Ribble Posh bikes

[Grant Fondo]

I was in Sainsburys today reading Cycling and noticed how expensive Ribble bikes have become. The beauty above is over £6200. How does a small company like this compete against the posh bike giants like Pinerello, Bianchi, etc etc?

 

[Racing roadkill]

View attachment 460584 I was in Sainsburys today reading Cycling and noticed how expensive Ribble bikes have become. The beauty above is over £6200. How does a small company like this compete against the posh bike giants like Pinerello, Bianchi, etc etc?

Speaking to the Ribble rep at the bike show in London last weekend was interesting. They use the fact that the bikes are designed and built in the U.K. and customer loyalty to lever against the big names ( who are nearly all using Chinese or Taiwanese facilities). The sticker says designer, but they’re made cheaply in China.

 

[Milkfloat]

Speaking to the Ribble rep at the bike show in London last weekend was interesting. They use the fact that the bikes are designed and built in the U.K. and customer loyalty to lever against the big names ( who are nearly all using Chinese or Taiwanese facilities). The sticker says designer, but they’re made cheaply in China.

Can you define built? If you mean component parts assembled in the UK, then fine, but I don’t see that as any real advantage over the same in the Far East, especially when you consider that all bikes will get a PDI in the UK.

 

[biggs682]

Have a look at Dave Hinde bikes he claims similar ie non taiwanese made .

Must admit they do look nice

 

[fossyant]

Dont forget those wheels take up a rather large proportion of the price that you don't get on a Big name, without paying even more

 

[Venod]

Was the rear triangle an afterthought, that's one ugly frame.

 

[Cycleops]

Was the rear triangle an afterthought, that's one ugly frame.

Beauty is in the eye etc but I wonder how thought has gone into these weird seat stay configurations and how much real benefit they give?

 

[Deleted member 1258]

Was the rear triangle an afterthought, that's one ugly frame.

I was thinking that, it is a fugly thing, it looks like its got mudguard eyes on the front, I wonder if its actually got room to fit a mudguard? And what about the back has it even got the fittings?

 

[IanSmithCSE]

Good morning,

I get the impression that Ribble are changing from the brand that many of use know, excellent value for money and a great range of parts to a bike only supplier trying to appeal to those with money.

As examples of this a few years ago you could buy;
Wheel sets from a bit less that a £100, the cheapest now is around £500.
Groupsets, hardly any are now available.
Front and rear mechs, you used to be able to get front and rear from Sora up to Ultegra, the choice is much more limited now.
Their cheapest frameset is £499, nothing like the the price of classic the aluminium frame available in your chce of colour as long as it was blue.
Or you can buy the 725 Endurance as a complete bike for £899 or just the frameset for £799, yes just £100 less.

A few years ago the 525 bike got a review in the Guardian and maybe the whole MAMIL market just appeared to good to pass up, but I fear that that market may dry up and leave Ribble high and dry.

People at all price points choose brands to show of that they can afford that brand or spend the same on a lesser known brand to show that they don't need to show off.

Most people here will know Rolex but do many know Grand Seiko? Yes Grand Seiko is part of the Seiko group but their watches have a similar price range for those watches that actually sell in any number.

Yes there are still great bargains in the Ribble range but you can no longer say that for the whole range.

I have been to the Birmingham sales room, which is sort of nice but it is a sales room for complete bikes not a bike shop. I know that this is what it says it is, but being able to afford a sales room in the middle of Brum without any income from spares is quite a brave step.

The recent web site revamp was is my view dire, filling the site with huge amounts of marketing texts and annoying videos.

My main ride is a 531 Ribble although most of the components are new and many came from Ribble.

Bye

Ian

 

[Levo-Lon]

Was the rear triangle an afterthought, that's one ugly frame.

Horrible.. Let's make something that looks wrong..

If your spending 6.5k on a bike that Planet X will do for far less and be the same.... I'd want a better name on the down tube, snobby absolutely . Ribble sounds like a Black Adder bike

 

[Joffey]

£6200 for the bike in that photo is a rip off.

Sram eTap: £1400
Zipp 302: £1050 (When I bought mine)
Frame (with integrated bar and stem); £2099

That leaves £1650 for cables, saddle, tyres etc. I also would think Ribble are paying less that those discounted prices above as they will be buying in bulk and direct.

 

[vickster]

Colour’s good

Rest of it is aesthetically grim, esp the wheels

 

[Paulus]

Just had a look at Ribble's website and they say the bike is a lot cheaper than quoted in the cycle mag. Is this the same bike?

Ribble Endurance SL R Series DiscBIKE BUILDER
Flagship Pro spec, the ultimate in Race and Endurance performance - Carbon Disc Road Bike
From: £2,899



The Endurance SL R Series is our flagship carbon endurance bike, this high-performance frameset is superlight and the semi-aero profile of the tubes makes it the lightest and fastest package that we offer

 

[Paulus]

Ribble do seem to of taken a big step away from the more traditional bikes they used to put together.

 

[TissoT]

Ribbles attempt of snatching a quick buck from those who don't know any better.