GT Transeo 3.0 Review

GT Transeo 3.0 – A  heavy duty hybrid bike to withstand both road and off road cycling. Towards the MTB spectrum of hybird bikes.

A friend has a regular cycle routine of cycling a 14 mile route on quiet roads, four times a week. He sees cycling as a low impact form of exercise which can help keep the dreaded ‘middle-aged’ spread at bay. In addition to cycling four times a week, he tries to keep fit by visiting gym on other days. The 14 mile route involves a steep hill (Boars Hill Oxford) he used to get off an walk up the steep bit. The old bike was a 20Kg mountain bike which was completely knackered. The gears didn’t work, the wheel rubbed against the chainstay. I don’t know how people ride bikes like this. Anyway, he asked for advice in buying a bike for under £500 to get a more enjoyable ride.

I recommended a lightweight aluminium hybrid with plenty of gears and ease of use and maintenance.

After weighing up different options, he chose the GT Transeo 3.0 with V Brakes £450.

It is a good bike. It is relatively lightweight (14.1kg), but strong enough to allow some off-road riding if you wanted.

24 Gears are provided by Shimano Alivio. These are at the lower end of the Shimano spectrum, but reasonably reliable if kept in decent condition. The front fork has speed lock mech for enabling choice of suspension vs ridigidity.

After 500 miles of riding, my friend was delighted to have no punctures on his  Schwalbe Land cruiser 700x40c. It may seem a simple thing, but his previous cheap MTB had the thinnest tyres and attracted punctures like anything. The width of the tyres is another thing to slow the bike down, but it does give it that versatility for off-road and uncomfortable road surfaces.

Saddle

Note: This bike does not come with Brooks saddle!

looks a bit odd on a MTB / hybrid, but for some riders comfort is everything.

I never worry too much about saddle comfort. I come from the ‘just get used to it school’ – but many less zealous cyclist users, actually really want a comfortable saddle. After complaining the ‘All Terra’ saddle was too uncomfortable, he went for a Brooks saddle. Quite an upgrade to the bike, but in his opinion worth every penny in comfort.

Overall

My friend was pleased with the bike. It was a much better investment than spending a few hundred pounds on upgrading the old MTB. At under £500, it does everything it needs to for this purpose.. The only drawback was buying an extra brooks saddle for £60. But, at this price hybrid bikes will not come with a brooks saddle. That’s the beauty of bikes, there’s nothing to stop adding your favourite piece of equipment onto the bike.

When I rode it, I couldn’t get too excited about a 14Kg hybrid. However, after experience of buying cheap MTB, this would be a good investment for snow, awkward road surfaces. Built to last, this GT bike does it’s specified job pretty well. It is a good utilitarian – enabling off-road riding as well as commuting and light leisure riding. If you’re looking for a bike which will do everything (apart from speed on the road) then this is a pretty good choice.

• GT Transeo at Amazon.co.uk

GT offer quite a few variations of the Transeo model

• GT Transeo 3.0 Disc – For an extra £50 you get Tektro Aquila Mechanical disc brakes
• The GT Transeo 4.0 is £100 cheaper and is really very similar, apart from using a lower spec Shimano Acera 8 speed rear derailleur. It is actually slightly lighter.
• GT Transeo 2.0 is an extra £200. For your money you get a powerful Tektro Draco Comp Hydraulic brakes with 160mm rotor, as opposed to the simpler V brakes which come in the 3.0 model. Hydraulic brakes are more powerful and offer better braking capacity in the wet. It depends how much you rely on a quick, powerful braking system.

Related Bikes

• Hybrid Bikes
• Best Commuting Bikes under £500

Buying GT Transeo

• GT Transeo at Evans
• GT Transeo Hybrids at Wiggle