Thanks again everyone for your help on this, I really appreciated it. I have received the
Ribble Endurance Al Enthusiast earlier this month and been for some great rides so far, around 250 miles total and I have sought out the local bike club in my new area as well.
Positives:
- I visited their Lancashire showroom and got some basic fitting advice (ie frame size choice), they were quite helpful
- I still think it was a great value purchase overall and I think the bike is thoughtfully designed down to the details and well spec'd.
- I'm pretty happy with the Old Man Mountain pannier solution which I've managed to fit successfully, as I really only have space and budget for one bike that has to do-it-all from fast summer club rides to harsh winter commuting. I think OMM is a great option here and would hopefully avoid any pitfalls of loading a racier frame with cargo (eg
this horror story on reddit) - especially as Ribble flip-flopped between their website which said the frame is not suitable for panniers versus their staff who said it would be fine to mount a rack on what is probably intended as a mudguard only frame hole.
Negatives from Ribble side:
- actually customising any of the options on the bike (eg different stem length) would've delayed the dispatch by several weeks so I was advised to not bother, which somewhat detracts from that selling point
- they prominently advertise a 30 day test ride whereby if your bike fit isn't great, you can return the bike for a refund or exchange although with some restocking fees involved. I've been considering going for a basic bike fitting at LBS and contacted Ribble just saying "I'm still in my test ride period, if the fit advice comes back advising to swap for say a longer stem, can we be pragmatic about this and just arrange a stem exchange by post rather than sending the entire bike back and forth" and their answer was basically no - somewhat surprising for me really, if you decide you're willing to take the risk that a customer sends their now used bike back for a refund minus a £80 restocking fee then why not consider doing the same for basic components individually, considering most decent LBS would fit on purchase and exchange for free on the spot
- don't feel I'm getting on with their stock Prologo Kappa RS saddle and will possibly swap the basic Specialized BG off my Tricross, not a big deal there though
- it is only a 3 year warranty even on the frame + fork although they vaguely mention an out-of-warranty preferential pricing / crash replacement type service
Overall really enjoying the bike and hoping for many years of faithful service!