- News
- Reviews
- Bikes
- Accessories
- Accessories - misc
- Computer mounts
- Bags
- Bar ends
- Bike bags & cases
- Bottle cages
- Bottles
- Cameras
- Car racks
- Child seats
- Computers
- Glasses
- GPS units
- Helmets
- Lights - front
- Lights - rear
- Lights - sets
- Locks
- Mirrors
- Mudguards
- Racks
- Pumps & CO2 inflators
- Puncture kits
- Reflectives
- Smart watches
- Stands and racks
- Trailers
- Clothing
- Components
- Bar tape & grips
- Bottom brackets
- Brake & gear cables
- Brake & STI levers
- Brake pads & spares
- Brakes
- Cassettes & freewheels
- Chains
- Chainsets & chainrings
- Derailleurs - front
- Derailleurs - rear
- Forks
- Gear levers & shifters
- Groupsets
- Handlebars & extensions
- Headsets
- Hubs
- Inner tubes
- Pedals
- Quick releases & skewers
- Saddles
- Seatposts
- Stems
- Wheels
- Tyres
- Health, fitness and nutrition
- Tools and workshop
- Miscellaneous
- Tubeless valves
- Buyers Guides
- Features
- Forum
- Recommends
- Podcast
TECH NEWS
Triban RC 520 Gravel.jpgJust In: Triban RC 520 Gravel
Triban has unveiled the RC 520 Gravel, a new version of its RC 520 Disc which is the current road.cc Cycle to Work Scheme Bike of the Year. As the name suggests, this bike is designed to be capable of heading off the tarmac and on to less well surfaced roads and tracks.
When we reviewed the Triban RC 520 Disc towards the end of last year we described it as "a superb value, fully competent workhorse road bike with plenty of practicality thrown in".
That bike, still available for £729.99, is built around an aluminium frame with a carbon legged fork, a mid-level Shimano 105 groupset and TRP HyRd cable operated disc brakes.
Read our review of the Triban RC 520 Disc
Although it has a completely different paint job with a brushed titanium look to it, the RC 520 Gravel uses the same frame, built to what Triban calls a 'comfort-orientated geometry'. This means that the top tube is shorter than that of a race bike, and the head tube is relatively long, putting you into a ride position that's relaxed by road bike standards.
If you want the figures, we have the medium sized model here with a 500mm seat tube, 548mm top tube and 155mm head tube. The stack is 569mm and the reach is 379mm, giving a stack/reach of 1.50.
Both the frame and the fork come with rack and mudguard mounts and the cables run externally.
The shifters and derailleurs are Shimano 105 and the chainset is from Shimano too, although it's a non-series model that's heavier than a 105 equivalent.
The build is very similar to that of the Triban RC 520 Disc that we reviewed, although the tyres are different. Instead of the 28mm Triban Resist+ tyres, here you get Hutchinson Overides in a 35mm width, with a HardSkin puncture protection layer. They're tubeless ready although you'll need a conversion kit – rim strips, valves and sealant – if you want to run the wheels without tubes.
Despite being wider, the gravel bike's tyres are lighter – 350g each as opposed to 410g each, according to the official figures.
The frame and fork will accept tyres up to 36mm wide on the 700c wheels that come fitted, or 42mm if you switch to 650b wheels.
The other difference is the handlebar. Rather than the ergonomic drop handlebar of the Triban RC 520 Disc, the bar you get here has a 16° flare. In other words, the drops are positioned quite a bit further out than the hoods, the idea being to provide more comfort and control.
So the Triban RC 520 Gravel has different tyres and handlebars from the Triban RC 520 Disc, and the finish is different, but that's the sum of the changes. Even the 50/34-tooth chainset and 11-32-tooth cassette are exactly the same.
Oh, there is one other difference: the price. Whereas the Triban RC 520 Disc is £729.99, the gravel version is £849.99 – so you're paying an extra £120 for a couple of quite small changes. Fair enough, the Hutchinson Overides are good tyres but they're slick by gravel standards, and on the face of it the road model looks better value.
That said, the Triban RC 520 Gravel still offers a lot for the money. It's not exactly light at 10.3kg but you're getting a tried and tested frameset and a higher level component spec than you've a right to expect for the cash.
This bike is available from Decathlon now, but if you're willing to hold on a little longer there's a Triban RC 520 Gravel Ltd in the works with a 1x11 drivetrain. This version comes with SRAM Apex 1 derailleurs and shifters. The 44-tooth chainset is from the Apex groupset too, as is the 11-42-tooth cassette. The wheels are 650b fitted with WTB Resolute tubeless ready tyres in a 42mm width. The Triban RC 520 Gravel Ltd will be the same price as the standard version – £849.99 – when it becomes available in July.
Okay, so it's time to get this bike out on the road – both the tarmac and gravel varieties. We'll let you know how we get on in a full review soon.
Triban bikes are available through www.decathlon.co.uk.
