[Closed] My first Road bike- Considering a Ribble Sportive - any others?

Very happy with my Ribble Sportive that I've had for a few months now. The stock wheels are absolute pants though. The rear got sent back within 2 weeks and got replaced FOC and I've just had to replace the front wheel with an old one I had. Both due to really poor cup n cone hubs. The frame itself is lovely though, very comfortable to ride. It's also my first "proper" road bike though so I have nothing to compare it with really. Bought mine with the 105 kit.

Planet X was the close second choice.

Fulcrum racing 5? (+£115) or Kysirum elites?

No they were the ITM Aero 2.4. Mine's the Sportive Racing frame by the way.

Planet X Pro Carbon. Had mine just over a year now. Sram Red for a grand!Model B wheels are exceptional value. Cant fault it. Every time I ride it, it just puts a huge grin on my face.

Cannondale Synapse 105

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Comfy ride

I've got a sportive bianco with sram red, very pleased with it but the ITM Aero 2.4s were not much cop, very difficult to get a wide variety of tyres on them so sold fairly sharpish.
A very comfortable, good value, good handling frame (I've got steel and aluminium road bikes and rate the ribble), we've had three bikes and loads of kit off Ribble and never had any problems with them

Boardman?

Planet X, had a Pro Carbon for 3 year now, no issues with it. not keen on the Model B wheels thou, had used these before, have had issues with cassetes digging into the freehub splines, and as I had a spare set of Fulcrum 5's from a stall project, stuck the Model B's on ebay before riding the bike.

Fulcrum racing 5? (+£115) or Kysirum elites?

I have the elites on my summer bike, and have been pretty happy with them, stiff, durable and not to lardy. Good for climbing, but not to aero if that's what your after. They replaced a set of fulcrum 5's which for the money, again plenty durable for riding around the potholed roads of Derbyshire, but just over 300 grams heavier iirc. I put just over 12k miles on them in three seasons, I replaced the rear bearings and they still had good life left in them when I sold them. So for me, it would just depend how spendy you want to get. Obviously, STW standard advice is get hand builts, but I'd happily run either of these two wheelsets again.

My conclusion when I was buying at this price the Planet-X and the Ribble's were pretty similar in terms of spec.

In the end I went for neither as I got an Orbea from my LBS. The spec is not quite as good but I love it and getting it from a LBS was a huge help for my first road bike.

current issue of Cycling Plus tests a load of 1K bikes - worth having a read. The giant Defy won by a fair margin...

I just ordered a 2011 cannondale caad8 tiagra for £589 posted from triton cycles, seems like a bit of a bargain to me. Don't think the next model up was too dear either.

I just ordered a 2011 cannondale caad8 tiagra for £589 posted from triton cycles, seems like a bit of a bargain to me. Don't think the next model up was too dear either.

Top job!

That does seem like good value but I think I'm firmly bang inbetween the remaining two sizes (56 and 61)- I'm 6ft1.6

Surprised there's only one recommendation for Boardman so far!
I don't have one, but if I was looking for a lot of bike for a little money that's where I'd be looking.

That does seem like good value but I think I'm firmly bang inbetween the remaining two sizes (56 and 61)- I'm 6ft1.6

I have a 61cm in cannondale and i am 6'5" they size up bigger than others..

but 56 would would be too small..

as a few of mentions - Giant are ace value and well spec'd good looking - but with their compact sizing too small for me even in XL

CAAD 10

Surprised no one had mentioned the Canyon!
https://www.canyon.com/_en/roadbikes/bike.html?b=2501
Works out as £840 posted and has one hell of a spec for your buck. Sram Apex groupset (£400 alone), Mavic Aksium wheels and nice finishing kit. Im n the exact same position. Will be buying myself one and save the rest to travel/fix. Just a note of warning though, the canyon sizing comes in as 2cm above the norm. So dont be shocked if they suggest a larger frame to you.

Going a bit left field here but, what about a steel handbuilt?

Bob Jackson 631 any colour in 1/2" increments.
SRAM Apex groupset inc chain and cassette.
Shimano 501 wheels.
Will cost you £912.41 Though you'll still need bar/stem/post/saddle/tyres & tubes

Oldgit oh hello. Edit you mean buy bits seperate and build as BJ's site is frame eefurb/build not other services?

Yep, frame £458 and Ribbles for the groupset and wheels. Pretty certain that just leaves tyres/tubes and contact points?

I built my Sportive up a couple of years ago. The builds options were OK VFM but I still got it cheaper and what I wanted by shopping around.
The build has Rival groupset, Easton bars, stem and seatpost, Prologo saddle, and Pro-Lite Bracciano wheels for £1200.

