Ribbles cycles, any good?

[Raging Squirrel]

I've been looking for a road bike, and came accross the exact type of bike i'm looking for in looks. It looks like it has Shimano 105's too which is something I really wanted.

Are ribble a good bike? I know they're like an own brand type of bike but I think this particular one just looks amazing.

 

[John_c]

Personally I'd say yes, I've recently bought the Evo-pro Carbon for under £1000, with a shimano 105 groupset, Mavik Aksium wheels and carbon frame. Some people say the frame flexes but cant say I've noticed. But as I said elsewhere if I had the money I'd by the Grand fondo frame as its much better looking and supposedly stronger.

HTH

 

[Raging Squirrel]

it was the Gran Fondo I was looking at. The advert in the mags are a little misleading though as they suggest you can get the bike in the picture for £889 when really that's for the basic model with the normal sized rims, and not the oversize depth rims that are in the picture. gutted!

 

[geo]

They are excellent value for money,sure there are better but where do you stop.I work around Preston (Ribble territory) as a result lots of lads in work ride Ribble,never heard anybody with a bad word about them. I say go for it.

 

[PpPete]

They used to have a really crappy reputation on customer service - never seemed to have all the parts in stock to build up the bike spec the customer had chosen, so delivery always much longer than expected.
That said, I've ordered lots of individual parts off them and never had cause for complaint - always prompty delivered.

 

[ianrauk]

See a good few London commuters riding Ribble bikes.

 

[Hacienda71]

I liked my Ribble. Good bikes imho.

 

[Smokin Joe]

I've had the winter frame for about seven years now, fantastic value and still cleans up like new. It was the best prepared frame I ever bought, all the threads clean and bottle cage and mudguard bolts had been greased before fitting.

 

[TonyEnjoyD]

Colleague bought one recently, great bike but major issue with the LH shifter and Ribble said to send the bike back!!!
After a bit of toing and froing he ended up taking it to the LBS for a £15 repair.
He paid for the repair and Ribble agreed not to invalidate the warranty.

 

[youngoldbloke]

I have 2 - a 7005SL and a winter bike. Set up perfect on arrival. Great value. Good service. No complaints.

 

[Maylian]

Do they have a physical store in Preston then to try frame fits? Been looking at Ribbles a lot lately as I love the look for next years bike.

 

[Peowpeowpeowlasers]

I bought the winter trainer late in 2010, it's been a good bike although not without its faults. The Pro-Lite wheels are crap and lasted only about 5,000 miles before they died. I replaced both with Hope/Mavic combos. The supplied tyres were also shite, out-of-round, so they had to go. The saddle was a bit pants and one of the rails cracked, so I replaced that. Also, whoever built it didn't use that clear plastic tape to protect the frame against cable rub, so now I have a nice little groove in my headtube.

It's a nice bike though, comfortable, quiet, reasonably quick. I do a reasonable mileage (5-6,000 a year) through all manner of conditions so I expect my story is a little more harsh than some others.

Don't get those Pro-Lite wheels though. Shite. /edit - I see it doesn't come with them anyway, so that's good.

 

[Peowpeowpeowlasers]

One more thing, the Gran Frodo has 23mm tyres listed, the same crappy tyres that were supplied on my bike. I'd recommend getting something a bit better than that, and 25mm too. There's no difference in speed (some studies claim 25mm are faster than 23mm) but they'll be a hell of a lot more comfortable.

 

[Judderz]

As with any supplier/manufacturer, they can't please everyone.

Me personally, I'd never get anything from Ribble again, bike poorly set up, as with Peowpeow above, no frame protectors, so paint is scuffed around the headset, (now put own silicone pads on), too thin rim tape on wheels, so plenty of punctures, this was on a New Sportive full carbon (£1100). Saddle was poor, but wouldn't let you upgrade it to one 'they do stock' unless you actually bought the saddle separate (leaving you with a surplus saddle).

So mixed reviews about Ribble, but you will get that with everything.

 

[youngoldbloke]

Does anyone really expect bikes to come with frame protectors? It is so easy to put a piece of insulation tape on the head tube. The actual position cannot be decided on until you know how high you want the bars, how many spacers, stem flipped - then you can get fancy carbon ones or whatever. Given that their bikes are so competitively priced - esp the Special Edition ones, I'm not surprised they don't allow upgrades - if you want to change the spec look at their 'Bikebuilder'. You are going to have to pay more for a bike where all the components are top notch - have a look at the Canyon and Rose websites for good value.