[Closed] I bought a £574 quid road bike blind, here's a quick review - Ridley R6 EL.

Its quite good.
http://www.merlincycles.com/bike-shop/bikes/road-bikes/ridley-road-bikes/ridley-r6-el-road-bike.html

I have ridden other road bikes for maybe 10 mins total excluding my brother's Raleigh Milk Race back in the 80s (which was great), so I'm not qualified to make comparisons...
BUT

It was an attractive purchase at the price having full Tiagra and being from Merlin who I have used before for MTB wheels. The guy on the phone steered me away from the Merlin Malt R due to my height. The Ridley is massive - 56cm is more like 60cm by other brands standards apparently. I'm 6ft 3 and feel a bit stretched even on the hoods, not uncomfortable on my 2hr rides but would need attention I'm guessing when I start going for longer.

I could find zero reviews for the cheap Ridleys so it was a total punt, but apart from 2 niggles which Merlin sorted out, its been great, feels fast, is great fun, bit like piloting a barge after my Chameleon, but seems to do the job and eats the miles.

So the niggles:
1) Front spokes shook themselves COMPLETELY loose after first ever 8 miles. I looked down to investigate the rattling sound and the wheel was flapping between the fork legs. There was literally no tension at all. Merlin were good - arranged pick up and I had a rebuilt front wheel 2 days later. Rock solid ever since, I still shit myself every time I hear a rattle heading downhill. I think they are pretty basic wheels and the hubs are not that smooth when you spin holding them in your hands, but on the bike - fine. Branded "Forza" Ridley own brand. I guess be warned, give them a tweak before hopping on the first time, maybe most people do that anyway.

2) "Full tiagra"... hmm. Arrived with black Truvativ Elita cranks. Everything else nice silver Tiagra, my sense of aesthetics massively offended. Merlin offered to swap but being impatient I decided to keep and ride, only to find front wheel immediately exploded into a million fragments - gutted.

I guess they were teething problems. Looking past that now I've been riding it a couple of months, I'm pretty happy, its solid now, feels light and fast. Things I will probably change - replace the triple with a double cos adjusting the triple seems to be a matter of compromising between parts of the range, unless I'm doing it wrong. Might get a slightly shorter stem too.

When I was looking for bikes in this price range, there was virtually nothing out there about these Ridleys, so perhaps this indecisive, inexperienced and totally unqualified reviewer might help someone make their mind up, or not. l8rs bye!!