B'Twin Triban 520

The first thing B'Twin say about the Triban 520 is that it 'sets the benchmark yet again'. And they're right: if you're starting out in road cycling and you've got less than £500 to spend, then this bike is one you should be chucking your hard-earned cash at. It's not just a good bike for the money, it's a good bike, full stop.

You get Shimano's excellent Sora gears, a good quality alloy frame, a carbon fork and decent finishing kit, and the bike is versatile and capable. I've tried everything from commuting to racing on it, and it's acquitted itself as well as bikes costing twice as much. It's a steal. There are a few minor issues, but overall this is a brilliant bike for the money.

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The ride: assured, engaging

First things first: the Triban 520 is a fun bike to ride. If that box doesn't get ticked, then there's not much point comparing specs and prices. But tick it it does. From the off I've been very happy riding the Triban. The alloy frame and carbon-bladed fork are well made and finished, and they give the bike an assured feel.

There are no surprises in the geometry: our XL test bike has a 580mm effective top tube, with 73-degree angles at the seat tube and head tube. The 410mm chainstays give a (little) bit of extra room for bigger tyres (the bike will take up to 32mm rubber, or 28mm tyres and mudguards) and a 207mm head tube is firmly in sportive territory.

The frame has a fairly sharply sloped top tube, meaning that the seat tube is only 530mm; that means more exposed seatpost, which in turn means a bit of extra give at the rear. The beefy seatstays certainly don't look like they're designed to flex all that much. The bike's not as stiff as a carbon race frame, and you can eke out some derailleur rub in the bottom bracket area if you put the hammer down, but it's well within the acceptable range.

Spin the Triban 520 up to speed and it's pleasingly neutral, without feeling lazy in the turns. The fork is a straight-through 1 1/8in steerer but the Triban doesn't want for stiffness up front, it tracks very well. Even chucking it into the hairpins of the local Odd Down circuit in the heat of a Cat 3/4 race didn't unduly faze it, and carving long descents is a pleasant experience too. 

Until you have to stop: the only real let-down are the brakes. Long-drop callipers are never the most powerful and that's certainly true of the non-series units you get on this Triban. Stock moulded pads don't help either; they'll stop you okay but you need to haul on the levers a bit. It's worth budgeting for some decent cartridge pads. I'd be tempted to make that swap straight away rather than wait for the original pads to wear out.

Shimano's fifth-tier Sora groupset takes care of the shifting, and as usual it was a trouble-free experience. I've reviewed the groupset in the past and everything I said then still holds true: you get much of the performance of more expensive groupsets – and proper Dual Control shifters – at a much reduced price.

The Triban 520 comes with a triple chainset (30/39/50) and a Sunrace 12-25 cassette. That gives a similar range to a 50/34 compact and an 11-28 cassette, but opens up the option to fit a much wider cassette; the mid cage rear mech will cope with an 11-32, which will give you plenty of winching gears if you decide to load up the Triban for touring.

The build: versatile, well considered

Speaking of touring, the Triban frame comes complete with mudguard and rack mounts front and rear. You could conceivably fit a full set of panniers, but most people will be looking for rear rack compatibility, and with two mounting eyelets on the rear dropout and rack mounts on the seatstays, adding full mudguards and a rack for commuting or touring is straightforward.

The stock wheels will cope with being loaded up; they're certainly not the lightest but they've been dependable and remained true with no play in the hubs. The 25mm Hutchinson Equinox tyres are a folding bead, which is good to see as it's an area where manufacturers often try to save a few quid with a cheap wire-bead tyre that adds weight and blunts performance. I found the tyres well behaved, but swapped them out for 28mm Continental GP4000s for much of the testing.

I swapped the wheels out too when I raced in the 3/4s, changing them for some carbon/alloy semi-deep ones from another test bike. They were a good deal lighter, and certainly improved the feel of the bike, which coped admirably with the stresses and strains of bunch racing. If nothing else it was an indication that the frame and fork are well worthy of an upgrade.

All the other kit on the bike is pretty standard stuff. The alloy bar and stem (the bar width changes with frame size) are perfectly functional, as is the seatpost. The saddle isn't the best I've tried but it was okay, and it's easily swapped out for whatever your favourite might be. Even the bar tape is good quality, another area often skimped on budget bikes that can seriously affect the ride.

Overall: a steal for the money

This isn't just a good bike for the money, it's a good bike, full stop. There are some compromises (heavy wheels, below-par brakes) but for £450 it's a compelling buy if you're looking to get into road riding. You can commute on it, do sportives on it, tour on it... even race on it if you want. It'll take mudguards and big tyres for winter, and it's fast enough to keep up in the summer.

It's certainly one of the best sub-£500 bikes out there. The Triban 540, at £600 with a 10-speed 105 groupset and Mavic Aksium wheels, shares the same frame and looks like it might be even more of a bargain if your budget will stretch. Certainly the frame and fork are easily good enough to wear the more expensive kit.

Verdict

Fantastic value starter road bike that will cope with everything from commuting to racing