Ribble New Sportive Racing

[gbb]

Going into this on a whim, just thought some thoughts on the bike were called for. Apologies for the lack of pics, i'll do that later.
Previously rode a Bianchi Via Nirone, not an uncomfortable bike in itself.

Out of the box from Ribble, fit wheels, set up handlebars, fit saddle and post, pedals...and you're away.
No problems with the gears (Veloce BTW), very well set up.

I specced the bike as follows...
Rodi airline wheelset. Never intended fitting them, i already have quite new fulcrum 5s. Picking up the Rodis, they're heavy but no doubt good basic wheels by others reports.

Campag Veloce in silver to go with my wheels...Powertorque chainset requires some specialist tools to get off, or some enthusiastic DIYing. (not that you need to take them off in the short/medium term)
The gears have performed flawlessly (barring a quick cable tighten that you'd expect)..if fact the front derailleur shifts SO cleanly, so precisely, that may be the campag MPS chainrings.
I was determined not to have a mixed groupset on my next bike, that was one consideration that drew me to the Ribble, you get a full groupset, not 3/4 campag and 1/4 FSA or whatever....and its no dearer, possibly cheaper.
ITM Triango alu/carbon wing bars and stem, internally routed cables, taped in red just past the ergos, rather than to the normal position toward the stem...i really like that look.

Superleggera saddle, pretty standard, i found it ok with padded shorts, longest ride so far was 59 miles...but without padded short i find it a bit uncomfortable quite quickly.

Some things dawn on you...all this racing geometry, sportive geometry, there are huge differences in comfort...and i find the Sportive very comfortable, more so than the bianchi, very comfortable but without sacrificing an aerodynamic advantage...i ride just as fast on the Sportive as i ever did on the slightly racier Bianchi. You lose nothing by being more comfortable. Perhaps i'm using the drops more, but because it has a higher headtube, sportive geometry, you're just so comfortable on them, something i never was on the Bianchi.

Does it look as good as the Bianchi...no...i still miss my Bianchi, yet love riding the Sportive.
Does it matter.....................................not really. I used to think it did, but the fact is its just aesthetics, it makes no difference to how the bike performs.
Is it comfortable.....is it ever!!. I'm a cycnic, never believe anything till ive seen it myself, but its about the first thing i noticed, it just glides along.
Should you get the best wheels you can ? i think so. The standards Rodis are heavy, they seem noticeably heavier than my commuters R500s. Some suggest get the Rodis and upgrade later...personally i cant see the point, why buy twice.
Carbon frame ?..dont know why, i expected it to be lighter...its not heavy, but doesnt seem any different than my Bianchi. Perhaps it is lighter, but not remarkably so, not noticeably so.

Believe it or not, i didnt set out to buy the Sportive...i was more taken with the Gran Fondos shape, but while endlessly speccing and comparing, over days and days...i got so fed up of agonising 'should i, shouldnt i, need i etc etc' i thought 'fkit' and hit the buy button one day...then realised i hadnt clearly thought about specifically which one i really wanted. Ah well, thats it done now. Must say, i'm very happy with the outcome.
Still dont think its as nice lookin as some other bikes, but it is striking in its own way. Its just as fast as the Bianchi, more comfortable, i love it.
Now done circa 500 miles on it, here's to many more.

 

[Garz]

Pictures?

 

[Judderz]

It's a better review than I would've wrote for my New Sportive from Ribble. Unhappy is an understatement and they'll never have my business again.

 

[gbb]

It's a better review than I would've wrote for my New Sportive from Ribble. Unhappy is an understatement and they'll never have my business again.

Whys that Judderz ? service, delivery, quality ?
Dont worry about negative comments on this post, the point is people can read about something they're interested in...so if there's bad points, they deserve to hear them

 

[Judderz]

This is what I wrote on their page on Facebook:

"After spending £1000 on a bike, I have a few gripes after my first outing: If putting on 31mm Deep Section Rims on the bike, ideally inner tubes with longer valves would be appropriate, instead of the short valve length supplied, making inflating the tyre a near impossible task....2 inner tubes with 60mm valves bought elsewhere now.

Putting frame protectors on to stop cable rub (and a chainstay protector) would be a great idea (you know the small rubber/silicone pads)...protectors bought elsewhere now.

