If you're on a blue Ribble and going to grab a tow from me...

[GrasB]

Well for a so called 'cheap aluminium road frame' mines done well then, it's coped with all that the British winter can throw at it, maybe that's why they call it a winter training bike, I've had two accidents on it and the last was at 25 mph, the frame hasn't budged, there solid, and I wouldn't say 11 kgs is that heavy either.

Just because it's cheap doesn't mean it going to fall apart, my best winter frames have been cheap ones. The reason is when making a frame you have to choose 2 of the 3 following 3 options: Cheap, lightweight, strong
Most frame makers prefer to mate strong with cheap rather than lightweight as people are more willing to accept a heavy frame than a broken one. Ribble charge £95 to £175 for their blue road frames, not exactly expensive options considering a frame typically is 25% to 33% of a bikes build price.

 

[magnatom]

Oh the frame of my ribble is fine, although the paint does chip very easily.... It's everything else that has given up the ghost. I pretty much have a new bike to go with my frame and that is since January 2010. Ok I'm not the best at cleaning, but....

 

[sticky sherbert]

Mine is black, is that acceptable?

 

[PJ79LIZARD]

Well that's the same with any bike at any price range, if you neglect it, especially over the winter period you'll pay the price in components. But I just run cheaper components and change when required. Things wear out anyway that's life.