Decathlon releases Triban GRVL900 Titanium Gravel Bike

Decathlon has announced a new gravel bike that it says is the most comfortable bike it has ever made. With the GRVL900 featuring a Dedacciai titanium frame, a full carbon fork, Shimano GRX 600 groupset and Fulcrum RR900 wheels for £2,499.99, it certainly seems like a decent amount of bike for the money.

> Decathlon's 2020 road and gravel bike range

We’re seeing a growing number of bike brands trying their hand at making titanium bikes; and the biggest surge in Ti use is in gravel, where the claimed smoothness, robust nature and dashing looks are said to be very much at home.

Decathlon's in-house bike brand Triban is the latest to join the party, and its GRVL900 Ti looks set to offer a lot of bike for your cash. It's certainly one of the more affordable titanium gravel bikes out there. 

The key feature on any titanium bike is the frame, and Triban has gone to Dedacciai for the GRVL900 Ti. The tubes here are Grade 9 3AL 2.5V titanium, and they’re all hand-welded at the Dedacciai factory in Italy. It claims a medium frame weighs in at 1.6kg.

Triban adds: “The frame's geometry is designed to be comfortable and dynamic, creating a simple, long-lasting bike. Triban GRVL geometry has a better balance between comfort, steering and performance.”

> The best Titanium Gravel and Adventure bikes

Triban has opted for a full UD carbon fork at the front end, which comes with internal routing for the brake hose and a claimed weight of 434g. The dropout runs on the now-standard 12x100mm thru-axle and is set up for a flat-mount brake.

Versatility of the GRVL900 is improved with the addition of two inserts on the fork blades, which allows the rider to mount either a bag or a bottle cage. The maximum load that the fork can cope with is 8kg.

> Review: Triban RC120 Disc Road Bike

Crucially, tyre clearance at the front and rear ends is quite generous at 45mm for a 700c wheel or 50mm for a 650b wheel.

Triban says that it has kept the geometry close to what is expected of their bikes, basing things around comfort. Triban’s executive engineer Louis Motte says: “For this gravel version, we did extend the top tube to save space between the foot and the tyre. We also set a steering angle of 71.5º on all sizes which for us is the best combo between stability and manoeuvrability for gravel."

> Should you choose a steel, aluminium, titanium or carbon road bike?

Triban has left the frame raw as we see quite a lot on titanium bikes, allowing the natural finish to be displayed.

A Shimano GRX groupset has been used in a 1X setup featuring a 40T chainset with an 11-42T 11-speed cassette. Shimano also provides the hydraulic disc brakes with 160mm rotors front and rear.

Fulcrum’s Rapid Red 900 DB wheels provide a tubeless-ready platform for Hutchinson’s Touareg tubeless-ready tyres that come supplied in a 40mm width. Triban uses its comfort+ aluminium gravel bar that features a 16º flare.

Sizes range from XS to XL and the bike is available to buy now.

decathlon.co.uk