Aligning the front wheel properly would also help, instead of the skewed angle it was at.

The most important one, setting the brake pads so they actually come into contact with the rim, instead of half on and half hitting the deep section. Decals now have a wear mark all round the wheel. Trainee stuff....maybe I should send you a bill for after sales maintenance work!

My other gripe is with pre-order, being told I couldn't add a Charge Spoon saddle to the bike and not have the CSN K6 saddle, was told I would have to buy the Charge Spoon separately and then have a surplus saddle even though I said I would pay the difference. If bought both saddles separately from Ribble, the difference would be.....(wait for it)....£2.55. So I bought a Charge Spoon elsewhere, and made sure I wasn't buying the pedals from Ribble either, or Road Shoes, or a carbon bottle cage, or bottle, or saddle bag or pump and any future sales will be done elsewhere....way to go guys!!"

Now for my review of the actual bike....
New Sportive Racing Carbon Bike
Shimano Sora Groupet (with 175mm pedal arms and compact chainset 34/50)
Tiagra Brakes
ITM Triango Carbon/Alu Seatpost
Deda Quattro 2 110mm Stem
Deda RHM02 44cm Bars
Carbon Stem/Fork Spacers
Rodi Airline Evo 31mm deep section rims
Black Continental Sport Tyres (Now changed to Conti Sport Red Tyres, as the compound is different and rolls better)
CSN K6 Superleggera Seat (Changed to Charge Spoon, the CSN seat is also for sale if anyone wants it)

After my first outing, had to sort the gears out, wouldn't change smoothly (Shimano Sora), always searching for the next gear, by not fully moving the shifter, just moving it enough to 'click' in. The Rodi Airline Evo 31mm deep section rims (or shall we call them Rodi Airline 'Edam Cheese' Rims), need truing more or less after every ride, (my Shimano R500's have never been trued in over 12 months). It now runs smoothly, which is what I would expect it to do if buying new, straight from the shop all built up...but no...sadly it wasn't.
Apart from the crap service, the bike now rides alright, it rides just as good as my £500 Orbea Alu, no major noticeable differences in comfort, it rides smoothly enough, the only noticeable difference I find in the bike, is when you put the power down, the bike responds well, climbs well, possibly mainly due to the extra pedal arm length and compact chainset (Orbea had 42/52), but overall it's alright.....if only I could take the Ribble name off I would, buts it's lacquered over and can't be arsed making a mess and sorting.
Would I buy a bike from Ribble again....No
Would I recommend them to a friend...No
Should this put anyone buying from Ribble...No, but do your research and look at alternatives.

 

[gbb]

Thats a shame Judderz...y'know, we invest some considerable money in bikes nowadays....its a shame when the whole thing gets spoiled.
Glad it runs ok now, better late than never eh (thats the eternal optomist in me).
Amazing how you can have completely different outcomes for the same product.

 

[Garz]

This is what I wrote on their page on Facebook:
<Review Material here>

I thought that was an excellent piece of feedback Judderz, I hope they are learning from these issues, it's a shame you had to be experiencing them.

 

[Judderz]

In all fairness, I did a 70mile ride on Wednesday, and it performed well, it's just the whole dealings with Ribble as a company and all the little niggles that I sorted myself, for a bike bought brand new built up, shouldn't need to be fixed in this way, therefore, Ribble will not have any more business from me.

 

[Phil Evans]

Was concerned with judderz comments above so I guess my experience may be the decider. Just bought a Ribble New Sportive bicycle. Note the sizing guide for New Sportive is incorrect in cms and correct in inchs, I asked them to fix that. I am not one to be bias in my judgement so this is my take so far. Ordered the bike on 29June Friday night and was dispatched from Ribble on the 11th working day Royal mail took 3 days to deliver on a 48 express delivery (This was in the middle of the tour de france). Bike lifted out of box and had to fix handle bar to stem bar, 4 screws at 5Nm, attach seatpost, saddle and pedals. Fit the free chain protectors and off I went!!!
My first impression was it was well made, there is clearly some effort put into the setup, the brakes were correctly fitted and even matched up with the rims!, but I noticed on the gears that there was just a little chain rub if I had the bigger front ring selected -adjustment required here. Bicycle frame is very stiff and very light 8Kgs (medium frame) without pedals. I guess I could save another 50grams cutting the setpost back..anyway the ride is the most important thing. There is no added suspension to this bike and so any vibration from the road will be transmitted to the rider. I am quite sensitive to vibration so we shall see how I go on a longer ride.
I paid £1234(incl del) for a New Sportive carbon frame. Upgraded to Shimano 105 gearset and upgraded Handlebars, Stem, Wheels and seatpost and saddle. So far so good, but I will only know after many hours of riding. So watch this space.

