Ribble?

[SaTTaN]

What's the current view? I know there was a lot of discussion over very late deliveries and potentially shoddy financials earlier this year.

From my own experience, they have a very large shop in my local out of town shopping palace, but OMG from 3 or 4 casual visits in the last couple of months, shop has been totally empty, and whilst I appreciate I maybe don't look like Mark Cavendish the 2 "sales" staff couldn't be less interested in helping, they just sit there and chat with each other or point at the fancy tablets or website if I have questions.

I'm considering a new road bike with Di2, my usual LBS has closed down since COVID and tbh really just want to see if it's worth it by trying one out and playing with it a bit - should i just cast my LBS trawl wider and give them a swerve? or is my experience an outlier?

[Dannbodge]

My winter bike is a Ribble.

No issues with it, apart from being a bit heavy for what is marketed as a "lightweight" "Endurance" bike (it's as aggressive as my Tarmac, although for me that's a good thing)

Personally I wouldn't buy one new.

[ian in lancs]

We paid a visit for a road bike for my wife to see/fit a small road bike. No small framed bikes at all Just M/L with different groupsets. When looking for a bike size/fit for us at least was the most important.

Staff not that helpful and suggested their ridiculous fitting heath robinson bike contraption that wobbled about. We walked out with our £2k + and bought a Giant that was better spec and better vfm.

If they're like we experienced on a sale imagine what they're like in support!

So, on the 'snog, marry, avoid' continuum it's the latter for me!

[Mr.Chips]

One of my neighbours has a Ribble road bike. A really nice piece of kit, looks really well put together.

[BlindedByTheLights]

Have a look at Orro too. Some lovely bikes for good prices recently and based near Brighton.

[alock]

I bought one about a month ago.

Visited the Bristol showroom about 2 months ago. Salesman very helpful. Configured their static bike to match what I was looking to order to check it felt comfy.

Ordered online a couple of days later once I'd sorted the cycle to work voucher. It arrived about 4 weeks later. It was estimated to take 4-6 weeks, so no complaints.

I'd always assumed titanium and Di2 was out of my price range, but with the £1200 discount and then cycle to work, the £4k bike is costing me about £1400.

Currently very happy, but then nothing has gone wrong, so cannot comment on after sales customer service.

[Daveyraveygravey]

SaTTaN said:

What's the current view? I know there was a lot of discussion over very late deliveries and potentially shoddy financials earlier this year.

From my own experience, they have a very large shop in my local out of town shopping palace, but OMG from 3 or 4 casual visits in the last couple of months, shop has been totally empty, and whilst I appreciate I maybe don't look like Mark Cavendish the 2 "sales" staff couldn't be less interested in helping, they just sit there and chat with each other or point at the fancy tablets or website if I have questions.

I'm considering a new road bike with Di2, my usual LBS has closed down since COVID and tbh really just want to see if it's worth it by trying one out and playing with it a bit - should i just cast my LBS trawl wider and give them a swerve? or is my experience an outlier?

I've no experience of Ribble, but Evans were the best shop in terms of trying bikes when I was last looking. They have most brands, so I took 2-3 out for a half hour ride or so. Some LBS demo bikes are top of the range ones, and if you can't stretch to the top end, it maybe isn't a great comparison.