Herzlos

Hi all,
I'm in a bit of a new bike dilemma, I need to order this month to take advantage of a tax scheme and I'm stuck between 2 options.
Bike will be mostly used on a wheel-on turbo trainer and country roads which are in poor condition. Maybe doing 1-2 hour rides up to about 25 miles.


Triban GRVL 520: https://www.decathlon.co.uk/p/men-s-...t/_/R-p-313015
+ mudguard mounts, QR for trainer, wider tyres
- external routing

or

Cannondale Topstone 3: https://www.cannondale.com/en-gb/bik...loy/topstone-3
+ Internal routing, lower gearing, thru-axle for rigidiy
- No mount for front mudguards, narrower tyres, through-axle needs adapter for trainer.

What would you go for?

Helderberg

I own a 2020 Topstone 105 and between these two bikes, I would lean toward the Triban. I find the 11 speeds I have on my 105 is a real benefit over the 9 speeds my Cannondale Quick with the Sora group. There is nothing wrong with the Sora group and for that matter, it has worked perfectly. That said I appreciate the 11-speed cog as the change of gears is better for maintaining my cadence but that is a personal thing. All of this is good on paper but I would strongly recommend getting an extended ride on both bikes as I intend to die with my Topstone frame as long as it remains solid in the years to come. It fits me better than any bike I have ever owned and will make it into whatever my body/age requires in the upcoming years. Just my opinion but get on the bikes if you can as your fit is far more important than the number of gear changes. For that matter, the number of gears and the mechanicals can all be changed but the frame is what you will be stuck with and be limited to what adjustments you can make. Good luck.

blakcloud

Can't go wrong with either bike. The Triban certainly comes with better components by a long shot. There are two things I don't like about this bike, the rest is fine. First I don't like quick release combined wth disc brakes. Not because of the odd case of ejection but of alignment every time you take wheel off and on. (the brakes are fine) Once you try thru-axle you will never go back to quick release. Second I have no clue who Triban is and their quality. I would like some kind of information on this bike brand before I paid.

The Cannondale is a proven entity. Component wise it is lacking compared to the other bike but it isn't crap either. I come from the school that 105 is the minimum if you can afford it but if money is an issue Sora works well. I have seen photos of that bike with fenders, are you sure they don't have hidden mounts? Cannondale is also an easy sell if you don't like it. It holds its value better. Thru axles are plus and you can get something to work with your trainer.

Both are good, tough choice. Good luck.

Fentuz

they are both Alu frame however, the decat is better equipped with 105 groupset whereas cannondale has sora which is not as good (I have sora on both my folding bikes because works well, cheap, low maintenance).
decat is 10.7kg, cannondale is probably similar.

In one case you paid for the brand name, in the other one, you pay for better equipment.

Then, I would consider the Tiban 520 Sram Arex much easier/simpler and same as PlanetX London Road (not for sale at the moment although they have frame so PX could built you a nice one with Rival groupset and 650B wheel, give them a call)

Fentuz

Decathlon : French sport company that have been all over France for more that 30 years and has been establish is european countries for many year. I use to ride Decathlon Rockrider 25 years ago because they had a simple recipe: get a descent mid-market frame and put the better groupset (at the time I had shimano deoreLX). They work on "lower margin, bigger volume" .

Triban/VanRysel the road-gravel range
BTwin is the city/ hybrid range
Rockrider is the MTB range

mstateglfr 

Triban has a nicer crankset, higher level drivetrain, and nicer brakes all for a lower price.
The Cannondale is thru axle and has a full carbon fork.

A quick glance at the 2 shows the above are the big differences in terms of spec.

I would...
1- buy the bike that fits the best. Ill take lower end components for a higher cost if the fit is better.
2- heavily consider the Triban.
3- not view internal routing as a plus as its hardly a reason to exclude a bike.

zen_

I would choose the Triban out of those two no question. It looks like a very well equipped bike with no replace immediately junk parts. Personally I would rather have QR axles than low end thru axles, completely external cables, and even the HY/RD cable hydraulic brakes for ease of maintenance on a entry level bike.

