Ribble Endurance SLe - colour choice?

[youngoldbloke]

Hi Zaneland,

Well, I drove 220 miles round trip to see the Ribble SLe so I was potentially a serious buyer.
As I have said elsewhere I could only ride it on Ribble's carpark, one of those concrete sectional surfaces with joins.
20 or even 10 years ago this bike might have suited me but not now. Very 'taut' and lively bike with 'race like' handling I thought
as opposed to the more 'forgiving' handling of endurance/sportive bikes. I have a carbon framed endurance road bike which even in my
limited testing of the SLe I thought my bike was a more 'comfortable' ride. I felt every imperfection in the car park surface,
that might have been the carbon frame (not all carbon frames are equal) it might have been the 28mm tyres. I confess here I have a everyday bike
that runs on Schwalbe G-One 40mm tyres and they are bloody brilliant at smoothing out poor road surfaces.
So the SLe had a hard act to follow as regards ride comfort. The SLe max size tyres are 28mm
So not the bike for me although it was a beautiful looking bike with a classy finish.

I have today purchased a Orbea Gain D30 (105 build) including full mudguards and my preferred Schwalbe G-One 40mm tyres.
Despite what your thinking I am not a Schwalbe rep
I did not want the fastest bike possible for my money, I wanted a bike for all weather road riding, the occasional gravel path or canal towpath.
The Orbea will (I hope) do all this in relative comfort especially on the Schwalbe tyres.
Incidentally, Orbea bike was £2,500 inclusive. Ribble SLe (105 build) was £2,999.00 payable in full on ordering.

Regards

Interesting ... seeing the Red Ribble SLe had started thinking me about my next bike - I deserve another one for my 75th, don't I? - and the Ribble looked like a likely contender. Disappointing to hear about it's harsh ride - you'll have to tell us how you find your Gain when you've been riding it more. I'm running 28mm Conti GP 4000S on mine, and they are more certainly forgiving than 23mm I'm used to on my 'conventional' bikes (in fact the 28mm Continentals measure a real 32mm). Be interested to know how much clearance you get with guards and 40mm tyres. Did you get the bike from Epic?

 

[Zanelad]

Thank you Scaleyback. Z.

 

[Scaleyback]

Interesting ... seeing the Red Ribble SLe had started thinking me about my next bike - I deserve another one for my 75th, don't I? - and the Ribble looked like a likely contender. Disappointing to hear about it's harsh ride - you'll have to tell us how you find your Gain when you've been riding it more. I'm running 28mm Conti GP 4000S on mine, and they are more certainly forgiving than 23mm I'm used to on my 'conventional' bikes (in fact the 28mm Continentals measure a real 32mm). Be interested to know how much clearance you get with guards and 40mm tyres. Did you get the bike from Epic?

75 and still riding, good to hear and long may you continue.
I am getting the bike from Leisure Lakes, Lancaster branch, 90 miles from me but Epic cycles who I had originally planned to buy from are 200 miles away. I shall collect the bike so it helps. I lost patience with Epic, their communication was poor ! After receipting my enquiry they then took over 3 weeks to get back to me ? their reply generated more questions and I waited a week this time.

Not got the Gain yet, hopefully tomorrow. Still nice weather for a day trip to Lancaster.

Re your remark about tyre clearance, I have received disappointing news from the cycle tech at Leisure Lakes. My preferred Schwalbe G-One 40-622 tyres (they are actually 38c) will not fit on the Gain with guards ? Now this has annoyed me. Orbea advertise the Gain as “mudguard compatible” they also claim “ up to 40c tyres “ nowhere does it suggest the two are incompatible.
This is disingenious and misleading in my opinion. The cycle tech is going to check the biggest tyre I can fit with the guards. Watch this space !

 

[youngoldbloke]

I'm not 75 yet - just 71 and a half! I was using an early 90s Reynolds steel Peugeot until my sons bought me another bike for my 6oth (Ribble), then I bought a Rose Xeon for my 65th, then the Orbea Gain I see as having been for my 70th. Meanwhile, along the way I needed a winter bike so I also acquired my son's hand-me-down blue Ribble, which became a Rapide when I changed the frame …. so I'll obviously need another bike when I'm 75.
Looking forward to hearing your Gain experiences

 

[TyrannosaurusTreks]

On Ribble’s website now when you proceed to buy you have the option to change colour of bike & graphics.

 

[youngoldbloke]

On Ribble’s website now when you proceed to buy you have the option to change colour of bike & graphics.

Thanks, I contacted Ribble's customer services about seeing a red SLe, and they hinted that colour options might be available in the near future. However, they pretended to be unaware of the existence of the red bike - must have been an early try-out for more colour choices.

 

[TyrannosaurusTreks]

 

[youngoldbloke]

On Ribble’s website now when you proceed to buy you have the option to change colour of bike & graphics.

- and it's ONLY an extra £299! Good marketing wheeze ……
and I had foolishly assumed it was a no cost choice. Looks like I'll be sticking with Orbea for n+e1

 

[Scaleyback]

- and it's ONLY an extra £299!

Outrageous