Ribble Winter/Audax 7005

[TeeQue]

I've been toying with the idea of buying a road bike for a while to replace the old mountain bike I'm currently riding.

I'm looking for something faster than the mountain bike (won't be hard!), relatively comfortable and ideally able to take a rack and mud guards.

After some research I'm also pretty much set on Tiagra over Sora.

The Ribble Audax 7005 is currently winning and I've just specced up the following which comes in at £686 and would love peoples feedback on it.

I'm going to need to measure myself to work out the frame size and I am slightly nervous about buying blind having never ridden a road bike but unfortunately that's the only way I can buy a Ribble and I can't get close to that spec for the price anywhere else.

So what are people's thoughts? Good first road bike? Good choice of spec? I've pretty much guessed at which wheels to get as I know the standard ones have bad reviews but other than that I didn't know what to go with; are the RS11's any good? Also, crank length, how do I know what I need?

Thanks in advance,

TeeQue

 

[StuAff]

Answered a question I had about your points in the 50 mile ride thread there…that old bike is highly unlikely to fit you correctly if you were a foot shorter when you got it. Correct fit on the bike is crucial to maximise your pedalling efficiency and prevent injuries from poor position. I would strongly recommending finding a decent LBS and getting them to do a bike fit before you buy- I can see from that spec you've got 40cm bars listed, that seems unlikely to me (I'm a scrawny guy and I ride 42s). The LBS might have a few options of their own for you, and even if you end up going for the Ribble they can make sure you get the right component sizes. The wheels seem decent enough for the price, but that's the easiest place to drop weight, so worth spending a bit more to upgrade I think.

 

[mcshroom]

The A530 pedals are also heavy (well mine are). Do you expect to be spending a lot of time riding in flats?

 

[Hacienda71]

Very popular around these parts. I have a Ribble 7005 race framed bike with Tiagra as my spare bike. It is fast enough. Not as light or quick as my carbon bike, but the difference in speed is small. Only really notice it in the hills and even then not by much.

 

[AndyRM]

Cracking bike with a great spec for the price, assuming it comes with the carbon Blackroad fork Ribble use. Only suggestion would be to get the wheels with a white decal if possible, but that's just a daft personal preference!

 

[TeeQue]

Brilliant thanks for all the feedback so far guys.

You've kind of confirmed my thoughts that I'd need to go to a LBS to get the fitting right, do they generally offer this as a paid service? I'd feel I was taking the p*ss abit if I went in and wasted all their time fitting me for a bike only to go and order one online.

Any LBS recommendations around Kidderminster/Bridgnorth (I live in Highley)?

 

[vickster]

You can go and get a fit from LBS, most charge £100-250 - either on your own bike or a jig. If you buy a bike, any decent LBS will sort you out size wise - and you get a free service and any issues sorted, not so online. Ribble have a shop too in Preston, you could always make a journey to see them, kill two birds and all that. Or get all your measurements, height, inside leg, shoulders, arms etc and phone Ribble for advice (if you can't plug all that in online somewhere)?

 

[TeeQue]

You can go and get a fit from LBS, most charge £100-250 - either on your own bike or a jig. If you buy a bike, any decent LBS will sort you out size wise - and you get a free service and any issues sorted, not so online. Ribble have a shop too in Preston, you could always make a journey to see them, kill two birds and all that. Or get all your measurements, height, inside leg, shoulders, arms etc and phone Ribble for advice (if you can't plug all that in online somewhere)?

Wow that's a lot more than I was expecting!

You might be right I'll give Ribble a call once I've got a full set of measurements and see what they think. I'm most concerned about the frame size as long as that's right I can always change things like bars and stem at a later date.

With regards to wheels I've just found out the RS11's have a fairly low spoke count, I've read else where it may be beneficial to follow a "the more spokes the better" rule especially as I could do with a high level of reliability (next to no public transport round here so if anything goes wrong and I can't get home I'm stuck). Also apparently the RS11's use some sort of proprietary spoke, is that right?

edit: Just to add I would much prefer to buy a bike from a LBS but I just can't see myself getting anywhere near the same spec for the money.

 

[vickster]

You get a couple of hours of someone's time for that though plus the kit isn't cheap It's cheaper if they fit you on your own bike which obviously isn't an option here

For under £700 you could get a 2013 Defy 2 with Tiagra, perhaps a Dolan, a Sensa Merlin plus a whole raft of other reduced older models

 

[AndyRM]

How tall are you? And do you have any freakish proportions (paging @Fnaar)?

I'm 6"1' and a 58 is bang on for me, though I suspect you'd be find going from around 6" - 6"2', perhaps more.

I've also got a 56 and a 60 which, with the correct set up are absolutely fine as well.

Personally I reckon that unless you're serious about racing, or are having a custom frame built, a fit is a bit of an extravagance

 

[TeeQue]

I'm 6", don't think I've got any freakish proportions (you'd have to ask my mrs ).

I think I'll get a proper set of measurements and see what Ribble think, I'm still young so don't have to worry too much about being slightly uncomfortable.

 

[the snail]

Great choice. Handlebars might be a bit narrow - measure the width of your shoulders and buy that width. Crank length is fine. At 6' you're probably between 56/58 frame, with a shorter/longer stem to suit.

 

[smokeysmoo]

I've had a couple of Ribble 7005's and they are brilliant bikes. I've only ever sold them for funds to pay for my the next bike to turn my eye.

I'm only 20 miles from their unit at Walton Summit so went along for a fit, but TBH I didn't agree with them and went one size bigger, I was right

The second one I bought as a frameset and built it myself.

All in all fantastic do it all road bikes IME,I wouldn't hesitate to recommend it.

 

[TeeQue]

Great choice. Handlebars might be a bit narrow - measure the width of your shoulders and buy that width. Crank length is fine. At 6' you're probably between 56/58 frame, with a shorter/longer stem to suit.

Brilliant so 172.5 crank that's that sorted. When you say shorter/longer stem what sort of lengths am I looking at? As standard the stem is 90mm is that considered on the shorter or longer side?

Does anyone have any opinions on wheels? I think it's currently between Fulcrum Racing Sport, Shimano R501, or Shimano RS11 (based on price). I'm looking for something relatively hard wearing and something which I can still get home on if a spoke breaks.

 

[vickster]

90mm is shorter, in my experience, most men's frames seem to come with a 110mm stem