Parcel Force delivered the Ribble this afternoon.
Im seriously impressed with the bike for what I paid.
The first thing I noticed was the weight or lack of it. Having ridden touring bikes for so long my idea of lightweight was taking one of the panniers off. This thing feels like it shouldn't be rideable its so light. I know most of you on here will know it isn't really that light in comparison to other bikes but it is nowhere near the weight of anything I have owned before.
The finish is superb, I have had a good look all over the frame and cant find any marks or blemishes in the lacquer and that 3k carbon really does look good up close.
I was busy most of the afternoon so couldn't find time to get out on it until about 4, it was a long couple of hours waiting to get done so I could go and play on my new toy. It was worth the wait.
The difference in acceleration between this and my touring bike is like night and day. I was pulling away from the lights waiting for cars to get out of the way rather than holding up traffic which is what Im used to. Once moving its a very smooth ride, which is quite remarkable given the road surfaces around here. I need to tweak the indexing slightly but that's neither here nor there. The one big difference was going back to a bike with calliper brakes. If im honest that almost put me off buying it but they work far better than I remember, combined with the lightweight frame I found the back wheel lifting off the floor a couple of times when coming to a stop at lights. I guess I will have to adjust my riding to suit.
I have no doubts it will be a faster bike than I am used to riding but I don't keep track of speed or average MPH so that doesn't really concern me. More of a concern was comfort and after a quick 8 mile test ride it feels comfortable up to now, The riding position isn't what I am used to but it didn't feel un natural and over the weekend I will have a play around with the handlebar height to see if it can be any more comfortable.
I don't intend this to replace my touring bike for everyday use but for those times when I just feel like going out and having a bit of a blast and blowing off a few cobwebs it fits the bill perfectly.
For me its a good quality bike with half decent components at just the right price. The perfect N+1
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