Ribble Bikes

[Vocal Minority]

How do everyone,

Looking for a relatively cheap road bike, and Ribble bikes seem good value. Any experiences anyone wants to share?

[agentnomad]

How cheap

8 speed
9 speed
10 Speed

If you are thinking of getting into cycling and upgrading latter go 10 speed as most group sets and middle range bikes are 10 speed and therefore save money latter but if it is going to be your only bike buy on price/quality you may get an 8 speed bike with far better quality components on it than a 9 or 10 speed bike also the biggest performance gaining component is wheels after the rider.

Also have a look out for end of year model sales

[Number31]

Or 11 speed ;-)

[burriana]

Ribble have been building frames for decades. Used to have a very good name. A lot will depend on the equipment spec though.

[paulmon]

Have to say I've been looking at both these and Dolan because of the build customisation they offer. Rightly or wrongly I fancy a 11-32 rear cassette and not many off the shelf manufacturers have these as standard. Quite fancy the Ribble Gran Fondo.

P

[anonymous-user]

quality frames, usually Dedacciai carbon or alu. some are reputed to also be the same as some more expensive models. the debate as to whether the Ribble Stealth is the same frame as the De Rosa R838 is a long and ongoing internet debate, well worth a google!

the customisation makes it very affordable to build up a quality frame and wheelset with stuff to upgrade in time. friends have the Sportive Bianco and the Stealth and love them...

[CoolC]

Always like the idea of the Ribble bike builder, you can get (almost) exactly what you want where.

Planet X also do a customisation service.

[Fluffsri]

I bought a Ribble Bianco Sportive last year. Ive been comuting 16 miles aday since Feb and lately have been racking up 20 to 30 milers and last weekend bunged a 51 miler in. The bike rides extremely well, its dead comfy, the finsih is great and Id buy another one!I specced mine with SRAM Rival and next wheels up from the bottom (for the life of me I cant remember what they are) Ribble rang me to say the wheels werent in stock. I could have the bottom ones and they would refund or I could have the next ones, a £400 option or wait for a week. I waited for a week, they emailed and rang me to say they were in earlier and would dispatch the bike that day it arrived the following! I know some people have had probs with Ribble but I was 100% happy with service and bike.

[paulmon]

Fluffsri said:

I bought a Ribble Bianco Sportive last year. Ive been comuting 16 miles aday since Feb and lately have been racking up 20 to 30 milers and last weekend bunged a 51 miler in. The bike rides extremely well, its dead comfy, the finsih is great and Id buy another one!I specced mine with SRAM Rival and next wheels up from the bottom (for the life of me I cant remember what they are) Ribble rang me to say the wheels werent in stock. I could have the bottom ones and they would refund or I could have the next ones, a £400 option or wait for a week. I waited for a week, they emailed and rang me to say they were in earlier and would dispatch the bike that day it arrived the following! I know some people have had probs with Ribble but I was 100% happy with service and bike.

Do they have a showroom that you can visit to try different sizes, models ?

[Vocal Minority]

Cheers for the advice guys.

Just for some context, I have a v cheap biffabout that I bought off my housemate, but was cheap when new and feels its age. All sorts of gear selection issues now, and living in Malvern, there's nothing like sticking in top on a hill!

Just fancy an upgrade and something that will last me years. I am looking at the allu sportive and the EVO pro carbon (entry level carbon frame). It's a difference of 140 between the two. Is an entry level carbon worth it over an aluminium frame as I don't cycle competitively and its for commuting a hobbying around.

[Hackney]

I've owned a Ribble Pro Evo since March / April this year and absolutely love it.
My one concern was sizing but having been measured for a Specialized Allez (56) I did some research online, found all the dimensions / angles of the Allez and compared them with the Evo (52) and they're so closely matched that I placed the order.

The bike was delayed slightly but that was due to Royal Mail, not Ribble (Preston, Coventry, Stoke, Coventry, London).

Since then I've been so happy with it.
I went for one of the Special Editions rather than the full build which gives you a more limited number of options but reduces the price slightly.

Mine cost £850 all together which compares favourably with the Allez at £900 and the Ribble is full carbon!

I recently rode to Paris in 24 hours (well, 23:50) and the bike was a dream. No discomfort at all. Obviously I ached the next few days but at the time had no problems riding. Which as I'd gone from an occasional 20 mile ride to and from work up to that 274 miles in about 6 months was pretty much perfect.

I'd have no hesitation in recommending Ribble to anyone.

[Roman]

paulmon said:

Have to say I've been looking at both these and Dolan because of the build customisation they offer. Rightly or wrongly I fancy a 11-32 rear cassette and not many off the shelf manufacturers have these as standard. Quite fancy the Ribble Gran Fondo.

P

My Gran Fondo's been faultless since I bought it nearly 2yrs ago. I ride and build a lot of bikes and I still love it.

[BMWBen]

I've got a sportive bianco that I've been riding for 2.5 years now. Excellent all round - got it with 105 groupset and few extra bits for just north of 1k.

The wheels were a compromise (ITM 2.4) but they were upgraded to some mavic ksyriums after a year.

My short review would be:

Light frame, very compliant ride, but as a result is a little flexible when under full power in a sprint. No issues with build quality. Ridden thousands and thousands of miles on it since new as it's my only "proper" bike, so gets commuting and weekend rides. Crashed it twice and it's still going strong.