Ribble Cycles

[Clanger62]

I ordered a Ribble TT bike seven months ago and have still not received it despite having sent many emails and had lots of excuses from the company in reply. Just wondering if anyone else has been having similar probs of late or heard rumour of their demise? I had been made aware that they could be a bit flakey but am getting a bit fed up as this is beyond a joke. Tyvm in advance.

 

[DCLane]

You aren't the only one, given that there's several comments in this thread: https://www.cyclechat.net/threads/whats-happened-to-ribble.277319/

If it's got Shimano components there are delays; my son's bike arrived 6 months late from Ridley - ordered last August, due 1 March, arrived end of August missing a part which should be here this month. It was the Shimano componentry that caused most of the delays.

 

[T.M.H.N.E.T]

They're fine, likely still dealing with the shortages

 

[vickster]

Aren’t they up for sale?

 

[TissoT]

It will arrive for next years TT season.

Hopefully.

 

[wonderloaf]

I've just had a frame replaced under warranty and had no problems, turn round was a couple of weeks. Seeing as currently there are such long waiting timescales for new bikes I was surprised when the Ribble rep said they had plenty of frames in stock, they just don't have the components to build onto them, so maybe that's what's happening to you.

 

[Big John]

Judging by their latest set of accounts filed at Companies House there doesn't appear to be any immediate cause for concern. They've made a strategic change to the way they operate which has resulted in them almost doubling their annual turnover. They now focus on complete bike sales, design and manufacture as opposed to selling a 'bit of everything' i.e. new bikes, frames, parts, etc. There doesn't appear to be any worries shown by the auditors regarding Ribble being a viable 'going concern'. That said they've made a loss for the last two years so they're not out of the woods yet.

 

[biggs682]

It will arrive for next years TT season.

Hopefully.

Just hope @Clanger62 hasn't grown much

 

[deaninkl]

It's not a secret that currently there is a perfect storm scenario regarding bikes world wide. It affects materials to make frames and components, it affects transport and shipping, and due to covid and the fact that many countries allowed cycling as an outside form of exersice, demand has signifcantly increased over 2019 levels... I live in Taiwan and am seeing all the bike factories here squirming with half finished bikes laking certain componants, local bike shops now giving delivery times into 2023 for ceratin models. Its a fact, and we all have to live with it. I have no idea about Ribble.. but guess its all related.

 

[iluvmybike]

The shortage of Shimano parts is worldwide - all cycle retailers are struggling to get them. That is why many new bikes that are coming out at the mo are SRAM equipped as there doesn't seem to be the same issue

 

[deaninkl]

As a side note.. (but related) i often buy parts from Chain Reaction Cycles online, simply because they have everything available under one roof and I dont have to try and explain what i want in Chinese, and surprisingly there are no "Big" bicycle shops in Taiwan, they all tend to be small family run shops, so inventry is limited.. Chain Reaction recently told me they were unable to ship Shimano to Taiwan.. this is due to licensing, so I guess somehow this may also be related to the overall problems... Local licensees are probably complaining to Shimano that they cant get parts but people can still buy online from other countries...

 

[Arrowfoot]

I still cannot understand how Shimano can screw up like this. 22 months since the start of Covid. Very unusual for the Japanese as they pride themselves in high end manufacturing. SRAM is now becoming the standard for bike assembly.

 

[alex_cycles]

I still cannot understand how Shimano can screw up like this. 22 months since the start of Covid. Very unusual for the Japanese as they pride themselves in high end manufacturing. SRAM is now becoming the standard for bike assembly.

I read somewhere (here - found it) that Shimano made a deliberate decision not to try to rapidly ramp up production because they see the current boom as transient and not sustainable. If it turns out they are wrong, then their market share will be eroded a bit. However, if they are right, they will still be around in a few years time. I think they do have new production facilities in progress, but that was already on the cards. I expect they are working to a long-term plan rather than knee-jerk response to a (possibly) temporary uptick in demand. Time will tell. I'm sure Sram are not crying about it at the moment.

 

[Chislenko]

I read somewhere (here - found it) that Shimano made a deliberate decision not to try to rapidly ramp up production because they see the current boom as transient and not sustainable. If it turns out they are wrong, then their market share will be eroded a bit. However, if they are right, they will still be around in a few years time. I think they do have new production facilities in progress, but that was already on the cards. I expect they are working to a long-term plan rather than knee-jerk response to a (possibly) temporary uptick in demand. Time will tell. I'm sure Sram are not crying about it at the moment.

Alex speaks sense.

I feel sure all over the world there are warehouses full of over production of "the next big thing".

 

[deaninkl]

I read somewhere (here - found it) that Shimano made a deliberate decision not to try to rapidly ramp up production because they see the current boom as transient and not sustainable. If it turns out they are wrong, then their market share will be eroded a bit. However, if they are right, they will still be around in a few years time. I think they do have new production facilities in progress, but that was already on the cards. I expect they are working to a long-term plan rather than knee-jerk response to a (possibly) temporary uptick in demand. Time will tell. I'm sure Sram are not crying about it at the moment.

That is definately part of the issue, up turn in demand, but the other side is that most of Shimano's factories are in China, and therefore raw material, slow working due to power restrictions, transport restrictions, and a even political issues are at play. I build clean environments for chip manufacturing, there is a world shortage of chips, so many industries have to slow down production. My clients are at full production but they are not jumping over themselves to build new fabs. Everyone sees it as a short term issue maybe 2 years.. but expansion needs long term business. That is not assured. Yes, there are new fabs being built and others planned but that was planned. Also the move to pull production out of China has been going on a long while... but will take a long time before that makes a dent in the supply issues.

What does need asking is why this was not foreseen, all the high paid economists and governments were too slow to see the warnings and react.. so with all our technology and AI... etc etc etc... snafu seems to be at play as normal. And of course its not just bikes and bike parts, but every manufactured item imaginable.