Ridgeback Voyage

[rich p]

I posted this in Beginners but maybe it's more appropriate here



A friend of mine has just phoned to say that he's thinking of getting one of these and did I have an opinion.

http://www.ukbikesdepot.com/products...163p2329&rs=gb

It doesn't look too bad but 2 things strike me. One, that it is listed as a hybrid in Evans Online Shop rather than a tourer and
Two, the shifters are these - Shimano 2200 Dual Control STI of which I know nothing. Are they inferior to Sora?

Any ideas or advice welcomed.

 

[John the Monkey]

It doesn't look too bad but 2 things strike me. One, that it is listed as a hybrid in Evans Online Shop rather than a tourer and
Two, the shifters are these - Shimano 2200 Dual Control STI of which I know nothing. Are they inferior to Sora?

They're below Sora in the heirarchy as far as I know. How that affects the way they operate, and their longevity, I honestly don't know. When I was looking at my first bike, my LBS suggested avoiding the bike with them on, but that was also down to factors like the Sora bike having a carbon fork, etc etc.

 

[New Horizon]

Its in the same vein as the Dawes Horizon, but has the edge over that model at the moment. It’s a very nice bike and of the two it’s the one I would go for (and I have a Horizon!). Wouldn't be concerned about the STI's - they're basically the same as the Sora and mine have done 10k miles without a problem.

 

[rich p]

Cheers for the replies. The 2200 shifters are not on sale over here as far as I can see which is strange.

 

[John the Monkey]

Cheers for the replies. The 2200 shifters are not on sale over here as far as I can see which is strange.

Again, from memory of what the LBS told me, but they're an OEM part only, you can't (or at least, shouldn't be able to) buy them anywhere other than on a new bike.

 

[rich p]

Again, from memory of what the LBS told me, but they're an OEM part only, you can't (or at least, shouldn't be able to) buy them anywhere other than on a new bike.

I found some through google for sale in the US for £80. I suspect they would have done as replacements for my son's Soras last month. They have gone up to £170-190! The only 8 speeds around apart from bodging with Campags apparently.

 

[doily]

It had sora brake levers when I bought mine a year ago and the bike cost £200 less than it does now. Done a year's commuting on it, and it's been great

 

[vernon]

It had sora brake levers when I bought mine a year ago and the bike cost £200 less than it does now. Done a year's commuting on it, and it's been great

Prices of componenets have risen sharply over the past six months. The worsening exchange rate and higher factory gate prices have added a considerable amount to the cost of Shimano parts.

As someone else mantioned the STI's listed are OEM parts similar to SORA but cheaper. I am confident enough in their reliability to fit them to a new build bike. Mine were purchased unused and fitted to the bars taken off an EBC tourer.

It's likely that the 'downgrading' has been done to minimise the price hikes.

 

[dellzeqq]

My advice is, as ever, that it depends where you buy it. Ridgeback bikes come out of the Madison box in better shape than those out of other distributor's boxes, but it's the LBS that sets it up, and will, presumably, offer a free service.