Mat has been in cycling media since 1996, on titles including BikeRadar, Total Bike, Total Mountain Bike, What Mountain Bike and Mountain Biking UK, and he has been editor of 220 Triathlon and Cycling Plus. Mat has been road.cc technical editor for over a decade, testing bikes, fettling the latest kit, and trying out the most up-to-the-minute clothing. He has won his category in Ironman UK 70.3 and finished on the podium in both marathons he has run. Mat is a Cambridge graduate who did a post-grad in magazine journalism, and he is a winner of the Cycling Media Award for Specialist Online Writer. Now over 50, he's riding road and gravel bikes most days for fun and fitness rather than training for competitions.
Latest Comments
- ktache 1 sec ago
Even if they weren't hitting the red car they would have had to be going to the right of the stopped car, driving on the "wrong" side of the road....
- David9694 23 min 56 sec ago
When you don't know for sure what the whinge would be if this work was postponed to January, but you know there would be one:...
- biking59boomer 1 hour 4 min ago
Sadly the cyclist hate in this country seems to have worsened of late. Dangerous motoring combined with anti-cycling officialdom in some places is...
- Rendel Harris 1 hour 5 min ago
Spartan response to Philip II of Macedon ("If I invade Laconia you shall never rise again!" Spartan response: "If.") I think, a century after...
- chrisonabike 1 hour 29 min ago
Votes for rat-runs then!...
- pockstone 2 hours 9 min ago
Casting is completed for the remake of Scorsese's 'Last temptation of Christ':
- Cyclo1964 3 hours 36 min ago
Brilliant 🤣
- joules1975 6 hours 30 min ago
Fair enough, but to describe the tool required for the lockrings as 'niche' when its a readily available in various forms from dozens of...
- Secret_squirrel 7 hours 24 min ago
Disappointed that the not even in the land of the free do they shoot or jail bike thieves.
Add new comment
21 comments
Hallelu-jah, a straight headtube. Mr Ritchey will approve for this use.
What is it with the current trend to have the seat stays too short to find the top of the seat tube? It looks shit, so I guess there is some supposed functional advantage?
The whole idea is to rip you off by selling you less materials and forcing you to ride around on a butt ugly bike that other cyclists laugh at........ or it is because it allows for changed flex in the rear triangle/seat tube area resulting in changed performance and a more pleasent ride and it isn't a new trend, but then maybe your not old enough to recall bicycles in the past that used the same formula.
Very little in bikes is new. Most everythings been tried before, even as far back as the 1800's. Bicycling is very good at rehashing old ideas as new and revolutionary.
Had I ventured this opinion my mother would have said that beauty is in the eye of the beholder. My father, less attuned to my callow, teenage anxieties, would have told me to remain quiet lest I convinced people I was simple minded.
Yikes! How old exactly are you? And if you're still riding - chapeau.
Having seen one if these in a shop, in the flesh, i don't actually think the high value rating applies that well... Pretty grim in the metal.
These Hutchinson Overide tyres are fairly poor for UK riding I found - mine lasted around 4 months of on/off road riding. Pretty flimsy, especially the centre which is quite smooth and wears down quickly - not sure if that was tarmac doing that or gravel. Replaced with Panaracer Gravelking which are much tougher, despite feeling more pliable, and have a better tread pattern. Even prefer them to the Schwalbe G-One tyres which seem to be specced on most gravel bikes I see.
The rc520 is very heavy, sluggish and ugly.
Why does it get such great reviews?
Compared to? It's not carbon, nor very expensive. 10.4kg is not bad at all for the price point, and spec (105). If you're a 60kg racing snake then maybe look elsewhere, but most people could do with shifting a few kg of body weight anyway...
The rc520 is very heavy, sluggish and ugly.
Why does it get such great reviews?
Is the geometry for this bike weirdly missing from the Decathlon website or am I being thick?
https://www.decathlon.co.uk/triban-rc-520-disc-road-bike-navy-105-id_855...
Let's hope that Apex 1x11 version comes with full hydraulic brakes.
As they’ve already gone non-series with the chainset, a smaller big ring would have been nice for a gravel bike, 48 or 46?
The Ltd sounds great at that price.
Why not just buy the £729 version,
Then buy a pair of Hutchinson Over ride tyres for £28 each (£56)
Then some Ritchey Evo Max Comp flared bars (£44)
and... Hey Presto!
A saving of £20 on this gravel version, plus you get to swap between your original slick tyres, and can flog a set of handlebars!
True, but at this price alot of people with not much experience (and tools) will buy them for those people 120 extra is ok!
Let me give u an example, a friend of mine payed for bike to be collected, install a new innertube and deliver it back to her house for close to €50! I told her that for €5 for an innertube and €5 for a couple of tyre levers and a youtube video she could have saved €40, but she didn't care about the money, she just didn't want to handle the hassle! I did tell her that I would fix it at her house next time for €20 (including an innertube) xD!
That brushed titanium look is worth more than £20 of my money.
Really like the way that B-Twin / Triban have toned down their graphics for recent generations of their bikes, that finish looks really classy.
What are the chances it comes with a proper BB and not pressfit?
Designed and tested in Flanders, France....
What did I just read?
French Flanders!
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/French_Flanders
Nice paint, £120 scene tax though!?
Cor!
That finish