Herzlos

Thanks all. I was leaning that way but on checking with Decathlon it's not possible to pre-order a bike so until it comes into stock ("next month") I can't do anything with it. So I'll try another store and then go back to looking. I can get the Cannondale from stock, but I'm not sure if it's the one I want (I'm going to see if the 2 or 4 will be available in any sensible time).

I did actually check with PlanetX and the London Road is going to be available in October with orders from July so not viable for me (I need to buy by the end of June to get the tax break). The bike situation is so bad at the moment I'm tempted to just stick with my old bike for another year.

shelbyfv

II would not buy a new disc brake bike with QRs. QR disc is a quickly disappearing configuration. Components can be upgraded but you will be stuck with a QR vs TA choice unless the frame has multiple drop out options.

Motorazr

I have a mountain hardtail with quick-release (two sets of wheels; dirt vs road) and a gravel bike with thru-axles. Both bikes are disc brake. I have the wheels on and off of both bikes frequently and I haven't noticed much advantage one way or the other. TA seems nicer and more modern but QR works well and is slightly easier and quicker to remove. You obviously have a big preference yourself but I wouldn't necessarily apply that to everyone else. In the area of future-proofing...TA might have some advantage (unless one doesn't plan to ever change wheelsets OR prefers the ability to shop for QR bargains). The last several sets of wheels I've purchased could be retro-fitted for QR with available axle caps. I wouldn't buy a nice set of upgrade wheels that was QR only but does such a thing even exist today?

Badger6

You’re correct there is nothing inherently “wrong” with QR, but it comes with the potential for misalignment when remounting the wheel…which is easily corrected. The preference many (me included) have for TA is that it is actually easier to service, impossible to F up remounting the wheels, and the axle design makes it stiffer (but, there are only a few of us that ride in such a way that it would matter, and even fewer that can actually “feel” it, I know I can’t).

Joeyseven

I really like the Triban GRVL 520 and wish they sold their gravel bikes in the USA. I'm also bias, as I just picked up a Triban 520 a few days ago and only rode it around the block so far, but it shifts great right out of the box. I also like the geometry.
The wheelbase is going to be shorter over the Topstone. Wanted the Triban because I want a bike I can ride on-road and some off-road / gravel.
Also like the groupset and it has an external bb. The cranks are a lower Shimano brand, but I already have a GRX crankset that I plan to install that might work with the 105 FD.
Also plan to swap out wheels with some wheels I already own.

The Triban subcompact gravel bike you are looking at is their latest model and has a longer TT , shorter stem, better gearing, and maybe a different fork. I asked decathlon France about the bike just last week.
The previous gravel 520 has the same frame as the road 520. Really can not say much more until I put some miles on the bike.
Also, good luck, so much is out of stock right now. I might have gone with another brand (Polygon,Marin and Sonder to name a few) if they had my size in stock.
But really happy I bought the Triban 520 road.

Herzlos

As an update to this, I went to the store that had the Topstone 3 in stock and ended up with a Giant Revolt 1 instead (a little bit more expensive, but with a full GRX setup including hydro brakes).
Then when I got it home I got an email from Planet X that the London Road was available for pre-order *much* cheaper. Typical!

mstateglfr 

I would expect a full hydraulic GRX bike from a major brand to cost more than a cable disc SRAM bike from a smaller brand.

Herzlos

Absolutely. Though it was half the price and closer to my original budget which I completely blew

blakcloud

Well congratulations on your new bike. You may have spent more than you wanted but in a month's time this will be an afterthought. You got yourself a great bike.

KJ43

Congrats. Don't sweat anything, you ended up with a great whip. Good components, modern amenities, and made by a solid company.

Enjoy it!