£485 even

hora forget the BJ and get a proper modern bike not a noodly/heavy stovepipe frame with a quill stem. if you want steel get a 'modern' oversize bike but your budget is not big enough (unless you get one of the guerciotti deda-eom/columbus frames they are knocking out.

my choice would be an alloy cannondale, easy to sell when you get bored/realise you bought the wrong size.

i am in exactly the same boat as OP hora in terms of price, requirement and height! any info will be gratefully stolen for my personal application.

any planet x users able to guide on sizing for someone like hora and me, i.e. just under 6'2"?

Thing Hora hasn't mentioned that he want's a race bike. Steels been good enough for decades, and still is among Audaxers and tourists. Also it wont shit itself if you clamp bits and bobs to the frame.
The Bob Jackson isn't quill it's 11/8" ahead and is OS.
If you want a noodley frame then get a PX or Ribble, even more so if you like the sound of wheels touching the sides under load. Cheap carbon has no redeeming features.
And before you pipe up Realman, your only the size of Horas left arm 😉

The Ribble may be brilliant, but imagine having the same bike as Realman?!

Ride some, see what you like, there is plenty of decent ones for that money, and you may find you can get something where people dont automatically think you are a MTBer out on their first road bike because its the new golf..

just picked up a CAAD10 (105) off here for a mate. Very nice bike.

New 2011 ones come in just under a grand, if there's any left. Nice frame, and would upgrade nicely.

I heard it through the grapevine that Ribble are struggling to flog their cheap carbons these days. Not enough cred and too much competition from the new kids on the block - Cube, Canyon et al.

And before you pipe up Realman, your only the size of Horas left arm

I hadn't even got here yet!

Cheap carbon has no redeeming features.

That's not true. It looks nice and it's cheap. There's two.

The Ribble may be brilliant, but imagine having the same bike as Realman?!

Dare he live as few men dare to dream?

It is nice though..

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But so are the canyons, although you haven't really said what you want it for...? Racing? Sportives? Commuting? Club runs? Touring? Do you want to put mudguards and big tyres on it? Panniers?

Need:
- to drop weight (a stone from 16 to 15 ready for Spring trails). Help with climbing.
- The Peak100 in April is my first target.
- Solo rides early weekend mornings when I really need to be back early to spend the day with ToddlerHora.
Sometimes climbing into a car to drive to a trail feels like a rush/commute. Sick of it
- amateur mixed ability road rides

But tbh mainly solo rides when I can get out and back inbetween the rest of life.

Itd be fantastic to find a lightish steel frame, carbon forks and say 105 or equal Sram groupset with good wheels.

Question- With the Ribble, is my chubster upperbody weight over the front will flex Ribble carbon frame? Andyhilton of this parish leant my his old Ribble Ribelle with carbon Shimano? Wheels and boy did it feel like a slingshot when you started pedalling!

I used to have a Planet X SL, that was a fairly decent bike. I think they still sell them aswell. It climbed really nicely, there was loads of room when standing up going up steep hills, I even managed to climb hardknott pass on it!!!

It was fairly comfy, not really stiff, but nice for riding about on. I think the front end/forks were a bit flexy but it didnt bother me too much. I'm 6'2" and had the XL size.

Hora, I've been looking at the Cannondales too. I'm around the same height and weight as you at the minute....

http://www.paulscycles.co.uk/products.php?plid=m7b65s6p3670

don't go on a wild goose ebay chase for something 'cheap' go to a shop and get some quality sizing advice and buy one of the usual suspects dale/cube/boardman etc.
i would rather pay slightly more for a dale/spec/trek/giant/fuji and have some good advice to go with it plus the usually essential stem length change and spacer adjustment by somebody who knows what they are doing not anecdotal sizing 'advice' off an internet forum.

actually ignore that and just buy something snazzy looking.

actually ignore that and just buy something snazzy looking.

Thats the best way to do it I think.

Bregante that's a good first bike. You don't look as fat as me 😉

The CF8 looks right up your street Mark-[url= http://www.dutchandwolf.co.uk ]Cheap run-around[/url]. They have neglected to mention the price though 😉

I wouldn't rule out the planet x superlight team alu frame and fork package, add to that a sram apex group, some of the vision trimax wheels (going for a song at px) or even the px al30's, and some low end deda finishing kit that offers plenty of bang for your book and IMO you would be looking at a tidy bike.

Ady blimey they don't have a sale section do they 😮

Mrsmith, I once borrowed a bike off of popo after I'd chipped my Patella/was off the bike for abit a year ago and it wasn't the right size.....it gave me back ache. So you're right.

I can see it now:

Soon to be seen in the classifieds:

For Sale: Ribble road bike, used once, reason for sale: head angle too steep/seat angle too steep/top tube too long/bar tape wrong colour/fickle owner...

😉

Top job!

Thanks to you for letting me know about the deal in the first place 🙂 worried now you've said they come up big though, I got a 54 as it seems about the same (just looking at the geometry charts that is) as the 2 specialized that I've had in the same size, both of which felt pretty comfy..

