# Ribble Hybrid AL-e (Fully loaded version)



## Jenkins (7 Jan 2022)

If Planet X don't get back to me within a week or so regarding an order I have with them, I will find myself with space & finance for one of these - even better as I could get it on cycle to work for a very good price as a partial retirement present to myself. I've not seen anyone on here mention they have one, but I would like to have anybody's experience of the Mahle X35 motor and the control system that is also fitted to other bikes.

https://www.ribblecycles.co.uk/ribble-hybrid-al-e-fully-loaded/

The other question is blue or copper?
(and yes, I am aware of the very long expected delivery time of August)


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## Joffey (8 Jan 2022)

Blue for me


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## Toshiba Boy (8 Jan 2022)

Bought the copper coloured one last year for Mrs TB. Lovely bike.


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## CanucksTraveller (8 Jan 2022)

That's some whacky chainstay design! Is that common on e-bikes? 

Lovely looking bike especially for an "E", I often think they can look a bit fugly but that's very elegant. The copper colour is very lovely but then that colour always appeals to me.


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## Specialeyes (8 Jan 2022)

We've got 2 CGR ALe in the fleet and they're terrific bikes, using the X35 motor. The 3 assist levels are completely customisable with the smartphone app (which has just been updated) within the maximum power outputs of each of the settings, so you can manage the tradeoff between range and assist. For example, you might set the lowest level (green) to output 50% of it's own max, just to compensate for the slight weight penalty of the motor and battery (it's still the lightest system out there), put the middle level (orange) at 75% of it's max but leave the highest assist (red) at 100% for fun, emergencies and super-steep hills.

The 'IWOC' button situated at the front of the top tube really is all you need and you will get the hang of it straight away: one press to wake it up (at which point it flashes green/amber/red/white to show you the current assist level) then each subsequent press scrolls you to the next assist level, with red (maximum) taking you back to zero and back round again. In simple terms, if you want to make life easier, press the button twice. (unless you're in 'red' max mode, in which case the rest is up to you! Honestly, it's easier to use than it is to describe

The button also acts as your battery level meter when you're not changing assist levels, showing constant white/green/amber/red for >75%/>50%/>25%/<25% battery levels.

You can also have the assist adjust automatically to your heart rate if you use an HRM. You can still get a proper max heart-rate workout if you want one, you will just travel a lot further in the process!

The torque from the motor is not as impactful as a mid-drive unit, which can give you quite a startlingly punchy boost - it kicks in more calmly, like having an invisible hand in the back from an incredibly powerful rider, which makes it feel a lot more natural. At the risk of offending eMTBers it's much more of an enhanced pushbike than an electric motorbike!

@Jenkins If you're ever near the Thames Riviera you're welcome to come have a play.


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## jowwy (8 Jan 2022)

CanucksTraveller said:


> That's some whacky chainstay design! Is that common on e-bikes?
> 
> Lovely looking bike especially for an "E", I often think they can look a bit fugly but that's very elegant. The copper colour is very lovely but then that colour always appeals to me.


The chainstay is common on a lot of gravel bikes these days, it helps with fitting bigger tyres and more clearence.


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## youngoldbloke (8 Jan 2022)

Lots of discussion re Mahle/EbikeMotion X35 system in the the various Orbea Gain threads.


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## Jenkins (8 Jan 2022)

Thanks to all so far, especially @Specialeyes for the offer of a test ride, but I'm on the Orwell Riviera, not the Thames. 

It's a nice and flat(ish) area for the commute but it can get quite breezy by the coast, so I'm not after high levels of assist. A 'proper' gearing system instead of the automatic one on the Van Moof (love the quirky looks 'though) I tried last year and that it comes fully equipped with mudguards & rack are what appeals. With a couple of changes to the standard spec I can get it on Cycle to Work for a touch under £1700.


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## cougie uk (8 Jan 2022)

Nice bike !


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## CXRAndy (8 Jan 2022)

Between the two standard colours, I would go copper. However they do custom, so would go something more funky. Lots of metal flake, pearl etc. An orange, red, purple or copper.


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## Jenkins (8 Jan 2022)

CXRAndy said:


> Between the two standard colours, I would go copper. However they do custom, so would go something more funky. Lots of metal flake, pearl etc. An orange, red, purple or copper.


I'd love to upgrade it in their Custom Colour option to be in the same metallic British Racing Green with yellow highlights as the Endurance 725 disc that they do, but that's a bit too spendy - I'll be sticking with copper or blue


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## CanucksTraveller (9 Jan 2022)

The copper colour is better than that by miles!


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## Jenkins (17 Jan 2022)

Well, the Cycle to Work voucher has been issued and the order is in. Upgraded to a carbon seatpost, SKS mudguards, G-One tyres and a couple of bottle cages. The final colour chioice was...


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## jowwy (19 Jan 2022)

Jenkins said:


> Well, the Cycle to Work voucher has been issued and the order is in. Upgraded to a carbon seatpost, SKS mudguards, G-One tyres and a couple of bottle cages. The final colour chioice was...
> View attachment 627088


Sweet ride that…..


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## emielou5 (22 Mar 2022)

jowwy said:


> Sweet ride that…..


Hi there, I ordered the same bike last week but am nervous about the long wait (Sometime in July) Was your bike ready when they quoted you it would be and are you happy with it?


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## Jenkins (6 Jul 2022)

At this rate I'll have finished paying off the Cycle to Work before the bike is delivered - the latest date is now the end of August.


