious utube clips to help. Surely half the fun is being able to fettle your own bike?

 

[blimpnoddle]

You're entitled to your opinion, even if it's nonsense - it's a simple job and well within the realms of normal maintenance, it can be done by anyone who can hold a spanner.

Yes, I've noticed that by the number of people here who eventually had to seek professional assistance to sort things out. If your store is a hundred miles away then it's obviously very inconvenient, but for others who would be less inconvenienced I repeat what I said in my previous post - it is not worth invalidating the warranty and potentially making things worse by tampering with it.

As for Decathlon not wanting to mess people about, there are contributors to this thread who have experienced exactly that. Why have to rely on the whim of your local store being cooperative when you don't need to?

 

[Radchenister]

You do it your way by all means, you've obviously not tackled the job but you're likely an insurance lawyer style expert .

Mine are long since parked off the bike now, so it's largely academic in my instance but the guys at my local Nempnett Thrubwell store are the nicest people you could ever meet, they would never have a problem with you undertaking the work yourself if done competently - there lies the problem in your instance perhaps ?