Specialized roubaix vs. Ribble Sportive Carbon Road

[iendicott]

Remember as well Ribble charge a £50 admin fee on the cyclescheme.

"Administration Charge

All Ribble bikes are custom built and our profit margins are considerably lower than those available on standard mass produced bikes. For this reason in order to cover costs of operating the scheme we charge an administration fee of £50 per bike for bikes ordered on the Cyclescheme system. Our Account Department will contact you for the £50 administration fee as soon as we receive your Cyclescheme voucher."

Having said all of this the bikes are quiet nice but I have the same fear as others, how can you order a bike having not sat on it ?

 

[therams]

This summer, I was looking at a Ribble vs a Spesh Roubaix too. For me, it ultimately boiled down to this: I could gamble £1000+ on a bike that I'd never ridden before from Ribble, or I could go to my local Evans and test-ride a Roubaix for just £1 deposit.

Now, I know the Ribble is a good bike, but I didn't know if it would fit me particularly well, or what frame size to go for. Given that this was my first road bike, it was much lower risk for me to go to a shop, talk to the guys there, and ride the bike around for a while. In this case, Evans in Woking were great - there was no time limit on the test-ride, and in fact they tweaked the stem & bars for me after my first ride so I could go out again and make sure it was completely comfortable. Also bear in mind that Evans have a very good price-match policy, so there's basically a ~10% discount to be had if you know where to look.

- Darren

So the plot thickens... Darren I take it you are very happy with the Spesh?

I do believe you can go to the Ribble store (in Preston?) and get fitted though? I dont live too far away, so that's an option if they have the bikes in stock.

Also the £50 admin change does not apply to the CTW that my office runs.

 

[iendicott]

Cool, I have been reading a few other forums about them, their bike are gorgeous but customer service has been questioned. Shame I was considering this firm more and more. Hopefully others here will have good opinions.

 

[dhague]

If you live near to Ribble, then for me it's a no-brainer. Get down there for a fitting and a test-ride, and do the same at your local Specialized dealer. In each case, make sure to call them and arrange a time when they will (a) have a bike in your size and ( time to spend with you (i.e. probably not a saturday!). It may even be worth taking a couple of half-days off work for this, but it will be worth it.

My advice would be to try the Spesh first, because there's not much to adjust (stem angle, seat height, that's about it). Then get to Ribble, and you also have the option of different stem lengths from their stock. If you like the Ribble, you'll no doubt get a great bike for your money (although you may have to wait for some weeks to get it built). If you like the Spesh, you can pay and ride it home like I did. :-)

At this amount of money, you will definitely get a nice bike. The main thing is to find one that fits you, and you will find comfortable for the miles you'll be doing.

Cheers,
Darren

 

[therams]

Cool, I have been reading a few other forums about them, their bike are gorgeous but customer service has been questioned. Shame I was considering this firm more and more. Hopefully others here will have good opinions.

Yeah, I have also read about the poor customer service and long lead times. But then its a £500 saving, so I can put up with quite a bit .

I think I will just have to do the sensible thing and try and test them both. Looks like you can visit ribble in preston.

 

[iendicott]

Yeah, I have also read about the poor customer service and long lead times. But then its a £500 saving, so I can put up with quite a bit .

I think I will just have to do the sensible thing and try and test them both. Looks like you can visit ribble in preston.

I like the idea of visiting but I am 180 miles away, might be worth the journey though.

 

[therams]

If you live near to Ribble, then for me it's a no-brainer. Get down there for a fitting and a test-ride, and do the same at your local Specialized dealer. In each case, make sure to call them and arrange a time when they will (a) have a bike in your size and ( time to spend with you (i.e. probably not a saturday!). It may even be worth taking a couple of half-days off work for this, but it will be worth it.

My advice would be to try the Spesh first, because there's not much to adjust (stem angle, seat height, that's about it). Then get to Ribble, and you also have the option of different stem lengths from their stock. If you like the Ribble, you'll no doubt get a great bike for your money (although you may have to wait for some weeks to get it built). If you like the Spesh, you can pay and ride it home like I did. :-)

At this amount of money, you will definitely get a nice bike. The main thing is to find one that fits you, and you will find comfortable for the miles you'll be doing.

Cheers,
Darren

Cheers Darren, that makes a lot sense. And also sounds like a lot of fun!

 

[Globalti]

Ribble seems to be winning here so I'll give Spesh a vote. I live near Ribble and I've nothing against them but I happen to ride an '08 Roubaix, it has the polymer inserts in the frame and forks.

Last weekend I did 38 miles in South Africa on a borrowed aluminium Scott. Admittedly it was one size too small for me so I had the seatpost out too far and my arse too high above my hands but it felt stiff, unforgiving, not particularly inspiring in corners or at speed downhill and it was very twitchy thanks to the ali fork. By the end of the ride I felt beaten up and knackered all over. It was quite an education because by contrast the Roubaix is designed for, er, older riders who want a more comfortable sportiff bike for long rides. I'm 53 and so far I have done a 100 mile, a 60 and several 45s and 55s on it and even after 100 miles I really didn't feel knackered or beaten up. I had never ridden a carbon bike before I got this so I have nothing to compare it with but I think it is a quite amazingly comfortable bike, it's incredibly light, seems to go faster than anything else I've ever ridden, looks superb and has so far been 100% reliable over 780 miles since getting it. My only issue is the chain droping off the small ring (see my post on Know How) but I'm going to get that sorted. It may be due to going from a 50 down to a 34, a big drop, possibly with the chain too long. When you ride the Roubaix over a worn road surface you can feel it soaking up the bumps, It also handles like a dream, rock steady in corners and absolutely predictable at any speed. I got it with a broken rear wheel so I bought some Aksiums for around £120 from Ribble, which seem to suit it pretty well in looks and spec.

Other mods I've done are to fit a Flite Original Ti saddle, much lighter than whatever came on the bike. Oh, and the 34 inner ring as well as an 11-28 cassette I think for our big Lancashire hills.

If you want to walk into a shop and ride straight out on a bike I would say go for the Roubaix, you certainly won't regret it.

PS: I see you're in Manchester - if you want to meet one lunchtime and ride the Spesh round a car park, let me know as I can always bring it to work with me; I work near Bury.

 

[therams]

PS: I see you're in Manchester - if you want to meet one lunchtime and ride the Spesh round a car park, let me know as I can always bring it to work with me; I work near Bury.

Cheers I will PM you my details, what size frame is it? I think I would need a 56.

 

[TVC]

Cool, I have been reading a few other forums about them, their bike are gorgeous but customer service has been questioned. Shame I was considering this firm more and more. Hopefully others here will have good opinions.

I found their customer service superb. The bars I chose became unavailable because the supplier went belly up, I got an e-mail from Ribble explaining the situation, and asking me to select another example. Over a couple of hours on a Saturday we exchanged half a dozen messages and confirmed my new choice and price adjustment. They then apologised that the bike would take two weeks to deliver because they were busy - it turned up in 10 days.
When it arrived everything was set perfectly and other than setting the saddle height and positioning the bars there was nothing to fiddle with - brilliant!

They did have a poor reputation, but from other comments I've heard they are working hard and improving very well.

 

[therams]

Thats good to hear, reassuring that Ribble are listening to customers.

If only they could get there website to work in Firefox!

 

[Globalti]

It does!

 

[mr Mag00]

sure does work for me

 

[l4dva]

I've just been looking at the ribble web site and this new gran fondo special edition carbon bike looks amazing!!!

 

[therams]

OK, the web site works in FireFox, but try using the bike builder!