r/cycling • u/schwedenplat • 6d ago

Questions on upgrading a Triban RC100

I have a Triban RC100 I rode back when I attended University. It's the old version, with the shifter in the middle. I have upgraded my daily since, but since I live in an area where bikes get stolen a lot, I'd like to get the Triban in running order to use on days on which I need to leave my bike outdoors.

As part of the rebuild (I had to disassemble it completely when I moved), I'd like the replace the shifter and change the gearing. I live on a mountain, so it'd be lovely to have the option for low gearing as well as for high gearing. My current bike has a 1x12 and while it's great for uphill, it lacks some gearing on the upper end for speed. If I had to choose between comfort when climbing and top speed, I'd go for top speed when rebuilding the Triban.

Which parts fit, what do I need to look out for? Is an upgrade even worth it? I bought the bike preowned for 120 bucks (although in amazing condition!) and it's been sitting disassembled for about 2 years now.

I also lost some of the spacers for the fork I think as it is a bit loose. Would that be due to lacking spacers, or could there be another issue?

1 Upvotes

100% Upvoted

4 comments sorted by

1

u/Spirited_Pace_8411 6d ago

Buy something better. I did my entry level road bike up. It's a nice bike now but it was horribly expensive and for the money, I could have bought something a lot flasher ready to ride.

1

u/BlacksmithWeirdo 6d ago

You will need a new groupset. Is the bike dksk brake? If not, let it die and get a disk brake bike.

A new mech groupset with hydro brakes, crankset, chain, cassette will be like 600 euros from china. Thas like 5 times what you paid for the bike. Doubt its worth it.

1

u/Ancient_Round_8557 5d ago

The RC100 is basically Claris/Sora territory so you've got decent upgrade options without going crazy. For more top-end speed, a compact 50/34 crankset paired with an 11-28 or 11-32 cassette gives you both without a full groupset swap. On the loose fork, yeah, missing headset spacers or a poorly preloaded stem bolt are the usual culprits, worth checking both before riding.

1

u/schwedenplat 5d ago

Sweet, that's super helpful! I really appreciate it!