Decent deal for starter road bike?
 

Hi all.
I'm looking to get into cycling for fun (and exercise). Can't post a link yet, but it's the "Decathlon Triban RC120, Aluminum Road Bike, Disc Brakes, 700c, X Large, Blue" at Walmart for $578.
I know, I know, it's a Walmart bike.
I guess what I want to know is, are there any glaring deficiencies that I should be aware of? I'm 6'3" ~180lbs so I'm looking at the XL The Decathlon site puts the tires at 28.

TIA!

It's actually not a Walmart bike, it's an independent brand that sells bikes through Walmart. Almost pulled the trigger on a non-disc RC120 last month when Walmart had them on sale for $378. Ended up upgrading my old Trek road bike instead. Anyway, here's the thread for the non-disc RC120, if it helps any...
https://www.bikeforums.net/road-cycl...l#post22492171

I would honestly look for a better spec'd used option, even to start off with. If your bike isn't enjoyable, you'll likely not stick with it. We just bought my wife a really decent Trek with Tiagra, used at a local bike shop for less than that Walmart bike.

wallmart bikes are sweet and people will go to great lenghts to dissuade you. I didnt know that wallmart sells 600$ bikes, let alone road bikes, though. Id stay away from the low end mechanical disc brakes if I were you, stick with rim brakes

The Dec Triban RC120 seems like quite a nice bike for the price, and when it was on sale for $398 - a great deal.
My only reservation would be getting a pre-assembled one from Walmart. I'd sooner take a boxed one and either assemble (if you know what you're doin) or give to a bike shop for assembly.
Getting something improperly assembled might prove risky, both for safety and not breaking something which would add to the cost...
And whatever brakes offered is fine. Mech disc or rim, they can be made to work properly.
With proper attention to maintenance, it should be a good entry in road bikes and road riding. Well above your average Big Box gas pipe.
Ride On
Yuri
EDIT: couple other things: wheels size & tires designated '28' are in fact the same as 700c (the dominant road bike std size, with 650b being smaller). 28 is old school sizing, and still used by some companies - like Schwalbe... a bit confusing for sure...
biggest caveat, especially when reading reviews about eventual 'shifting' issues - cables for the shifting and braking ALWAYS stretch, after some use. Brake cable means slight adjustment via adjusters on the brake caliper (also sometimes available on the brake levers) - something most users can do easily.
Shifter cables WILL stretch, and over time, cause mis-shifting and further on, jumping gears. This is usually NOT an indication of poor or worn tech, just stretched cables. Most novice or beginner users are not aware of this and reviews blame it on equipment wear or poor performance. Cable adjsutment usually takes care of this. A good thing for every rider to learn, as regular maintenance.
Cables need to be adjusted - for those who can't or won;t do that - shops can do it in 5 - 10 min...
Cheap, quick stretching cables are common on the lower tier of bikes - replacing them with good cables is a cheap fix, when the time comes...

Decathalon are a pretty major European sporting goods store and their bikes are well regarded in the UK and Europe. That's a pretty decent deal for the RC120. As above, maybe get an independent bike shop to assemble. Or a friend who knows what they are doing.

If you think you'll stick to the sport and plan to ride multiple times a week then I would go for a Shimano 105 or equivalent equipped bike right away as a minimum group set spec to get decent performance oriented components that will do you for a while.

They sell $1000+ carbon bikes on their website; there was a thread about them here last year.

Here is a link to the bike in question. https://www.walmart.com/ip/Decathlon...Blue/900708649

https://i5.walmartimages.com/asr/dd5...2&odnBg=FFFFFF

And a link to Decathon's website. https://www.decathlon.com/products/rc-120-disc-326838?

And a link to a review. https://road.cc/content/review/decat...ad-bike-266488

Welcome!

I would have WalMart deliver the boxed bike to your door rather than getting it assembled in-store. There honestly isn't a huge amount different between a $250 Walmart bike and a $300 bike shop bike, but the bike shop bike will be assembled by someone who knows what they're doing - and someone will be there to do a final check to make sure everything is tight, reasonably well adjusted, and in the right position before giving it to you. Local shop should be able to do it for <$100. If you have multiple shops around you, I would pick the one that offers a 30-60 day adjustment guarantee - brake and shift cables stretch a bit when they initially set in, so a lot of shops will be willing to tweak the adjustments - this is generally limited to turning a few barrel adjusters, but if you're new to the sport, it can make the difference between a bike shifting to an easier gear... or not.

One additional thought, if you can swing it - the Decathlon probably comes with wire bead tires, which add loads of rotating mass - won't affect your overall speed, but will definitely make you feel more sluggish pulling away from a stop, or in sudden accelerations (if you're trying to beat a friend in a sprint). If your shop has kevlar bead (also known as folding bead) tires for a reasonable price (say, $40/each or less), might be worth swapping those in for an immediate upgrade - you could save over a pound, make the bike more fun, and likely have more grip for cornering and braking, too. I would suggest taking the bike out for the first month with the OEM tires, then swapping them (maybe with the help of some $5 tire levers and a youtube video) - you'll likely see some substantial improvement!

Much better option is to goto eBay and buy a better spec'd bike with better frame. Thousands of used bikes on eBay better than this one and at less cost.

Thanks for your replies everyone! My main issue with buying used is that I only know some very basics about bicycles. I'm concerned that I may buy into a bike that's got an issue and I won't know it until it's too late. Some deals on ebay/craigs/offerup look tempting but I hate buying other peoples problems, if you know what I mean. If I had the knowledge some of you have I'd feel more confident navigating the Specializeds, Treks, and Cannondales on auction.

