Road bicycle by Decathlon...or others

Life Hacking
21

I was yesterday by Decathlon and found out that in these days the 520 (not the gravel, the classic road bicycle with a Shimano 105) is at 600 chf, since it is the end of the serie. What do you think guys? Good value for money?

22

Equipped like this?

Solid option for chf 600. You get a new bike with a warranty after all.

The only thing I don’t like is their choice of brakes with mechanical levers (difficult to upgrade, but of course also easy to service).

23

exactly. you sometimes see 8k bikes selling for 1k. a friend of mine did the same thing. high earner spent $$$ on a bike, but rode it maybe 3 times over 2 years.

24

yup. one time i didn’t and had to replace the chain and cassette.

25

for 600chf it is a steal. as for fully hydraulic brakes, cable actuated is fine. i actually prefer it for reduced maintenance (but that’s just my own lazy preference).

26

I have a Triban RC120 for almost daily commuting which is about 200-300km per month. Half of it on road and half on dirt, with a steep ascent too. It’s almost 3yr old and still going perfect. I changed the rear tire once, front one is still the original one, and the brake pads. One thing is the brakes (cable actuated disc brakes) since the beginning are not the strongest brakes but nothing unusable . I would go for it again for this scope.

3 Likes
27

You sent me into a deep rabbit hole. I started looking on aliexpress and saw this:

and this review:

28

I do not understand. 600 CHF is too expensive or too cheap in your opinion?

29

Ye. The one I have see comes with shimano 105 in the back and hydraulic brakes with cable.

What do you think for 600 CHF?

30

Indeed interesting.
Yet, I would never buy such kind of tool with Alibaba; I still value to have a physical shop (and normally decathlon’s warranty is pretty good) and “standardized” shimano components in case I need to repair it

31

Anyone has tried the gonser.ch/totem ones?

32

I think maybe cheap is not the right word. I would say it is very good value!

33

I bought two Decathlon bikes last year (to rplace two bikes that I rode for 22/29 years!) and I really like the idea to be able to walk into the shop to get a service or a repair done.
Many shops don’t do repairs or services if they didn’t sell the bike because they are too busy.

1 Like
34

Which model did you buy?

35

The Racing EDR CF 105 Disc schwarz

I know I could return it within 365 days but it would break my heart to do so. I am in love with it

36

Very nice one. At least on paper, specs are very good.
Unfortunately, it is out my budget, but need to admit it is a nice one :slight_smile:

37

Here’s an interesting road vs gravel comparison: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PP0Aoteesc8

38

One other thing: I noticed the prices in CH were higher than in FR/DE. So for the same bike, you can pay 20% less by buying in France/Germany and reclaiming the VAT.

39

But you will have to pay VAT in Switzerland + possibly import duties (no idea how it is for cycles). And then the whole warranty / service topic can become difficult.

40

The 20% saving was including Swiss VAT.