Interesting Ribble Bike company statistics.

[Dave7]

Aparrently they have 5 'bike builders' who each put together 4 bikes per day. Think about that........100 per working week= approx 4500-5000 per year (with holidays etc). Quite a good turnover for a local company. I found that reassuring as they do have sufficient 'clout' to get good frames for the price rather than getting them built down to a price.
Their biggest export is Australia-quite a surprise.

 

[Linford]

They are building from sub assemblies put together in China/Vietnam though ?

 

[Linford]

Taiwan produce some quality kit nowadays. What is the benefit of buying from Ribble though - apart from having them on your doostep ?

 

[Dave7]

Taiwan produce some quality kit nowadays. What is the benefit of buying from Ribble though - apart from having them on your doostep ?

Well I wasn't actually extolling their virtues.....just the sheer numbers which I think is great for a 'small/local'.
BUT......while you ask......you choose the frame and then select ALL (as in ALL) components. So-if you have a set budget- you are able to decide where to put your money e.g. on wheels or gears......try doing that with a Trek/Giant/Cube etc.

 

[gbb]

Taiwan produce some quality kit nowadays. What is the benefit of buying from Ribble though - apart from having them on your doostep ?

Having just ordered one of thiers, i did some serious homework first.
There's plenty of bikes IRO £1000 to £1200..major manufacturers, alloy and carbon, a whole mix of specs...but here's how i broke it down.
I was seriously interested in the Bianchi Impulso, alloy frame of course, standardish spec wheels, part Veloce groupset with that awful FSA Omega chainset and BB. Still, a seriously nice looking bike (IMO of course)...£1200
New Sportive from Ribble, carbon frame, FULL veloce groupset, standardish wheelset...less than £1200.

TBF, Bianchis always carry a premium, but its hard to find a bike of similar spec cheaper than a Ribble....in fact, i didnt find one cheaper. Couple that with the glowing reports in many of the cycling publications...

 

[italiafirenze]

Well I wasn't actually extolling their virtues.....just the sheer numbers which I think is great for a 'small/local'.
BUT......while you ask......you choose the frame and then select ALL (as in ALL) components. So-if you have a set budget- you are able to decide where to put your money e.g. on wheels or gears......try doing that with a Trek/Giant/Cube etc.

I'm not sure how small/local Ribble can claim to be nowadays. They also go by the name of CycleSport North which is a B2B distributor of bicycle parts and I believe they are the largest UK distributor and importer for Campagnolo (hence why they offer some pretty good deals on the stuff, you can get Campag on your ribble for similar money to low-end Shimano).

I know loads of people (living round here) that have the 7005 winter bike and a couple with the carbon bikes. A friend of mine was very close to purchasing a Gran Fondobut didn't.

1. They wanted a long time to build his bike (a few weeks as I recall, which for him, very unpatient, was too long).
2. Their service in the store can be pretty hit and miss.
3. The brand/image is very much "affordable" and he didn't want that.

In fact so close was he to buying he was going to get the V2 finance offered on the website. He'd filled in all the boxes, completed his basket and when he clicked the finance option it said "Sorry that is no longer available". They no longer offered finance but didn't say until at the end of the checkout.

But every review you ever read says the same thing "outstanding bike, for the money".

 

[rollinstok]

Ribble are very good value for money and "pound for pound" will take some beating.
Discounts and delivery on parts and accessories has always been good for me.
I was recently looking for a carbon cross fork for my hybrid and needed to know more about the dimensions of the fork they have on their website to "guesstimate" whether it would be suitable for the bike. In this instance they werent very helpful and I was none the wiser. I then emailed details of the bike to ask if they thought the fork would be suitable and also if they would fit the fork if I brought the bike to them--again not helpful at all. I can understand that they have maybe grown too big to offer this kind of advice and service so there is no grudge there.
I ended up with a great deal on a fork and free fitting from Paul Milnes.. big enough to know but still small enough to care.