I ended up pulling the trigger on the one I posted. Several unboxing reviews I've seen show the bike almost completely assembled out of the box. I'm pretty good with putting things together (yes, I DO read instructions :)) and I'm getting it shipped in box directly to my place.
I'm looking forward to putting it together and adjusting things like the brake, shifter, etc. The biggest draw to picking this one up compared to hunting on auctions is the no-hassle return. As long as I don't mess it up, I've got 90 days to test and decide if it's right for me.

I don't see how the op can go wrong. Not much coin to get feet wet and if he/she gets the bug can always sell it for a least a few hundred.

Welcome to road cycling ! Always good to know how things turn out, so let us know how the bike works out.
one thing... Your butt will HURT for about 2 weeks of initial riding. Don;t react to that immediately... It's quite normal and expected. It takes about 8-10 days of riding consistently (riding 3x - 4x a week) for your butt/sitzbones to 'adapt' to the saddle pressure. A soft saddle will NOT help this process!
It may be that a different saddle might be called for, down the road. But let your butt adapt - ride through the soreness... Don't take too many days off, or you'll have to go thru the pain cycle again - not a good way to experience 'groundhog day'... LOL!
Ride on
Yuri

Qualifications: Assembled bikes from boxes for three years at two different shops in high school and college, and built one of my bikes frame-up last year.

So a few pointers on getting your bike assembled from a box:

- Get grease. Don't try to assemble most of the pieces without it - even high end parts aren't perfectly clean and chased, and you'll get snagged. Even if you don't have those issues, you don't want your bolts seizing a few years down the line when you want to adjust or replace something

- Use decent wrenches. A Park Wrench Y tool will cover the vast majority of what you need on a bike. It has 4, 5, and 6mm wrenches with ball ends. With the exception of brakes, crank, and pedals, pretty much every installation can be done with this tool and two screwdrivers

- Get a pedal wrench. Standard wrenches are too wide to get onto the flats of most pedals, and a loose pedal will strip the threads out of your crank.

- Pay special attention to brake pads. The brakes will come pre-attached, but make sure they're tight on the frame/fork anyway. Make sure your pads either strike the rim square, or slightly toed in. A slight toe-in is preferred (it'll squeeze water off the rim), but if you can't get that perfect, square and flat will work as well. Make sure the brake cable is cinched down tight. Literally, the last thing you want to feel on your test ride/shakedown cruise is your brake cable slipping on a hard stop.

- Set up your barrel adjusters so that they're mostly screwed in. Cables will stretch from initial setup, so better to be able to unscrew a turn (or two) is better than having to get out your wrenches and pliers again.

You will get far, far, far, far more for your money if you buy a used brand-name bike in your area for the same money or less. Actually to start out just get any old bicycle in good shape with drop bars and get riding. Ask relatives and friends etc. if they know of any old road bikes laying around that might just need tires. I just got a Bianchi road bike for free that was sitting by a trash dumpster, put good tires on it I fished out of the trash-dumpster of a local bike shop and had it ready to ride 24 hours after I found it. There are literally no good deals when it comes to new bikes, they depreciate 50% either in a few days or weeks for the low-end ones like from WalMart, or for the high-end ones they will depreciate that much in a year or two, and that is if their carbon frames don't crack or something and make them worthless. Get a good solid old steel road bike and you will get something you will be able to ride for many years and it will never lose any value at all, in fact a lot of older road bikes are worth more as time goes by.

Let us know when it comes in.

Buy whatever bike fits your budget and your body. If you're not comfortable on it, don't buy or you will hate your experience and stop riding because of that reason.

Never got the bike and Walmart just refunded everything. It's been 'out for delivery' for the past 7 days. :twitchy:
Oh well. Maybe I'll look at the aftermarket market after all. :)

Walmart freight delivery is absolutely horrible!

Do you have any suggestions? I'm in the NYC area.
I'm just afraid of buying something that has a major issue and having to put $$$ more into it. I like warranties and no-hasstle returns. :)

I never understood the concept of "starter bike". It sounds as "temporary", before buying a "real" bike. If someone likes this sport and wants to practice it, he / she will want soon to replace the "starter" cheap bike with a better one - which will be a double expense. I would choose directly a good bike. The "low" price good bikes are those build by a "second tier" known brand, using good group sets such as SRAM Rival or Shimano 105 (Campagnollo would be more expensive for similar quality). I would choose rim brakes to reduce the price. Aluminum frame should further keep the price down (versus Carbon). That being said, the price would probably rise toward 1300-1500 EUR, but that should be for a decent and durable setup. I think even Decathlon has something in this area.

By the way, Triban RC120 has a durable frame, but, overall, the bike is heavy. I use an older type of that Triban (with rim brakes and aluminum fork) on a smart trainer. The Microshift shifters lost their functionality after 6000 km equivalent on trainer, although I used them for mild shifting. I had to replace them with Shimano equivalent. For comparison regarding durability, I used SRAM Force 22 shifters on my road bike 6 times more km than Microshift, under very heavy shifting. But they still work as new.

I guess 'starter' is the wrong word to use. I biked everywhere as a kid/young adult but haven't biked regularly for over 30 years. I tested my 'bike legs' last year and can still bike fine and want to get back into it.

What I want to make sure of is that I don't get a bike that limits my enjoyment because I didn't spend enough. On the flip side, I want to spend as little as possible as I'm not sure I'll get into it heavily - biking may be a 3-5 times a month thing instead of a 3+ times a week thing. Over $1000 USD is a no-go. I'd preferably like it under $600 but if I find a great deal (like a bike that should be $2000 selling for $800), I may bite.

Thanks for your help.

You're welcome.
2000 $ original price might be in carbon fiber area. I would buy second hand carbon fiber bike only from very close and honest friends / relatives, who can share with me the full history of the bike...