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## wiggydiggy (6 Jul 2022)

Jenkins said:


> At this rate I'll have finished paying off the Cycle to Work before the bike is delivered - the latest date is now the end of August.



I like the bike, the earlier poster who described how the app can set power levels is interesting


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## Jenkins (28 Sep 2022)

Finally, after almost 9 1/2 months from the order date and just a couple of days away from the 8th cycle 2 work payment, a call from Ribble this afternoon regarding the bike build. For some reason it had come with (or they could only get hold of) a black bar, stem & pannier rack instead of the copper colour of the rest of the bike - would that be OK with me? As this would have been my preferred original option I had no hesitating in agreeing to this.

What this means is that my bike was scheduled to be built this afternoon (more likely tomorrow I expect) so I hope to be in posession soon. Bring on the easier commute giving me a bit more energy for human powered rides on my days off.


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## ColinJ (28 Sep 2022)

Jenkins said:


> Well, the Cycle to Work voucher has been issued and the order is in. Upgraded to a carbon seatpost, SKS mudguards, G-One tyres and a couple of bottle cages. The final colour chioice was...
> View attachment 627088


@Littgull has been whizzing about on his new AL-e for the past month or so and is very happy with the bike. Perhaps he will call in here and give you a mini-review?


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## Jenkins (5 Oct 2022)

Good news - it finally arrived this morning. At 07:55 having just got to work and changed there was a text from Parcelforce saying the delivery was scheduled between 08:00 an 09:00  Another 50 minutes later and I had a call from the Parcelforce driver asking what to do and I agreed for it to be left round the back of the house out of sight and texted confirmation to hiim.
Having knocked off work a couple of hours early, I then spent the afternoon getting everything set up how I like it and a couple of short trips round the close to make sure everything works and a brief check of the motor. I've set it up in 'Urban' mode, charged the battery and will try it out on the commute on Thursday 

Depending on how it goes, I may get some Ergon (or Wiggle own brand version) grips as I like bar ends on my flat bar bikes plus a saddle bag for the spare tube, etc so I can run without the pannier which is where they are at the moment.
Naked





In full commute mode


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## Jenkins (6 Oct 2022)

First thoughts afetr today's commute - the riding position still needed minor tweeking by raising the saddle, moving it forward a fraction and putting the nose up a few degrees. The slightly swept back riser bars don't make for the most comfortable hand position and a 50mm stem make the bars seem a bit close, so I've ordered the Lifeline lookalikes of the Ergon grips as I kept automatically moving my hand to non-existant bar ends and may consider getting a properly flat bar such as the Planet X one I have on another bike.

Still need to get used to riding with panniers as and they don't half add a bit of weight to the back end of the bike (which isn't bad without them) and I kept going over the speed humps on a couple of roads as if I was riding all my other bikes which don't have racks. One Ortlieb easily carried the tool bottle, spare tube, laptop & accessories (in a neoprene sleve), uniform clothing to be washed and a couple of other small bits on the homewards leg, so I could just use one pannier to take stuff in to work at the start of the week, leave it in a locker and then bring it home at the end of the week if I get a saddle bag for the tube, etc.

In use: Surprisingly fast and comforable, partly due to being ordered with upgraded tyres and a carbon seat post added to a Charge Spoon saddle ordered from elsewhere. It may be my more push-on style of riding, but quite a lot of the ride time was spent over the 15.5mph motor cut-off, to the extent that I averaged 15mph over a 29 mile round trip commute (normally 16-17mph on a road bike). In general I wasn't aware of a major assist from the motor, but that may be due to my settings (see below) however the much easier pedaling in traffic and pulling away from a stop was noticable.

Battery usage: To be on the safe side I set it up in 'Urban' mode (the middle of the 3 pre-sets) and only used the minimal assistance level (again of 3). From fully charged last night, I checked the stats on the 'My Smartbike' app the system links to when I got home to find there was still 93% left in the battery with a theoretical 310 miles range It's safe to say that I could up the assistance level if needed to complete a week's commuting (3 days) without needing to charge the battery.

The idea is that this will be my main commuter bike and certainly will be in anything other than good weather, but I can still see the Van Nicholas being used quite a lot when the weather's good and there's no load carrying needed.


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## youngoldbloke (7 Oct 2022)

It would be interesting to see just how much assistance you actually used. If you look at the details of the ride recorded in the app (in 'Activities') it will show details - under the 'bike' symbol - of % time assistance used at each level, and without any assist. I suspect you actually used very little assistance at all, given the % battery charge remaining and theoretical range remaining.


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## Jenkins (7 Oct 2022)

youngoldbloke said:


> It would be interesting to see just how much assistance you actually used. If you look at the details of the ride recorded in the app (in 'Activities') it will show details - under the 'bike' symbol - of % time assistance used at each level, and without any assist. I suspect you actually used very little assistance at all, given the % battery charge remaining and theoretical range remaining.



Unfortunately I recorded the ride on my Garmin as usual, so I don't have any stats to look at. The app was only used to set the mode and to have a look at the battery level when I got home, but I may try it next week. You would probably be right about using little assistance as I do tend to push a bit hard on the commute and most of the times I looked at the Garmin display it was showing over 16mph.

Interestingly something is recording the mileage independantly as, in the app under Settings - eBike information, there's a display for 'Controller data' which shows a bit over 30 miles which would be the commute and the short trips used to set up the riding position and to bed the brakes in.


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