Trade Shows

Ribble 2016 road bikes – first look

Sixteen models form Lancashire-based brand's 2016 range, covering everything from winter training to adventure road

RIbble Cycles first set up shop in Preston, Lancashire, in 1897 and, as they approach their 120th year in the business, have become a popular manufacturer of affordable bikes among UK cyclists.

Ribble’s online ‘bike builder’ facility allows customer to spec their bike with groupsets from Shimano, SRAM and Campagnolo, and down to the details, from cassette ratio to handlebar width.

Ribble’s 2016 range covers everything from a steel winter bike to an aero carbon machine

The latest range has 16 frames on which to base the build and covers all seasons – from winter-ready bikes to summer steeds – and all frame materials – carbon, aluminium, titanium and steel – and the 2016 range includes five new frames. Let’s take a closer look at what’s on offer from Ribble.

Ribble Endurance

The new Endurance is the Ribble’s entry into the carbon fibre, disc-equipped road bike market.

Ribble say the asymmetric rear triangle has been reinforced on both sides to counteract the forces generated by both the disc brake and drivetrain, while the carbon fibre fork has also been beefed up to cope with the front disc brake.

Ribble pitch this as an endurance machine, and while the geometry is a little more relaxed than an all-out race bike, it’s a bit more aggressive than those bikes built around Ribble’s sportive geometry, with a large frame combining a 555mm toptube with a 160mm headtube.

Dressed in Shimano’s 105 5800 11-speed groupset, the basic build will cost you £1,179.99 (prices are subject to change), while the build featured here, with Shimano Ultegra, Deda bars, stem and seatpost and Shimano RX31 wheels, takes the price closer to the £1,500 mark.

Both the full carbon fork and asymmetric rear triangle have been reinforced to withstand the forces generated by the disc brakes

Ribble Ti Sportive Racing

The Ti Sportive Racing frame is also new to Ribble’s line-up and is the brand’s most expensive machine, with prices starting at £1,299.95 with Shimano Sora.

The Ti Sportive Racing is based on Ribble’s popular ‘sportive’ geometry

The Ti Sportive Racing is made from a 3AL/2.5V grade of titanium – the industry standard – and Ribble say the tube profiles have been picked to give the machine a traditional look, while offering a stiff and comfortable ride. Up front there’s a carbon fibre fork.

The frame is based around Ribble’s ‘sportive’ geometry and that means it’s more relaxed than the Endurance bike we’ve already run through, providing a more upright riding position. A 55cm bike pairs a 557mm toptube with a 175mm headtube.

If you want to go full titanium, adding the CSN titanium stem and CSN titanium seatpost in the build pictured above, complete with a Campagnolo Chorus and Campag’s Shamal wheelset, sees the price go up to £2,870.

Ribble R872

The R872 has been in the Ribble range since 2013 and is an updated version of the Stealth race bike.

The R872 is a race bike at heart built from high-modulus T800 Toray carbon fibre and Ribble say it’s been designed with stiffness as a priority, with the headtube and bottom bracket bulked up with extra layers of carbon fibre, and the chainstays beefed up to 40mm-deep, to provide a rigid and responsive ride for road racing and fast riding.

The frame weighs 980g and is paired with a 400g carbon fork, with complete bike prices starting at £829.95 with Shimano Sora, with build options up to Shimano Dura-Ace Di2 and Campagnolo Super Record EPS.

Ribble Evo Pro Carbon

The Evo Pro Carbon is Ribble’s most affordable full carbon frame, with bikes starting from £699.95, though, as ever, there’s a wide range of build options to bump up the spec and price.

The frame is made from a 3K carbon with a clear coating to expose the carbon weave and has a ‘race’ geometry aimed, Ribble say, at road racing/triathlon. Frame weight is a claimed 950g for a small frame.

Ribble Aero 883

Ribble say the Aero 883 is the most aero road race frame they have ever produced, with plenty of wind-cheating features on display.

Ribble say the Aero 883 is the most aero road bike frame they have ever produced

Ribble say the frame was designed in conjunction with ‘one of the UK’s leading advanced engineering groups’, Performance Engineered Solutions in Sheffield, with the Aero 883 the results of hours of computer simulations which went into the producing the final aero tube profiles.

The wind-cheating features include tube profiles include flat seatstays which join the seattube below the toptube, while the Kammtail-profiled seattube has a rear wheel cutaway. The seatpost is also aero-profiled and the the rear brake caliper is hidden behind the bottom bracket.

The Aero 883, made from a blend of Toray T800 and T1000 carbon fibre, is the most expensive of Ribble’s carbon frames, with complete bikes starting from £1,189.95.

The Aero 883 cuts few corners in its bid to cheat the wind – the bladed seatstays help to reduce drag and the rear brake has been hidden behind the bottom bracket

Ribble Gran Fondo

The Gran Fondo is Ribble’s all-rounder, combining a carbon frame with a relaxed geometry, and designed to combine comfort and stiffness.

The frame was designed in conjunction with Italian specialists Dedacciai and Ribble say it’s a machine equally at home on a sportive – hence the ‘gran fondo’ moniker, the Italian name for a sportive – or if you want to dabble in amateur road racing.

The geometry is largely the same as Ribble’s other carbon road frames but comes with a slightly taller headtube for a more relaxed position. Prices start at £756.95, though the build pictured here, with Campagnolo Super Record, show what’s possible.