 

[Garz]

Happy riding on the new machine Phil!

 

[Phil Evans]

Thank you Garz. The lads are arranging a nice introduction for me of about 22 miles, so that should allow me to find any initial problems with the bike - if any. I have ridden MTB for a few years so I'm not coming into cycling cold, but I can't say I've had any experience with a racing bike.

 

[Judderz]

Fit the free chain protectors and off I went!!!

You got some with your bike? I had to buy some.

Had the bike 3 months now, so here's a little more.
I do like how it handles to be perfectly honest, it's set up for me now, clocked nearly 1000 miles on it since having it.
But they do scrimp on the small stuff, had 6 punctures in the last 12 weeks....on the inside of the innertube, due to the rim tape being..shall we say...shite. It was too narrow, so the spoke holes are visible in certain places, new rim tape bought, been ok since.
I now have handbuilts on it, and performs much better.
But I will stand by my decision and never give them repeat business.

 

[Phil Evans]

So rim tape is too narrow. Thank you. I will check that. I found my previous MTB bike had rim tape in the wrong place!
I have been for that ride and I can now add my findings so far. The front chain ring rubbing was in fact due to me not pushing the gear change fully - I am new to this!!! The ride was much better than I thought it would be, since I had no problems with vibration - that was a surprise! As far as the bike is concerned it handled very well for me and because I believe I am the right fit for the bike. The brakes and gears worked 'very' well, except I had to look down to check my gears from time to time (jury is still out if this is actually an irritation). The saddle was 'ok' - I was a bit sore, but for 1h30mins riding it was acceptable (I had upgraded to CSN Superleggera K10) so I have to say I don't know if its really any good (I do wear a good gel fitted bib). I did notice the inner tubes 'Yaw Butyl' are quite low spec, but to be fair to ribble I chose not to upgrade them) I really wanted the Continental Gatorskin tyres, but could only chose Continental Ultra Sport Rigid Tyre, so upgrades to wheel tape/innertubes/tyres within the next year will be considered. Overall I am very pleased so far. But like any purchase you do rely on the manufacturer in providing 'good options for you to chose' and as long as its reliable, I don't mind a change of a few items as an after thought.
As far as Judderz is concerned it would appear 'Rodi Airline Evo 31mm deep section rims' were simply not up to standard. He also mentioned the front wheel not being fitted correctly and wrong inner tube fitted - I think this is basic stuff and just made me wonder about quality standards at Ribble.
I chose ITM Pr Wheels Aera 2.4 wheels - so I will keep you posted on this, but so far they are true and fitted correctly. So if anyone else can add to this thread it would help to build a fair picture of Ribble New Sportive custom bike.
Many thanks for Judderz as his comments are clearly insightful.

 

[G10WLD]

I bought a Ribble Gran Fondo which came with Rodi Airline Evo wheels as spec'd. Two spokes on the front wheel have now snapped at different times whilst the bike was sitting idle - no damage, just snapped. I returned the wheel to Ribble - whose customer care is not great and am waiting for their proposals - so far they say they have simply replaced the broken spoke (I had the first one replaced locally).... my opinion on the wheels - avoid them at all costs, spokes snapping at random on the front wheel is seriously dangerous!

Would I buy another Ribble - jury is still out on that one - you have communicate with them by email... they simply switched off their phones for a week recently, weird, apparently to 'catch up'... they need better managment/ownership to introduce proper customer service for after they've taken your money, its really easy to talk to them before you buy and the guys are all very helpful - their difficulty is after sales service - they don't want your call.

 

[Kestevan]

Their "customer support" has just cost them a new bike.
After experiencing the issue with the phones being turned off, and no replies to emails when I had a wheel problem last year I decided to take my business elsewhere when I ordered a new bike on Monday.