[Closed] PSA Forme bikes at Start Cycles 60% off

Anyone tried one?
I'm tempted..

Looks a good solid build for £499.

Bolt through fork, finishing kit looks good, frame looks well finished.

I can't see much, maybe a Boardman, rivalling that without spending more.

I nearly bought a Winscar(?) frame a while back off of Loco on here. That looked to be very similar albeit a 29er with a 142 rear end.

IIRC it was light too.

What's the deal with their carbon road bikes, are they any good?

http://www.startfitness.co.uk/cycle/bikes.html?manufacturer=288

There are some great offers available , although I notice some of the frames are 2013 model year so pretty old. It looks like the groupsets are all a generation or so behind too.

Other than that I guess they're solid enough?

They do get good reviews. This is a billy bargain, I'd be snapping it up if I didn't already have a road bike:

http://www.startfitness.co.uk/cycle/bikes/forme-thorpe-pro-ultegra-carbon-road-bike-w-ksyrium-wheels-for67.html

Yes that's a superb bargain for one lucky, lanky buyer.

Quite tempted by that Ripley for the Mrs. Can't find any geometry details for the 16" frame though.

Difficult to find any info or reviews in the Ripley.
Would be interested if it was up to the job of handling red trails etc.

There's some geometry info for the 18" and 20" frames here;

[url= http://formebikes.co.uk/forme-ripley-1-27-5-mountain-bike.html ]http://formebikes.co.uk/forme-ripley-1-27-5-mountain-bike.html[/url]

A guy in a local club here just got the Ripley 1 as a winter hardtail to complement the susser and was very impressed.

Thanks, that's the newer model but i'm guessing it's the same frame.

Ross - is he using it on trails etc?

Center Parcs have just placed an order for 15,000 Forme bikes - they must be fairly robust!

Forme bikes have been around for a while on the CX scene and are very well respected.

I rode a Forme road bike for a couple of years.
Can't remember the exact model, but it was full carbon with Ultegra build..

It was a fantastic bike, maybe a tad on the heavy side for a full carbon frame. But it rode well, and handled great.
This obviously doesn't mean the MTB's will be the same, but for those prices I think its a great deal!

Cheers
J

Tempted by either the Ripley or the Winscar. Thanks for the PSA.

Ripley seems to be trail orientated and the winscar more Xc focused.

Ripley hardtail ordered, hope it's a good un.

I've taken a punt on a Ripley too. Went for the 12 month 0% interest finance deal. Will report back when it arrives.

OH ordered a 16" Ripley which should arrive tomorrow.
I'll put up some feedback if I get a chance to put it together before the weekend.

So bike arrived, well packaged & pretty much fully build (only handlebars & pedals to bolt on). Even the gears came properly indexed.

Really impressed with it, especially for £500. Build looks good, all the components are decent quality branded examples and everything is as stated except maybe the brakes as they are M447 rather than M615 (proper Deore).

Only thing that needs changing is a shorter stem. With the 780mm bars and 80mm steam it's both long in reach for my OH and sloooow. 40mm stem should fix both.

Kamakazie could you measure the wheelbase please. In that geometry link I know they only give 18 and 20" but the wheelbase has to be wrong else the reach is so short it can't be right with the head angle etc, I'm thinking 1150 and 1170 not 1050 and 1170 so your 16" 1130 odd

Also with the RL (?) forks, is it just open and locked or does the low speed compression adjust as you wind the adjuster round?

cheers

@ dlr

The wheelbase for the 18" and 20" is 1150 and 1170 respectively (I called Forme last week to check).

devash, great thanks, although possibly not so great for my bank account 😀

(Although it does beg the question as to why they haven't updated their website!)

The forks have 5 or 6 stages of compression adjustment from fully open to locked.

They are the Gold Solo Air but haven't confirmed if they are the RL (with motion control) or TK unless the TK is only open or closed?