Triban 500 - New bike, or change transmission?

[James Up Hill]

So the man in Decathlon took one look at the transmission and said 'time for a new bike'. Seems a bit wasteful, though I fully accept that the chain is stretched and the gear teeth are rounded. Bike owes me literally nothing; I've had 15 months solid use from it round London and it cost me less than the two new tyres I fitted.

I'm not sure I'm confident I could choose components that would fit in order to replace it myself - not least as Decathlon is out of stock of almost every spare part imaginable.

What do I need? Chain (and joiner), derailleur, chain wheel, cassette, new cables. And new brake pads and cables too if we're being honest.

Lockring removal tool; chain whip; gizmo for holding chain wheel on. Sounds like an expensive activity and no guarantee that I end up with all the right components.

What do you think? Thanks.

[531colin]

New chain and cassette and brake blocks are pretty much a given.
Maybe new chainwheel(s) maybe not; post some pictures of the teeth.
New chain comes with a magic link; you need a rivet tool to cut new chain to length and maybe to get old chain off.
R. mech. should be OK, really, as should cables if you ever lubricate anything.
Lockring tool, chainwhip, puller if its a square taper crank. Check chainwheel bolts aren't seized.
Got a community bike workshop near you?

[gregoryoftours]

It's hard to say without knowing exactly what's worn and how much. If it's a case of new chain and cassette then sure it's worth it- maybe about £50-£60 for a shop (outside of London) to do it. If for example after 15 months of commuting it needs chain, cassette, chainrings/chainset, jockey wheels/rear derailleur, bottom bracket, wheel rims (or wheels) cables, bar tape, brake pads, headset etc etc then probably not, certainly not if you can't do it yourself. All of these parts are consumables and could be reasonably expected to wear in that time frame on a road bike used for city commuting.

[slowster]

The vast majority of people on this forum have at some point been in your position of not having the tools and never having tackled these tasks. Choosing the right components and tools may seem daunting at first, but it really is not that difficult.

Either you you learn to do things like this yourself, or you resign yourself to spending a great deal more money over the years on either getting a bike shop to do it or buying a replacement bike well before you actually need to. The sooner you learn, the more money you will save, so you may as well start now.

Although Decathlon might not have the parts in stock, the Triban 500 uses fairly standard components which you should be able to buy online.

For example, the specification of the current model (https://www.decathlon.co.uk/p/cycle-tou ... R-p-308097) states that the cassette is a 'Microshift CS-H092 9V 11/32'. If that is what is fitted to your bike, you can replace it with a Shimano 9 speed cassette (Microshift cassettes use the same spline pattern as Shimano cassettes, i.e. they all fit on Shimano compatible freehubs). Choose the same ratios (11-32 teeth) to ensure compatibility with your derailleurs and their capacity.

https://www.spacycles.co.uk/m8b0s150p32 ... o-CS-HG400

Similarly you don't need the exact same model of chain. A suitable good quality 9 speed chain would be a KMC X9-93:

https://www.spacycles.co.uk/m8b0s111p16 ... 9-93-Chain

Find the specification of your year age Triban 500 online if posssible, make a list of the parts fitted which you need to replace, and if you cannot find a direct like for like replacement, ask on this thread for advice. If your bike is a disc braked model, I think availability of Shimano disc pads is particularly poor at the moment, but again ask and someone should be able to point you in the direction of a suitable Shimano pattern pad from another manufacturer.

There are videos for probably all the tasks that you need to undertake on Park Tool's website, e.g. this one for cassette removal:

https://www.parktool.com/blog/repair-he ... stallation

You don't need to buy the Park Tool version of all the required tools, but for something like a cassette lockring removal tool, I personally would much prefer either the Shimano or Park Tool versions. Some tools you can manage without, e.g. chain quick-link pliers:

viewtopic.php?p=1510495#p1510495

Doing this sort of thing is not without some risk of making a mistake and the occasional headache, but if you do your homework (those Park Tool videos) and take your time, it should all be fairly straightforward.

[Jamesh]

Sunrace cassettes aren't bad either as used by big brands too

I have a Lidl bike tool kit and it isn't bad wiggle and Halfords probably do a simalar one in a plastic case.

One place I wouldn't skin on is Allen keys get a decent set like bahco, park, wera or a quality multitool like torpeak etc.

Cheers James

[Benz3ne]

I’ve the same bike and I’ve to’ed and fro’ed about changing bike, changing/upgrading transmission or replacing like-for-like.

I’m veering more towards the cheaper end of the spectrum, looking at replacing things like shifters and maybe the crankset to have a 2x8 instead of a 3x8 - I’ve rationalised this change given I don’t ever use the granny ring and, more recently, am using my mid ring with a higher gear for the regular hills (and therefore getting stronger, fitter and quicker). Couple that with my left shifter not working 100% and that furthers my decision.

The thing that’s holding me back from changing to a 10sp is how inexpensive 8sp stuff is.
Chain - sub £10
Cassette - sub £20

My bike only cost me £100 so I’m reasonably happy to upgrade as I see fit as for a reasonably small expenditure it’ll be as kitted out as bikes that cost more.

[cycle tramp]

Got a community bike workshop near you?

+1
It might be worth taking the bike to them for their view. 15 months isn't very much in the life of a bike, one of mine is over 17 years old and had the transmission completely changed three times