😆 you can have my pearson steel trackbike if you want? 😉

Reading CyclingPlus Dolan Mythos anyone? (Probably the same factory/catalogue as the Ribble???)

i was goin for the cannondale synapse, but it was going to be months before the bike shop could get the order in and they werent sure how much stock they would be alod at the time so i decided on the Specialized Dolce road bike.... great first roadd bike ..imo.
saw some nice cannondale road bikes in the bike shop the other day too... 😉

Hmmm I dont think you need to spend a lot on a road bike that will be a good bike for the likes of you and me. Road bikes dont suffer the same wear and tear as mountain bikes so good condition second hand is a good option and there are some silly bargains about at the moment.

I have a Giant defy 2 (2010) which had been upgraded to a new 10 speed 105 groupset came with a computer and was in mint condition. This one http://www.giant-bicycles.com/en-gb/bikes/model/defy.2/4861/38959/ Cost me £480. Bought off ebay with an inconvenient finishing time and collection only. Love riding it. Like I say - dont need to spend a lot...

EDIT £700 here http://www.ashcycles.com/site/giant-defy-1-2011?zenid=8adcd9568dc15c5ffbaf69180f1aecd7

Anyone had/have experiences of a Dolan? They are close enough to visit/fit etc for me.

http://www.dolan-bikes.com/road-bikes/Carbon/Sram%20Op/Mythos%20Road%20Bike

On another angle how about I pick up this as a joblot (not the wheels) and add a groupset & wheels from Ribble?

Hora, funnily enough I just bought my first road bike in 22 years! I need to get out more hence the decision.

I test rode a few bikes. What I found was that the modern carbon racing bikes were like patting a rabid Rottweiler when compared to your average mountain bike. The geometry and position on the bike is terrifying!

Also the ride on modern carbon bikes is massively stiff and uncomfortable, even if you've been used to riding a steel hardtail.

In the end I went for this:

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It's a self build that cost me £1400 (£100 more than the 105 equipped complete bike - Equilibrium 20 - which I thought was a bargain considering the upgraded kit I got) but you can get the Equilibrium 10 for £999.

I found that the combination of steel tubing and relatively relaxed geometry was a much better fit for my first road bike in 20 years. You might find the same.

This bike also has clearance for mud guards which for winter use will be a huge benefit.

If I were looking at a road bike to do what you're after I'd be making sure it had clearance and eyelets for mudguards and perhaps panniers, if you want to nip out of the door for a quick ride and be back again to look after sproglet, and this is mainly for spring riding to get you fit, then I'd want to be able to ride it in all weathers.

Me I use my old Lemond Poprad CX bike for all these things, slightly wider (more comfortable tyres) and loads of space to put my mudguards on to keep me relatively clean.

I made this mistake back in 1999 by buying a pure racing bike as my first bike back into fitness, I soon realised that having a nice set of mudguards especially where I live was important!

That Genesis that Geetee's showing looks just the job!

is it mad that I could never own a Ribble, just because I think its a crap name?

I made this mistake back in 1999 by buying a pure racing bike as my first bike back into fitness, I soon realised that having a nice set of mudguards especially where I live was important!

crud roadracer or sks.

turns a nice handling race bike into a winter bike

is it mad that I could never own a Ribble, just because I think its a crap name?

Sort of. After all its not in the same ballpark as Dave H...... is it?

Another option? following on from GeeTee's comment on geometry -a lightish CX? i.e. http://singletrackmag.com/forum/topic/fs-red-kinesis-crosslight-pro-5-60cm?replies=3#post-3365662

Cube Attempt (or any other Cube road bike) - awesome spec for the price. Plus got one on sale from CRC for £650!

Were you not berating On-one in another post for manufacturing overseas? And now you're looking at Ribble

I second a Giant, plus it's easy enough to get a sit on of one more or less anywhere in the country. I bought a £500 quid new one 7 years ago and it's still going fine, a new bike wouldn't make me any quicker.

Were you not berating On-one in another post for manufacturing overseas? And now you're looking at Ribble

Berating? I just said I wouldn't buy another.

If you're really worried about comfort, why not go and see the nice people at Keep Pedalling and ask them about the Soma Double Cross. It's a comfy, skinny steel cross frame, but you could happily run road slicks in it and it'd be fine unless you're going racing. And without any disrespect, you're not going to be quick on the road, are you?

[they do road frames too. Rich and Shona there are ace and I'm sure they'd be happy to help]

What I found was that the modern carbon racing bikes were like patting a rabid Rottweiler when compared to your average mountain bike. The geometry and position on the bike is terrifying!

You get used to it.

Depends if you and me were racing down Cavedale 😉

Cheers I didn't know they were there. Will pop down. I miss Gbob and the Hippies place. 🙁

No worries.

Very happy with my just bought 2011 Giant TCR 0, alu frame carbon forks/seatpost and full Ultegra for £1000 from LBS (in sale, but it seems to be the current price give or take a quid or 20)