Ribble say the Gran Fondo’s curved and kinked tube profiles improve comfort

Ribble 7005 Sportive

A 7005-series aluminium frame forms the basis for several of Ribble’s bikes, including the 7005 Sportive, 7005 WInter, 7005 CR1 cross bike and the women’s-specific 7005 Sportiva Women’s. Let’s start with the 7005 Sportive, which comes with a basic build price of £529.95.

The 7005 Sportive is based on the former Sportive Bianco

Based on Ribble’s former Sportive Bianco road bike, the 7005 Sportive features a fuss-free alloy frame and carbon fork. The geometry is designed to suit both commuting or sportive riding, according to Ribble.

Ribble 7005 Winter

The 7005 Winter, meanwhile, is designed to cope with the demands of winter and, as a result, has mudguard eyelets. In fact, it’s specced with full mudguards as standard.

The 7005 Winter comes with mudguards as standard

Despite the subtly aero-profiled downtube and carbon-bladed fork, the 7005 Winter has an old-school look that wouldn’t have looked out of place on a 1990s club run, with the horizontal toptube and fuss-free frame. This is a machine designed to do the job in hand at an affordable price, with base price for the 7005 Winter with 11-speed Shimano 105 set at £623.94.

Ribble 7005 Sportiva Women’s

The 7005 Sportiva Women’s comes to the party with a women’s-specific geometry.

The 7005 Sportiva Women’s has a female-specific geometry

Ribble say they’ve concentrated on three areas to improve comfort – a taller headtube, smaller headtube angle and longer wheelbase. Complete bikes start at around £530.

Ribble 7046 Sportive Curved

Taking its name from the curved top tube, the 7046 Curved is Ribble’s other aluminium frame, built from their own ‘UltraLite 7046’ aluminium which they say helps them keep the price low.

The Ribble 7046 Curved takes its name from the curved toptube

Ribble say this has been designed as a fast everyday bike for commuting, the club run or sportive event. The geometry is once again largely based on that of the popular Sportive Bianco. Prices start at £639.95 and rise to approximately £1,300 with Campagnolo Chorus.

Ribble Sportive Racing

Launched last year, Ribble’s 2015 Sportive Racing frame blends T700 and T800 carbon fibre in a design said to combine comfort and speed.

The Sportive Racing was launched in 2015

The relaxed geometry and taller headtube put the rider in a more comfortable position and the tapered headtube is designed to offer pin-point steering. Out back, the wishbone seatstays has also been beefed up in a bid to boost the frame’s responsiveness, while, as a whole, the frame’s squared-off tube profiles are designed to offer a stiff, responsive ride.

Prices start at £819.95, though the Sportive Racing is available with anything up to Shimano Dura-Ace Di2, Campagnolo Super Record EPS or SRAM Force 22.

The frame blends Toray T700 and T800 carbon fibre

Reynolds 525 Steel

Besides the 7005 Winter we ran through earlier, Ribble’s other dedicated winter offering is this classic-looking machine crafted from Reynolds 525 steel.

The classic frame can accept full mudguards and also has eyelets for a rear rack, making it a versatile machine for commuting, winter training, audax or light touring.

Ribble say the 525 Steel harks back to the days when they used to build and paint frames in their workshop in Kirkham, Lancashire. Nowadays, this model starts at £604.95.

The 525 uses a mudguard-compatible CSN Blackstorm fork

Ribble Sportive 365

The Ribble Sportive 365 is another frame based on the Sportive Bianco, this time a full-carbon all-round offering with versatility at its heart.

Ribble’s 365 is designed to be versatile – use mudguards for your winter training or unclip them and get racing

Built to accept mudguards, but without having to extend the chainstays or fork length, the bike also boasts a race-ready geometry. It’s a bike designed so you can fit full mudguards for winter training and take them off for a sportive or to race, without the need for dedicated winter/summer bikes.

Base price, with Shimano Sora, is £814.95. Upgrade to Shimano Ultegra and Shimano RS31 wheels (to name one combo) and the price rices to £1,393.70.

Ribble Aero Carbon TT

The Aero TT is another new addition to the Ribble line-up for 2016.

Internal cable routing, a fin-shaped front fork and teardrop tube profiles all feature on the Ribble Aero TT

A fin-shaped front fork and teardrop tube profiles on the downtube, toptube and seattube, which also has an aggressive rear wheel cutaway, all contribute to the frame’s aero prowess. The short headtube also decreases the frontal area and places the rider in a low, aggressive position, and the oversized bottom bracket is designed for maximum stiffness.

Prices for the Aero TT start at £1,199.95 with Shimano Tiagra.

Cyclo-Cross

Ribble’s 2016 range also includes two cyclo-cross bikes – the alloy CR1 and carbon CR3.

The CR1 is another of Ribble’s aluminium bikes

The former starts at £554.9 and has a toptube shaped for comfort if you’re lugging it over your shoulder in a ‘cross race, while the frame is made from 7005 aluminium and the bike comes with cantilever brakes.

The CR3, on the other hand, is new for 2016 and built for tackling the mud, tarmac, gravel or wherever else you want to ride. It’s Ribble’s take on an adventure bike.

The carbon CR3 is new for 2016 and is designed as a versatile machine for a variety of terrain

The carbon fibre frame has plenty of clearance for knobbly tyres but can also be fitted with slicks or fat road tyres. The frame has full internal routing and a tapered headtube, plus disc brakes come as standard. Prices start at £1,099.99.