[Closed] Ribble's new stealth e-bike

Have Ribble sacked the guy who put the Ribble stickers on!  Some nice looking bikes in their range now, not dripping in logo's anymore.  Looks alright that e-bike, if that's your thing.

Love it!

Up to 750w like the broadband? Only comes with 250 according to the blurb

Think their target market for this is people who don't want others to know it's an e-bike.. unless it's noisy, then if this passed you, then you probably wouldn't know

Blurb says add on batteries for 750W, they’re not hiding anything...... other than the motor

That’ll be 750whours no? Powering a 250w motor?

There are some interesting new cross / gravel / commuter bikes in the range - all on display at the bike show but not seen much coverage.

Needs an MOT, CBT, insurance. tax and registration.

Not to mention the impact all the CHEATING will have on STRAVA.
then there will be no childrens faces anymore with all the irresponsible selfish obnoxious something sensored folk riding around without crumple zone bars on shared paths.

Oh.. .hold on... it's 3 grand.

Nevermind..

750whores does sound amazing tho

Looks like an identical system to the ones fitted to Orbea bikes?

I presumed its a 250Wh battery in the frame with a connection to fit a normal 500Wh e-bike battery.

If it is the same as the Orbea system the rear hub is small enough that you wouldn't give it a second glance, it just looks like a powertap or Chubb hub, smaller than an average cassette.

I liked the idea, they're supposedly light enough that you can ride them on the flat in a normal clubrun at 15mph+ with just enough assistance to keep up on the hills. Ideal for those octagenerians that still turn up on a Sunday morning but have to turn back at the cafe stop. I doubt that's who'll buy it though.

'The competitive rider, just set the power setting to Red and you have 40NM of additional power boosting you up to an Elite level climber.'

Which competition are they in? The one to see who has the best hidden motor?

Oh.. .hold on… it’s 3 grand.

On that note, how much is ~2W/kg worth of EPO and HGH?

dunno I'm more of an MDMA and THC kinda guy

Just googled it, based on NICE figures HGH is £3250 for a year and EPO about £6 per injection. Although like e-bikes you can get it cheaper from Asia!

Tried the Orbea version out at the NEC Cycle Show last weekend. Seemed like quite a nice gentle amount of power. They only had a flat circuit with a small artificial hill in the middle so difficult to get a proper feel for it. However it was pretty light for an electric bike.

I don't mind that it's an e-bike, but those seatstays....

Yup, like that but slightly more commutery, would take the sting out of January mornings

Oh.. .hold on… it’s 3 grand.

Nevermind..

and only 11kg, no way you can sound so manly riding that with the power turned off 😉

If the charger is light and small then maybe this is the future of e-bikes, a little assistance charge when you need to stop for cake and carry on. Carry a bigger battery for long remote days if you want. Still a sensible weight overall if you want to pedal it faster without a massive weight penalty.

If the charger is light and small then maybe this is the future of e-bikes, a little assistance charge when you need to stop for cake and carry on. Carry a bigger battery for long remote days if you want. Still a sensible weight overall if you want to pedal it faster without a massive weight penalty.

I suppose it depends on the rider. I'm ~90kg (and 6lb of extra bike isn't really going to impact that) and have no problem sitting on the front for my turn at ~23mph on the flat. But generally get spat out the back as soon as the gradient goes up. An extra 70W or so at low speeds (climbing) would probably give enough oomph to sit in the group all the time.

I'd rather suffer and get fitter, but I can see the appeal of a quick fix.

More of this kind of thing please. Just drop all the "competitive" marketing. This is an ace transport solution, almost.

Emotion x35 m1 motor?

Good stuff, looking forward to seeing how e bikes improve over the next few years (and hopefully come down in price too...)

are e-bikes allowed on club runs?

More commuter-y you say?

How about these?

http://www.fullycharged.com/e-bikes/bike-brand/Desiknio-eBikes

More commuter-y you say?

How about these?

I do like the pinion one. Not 5k like but... If only they did more than 15mph they would make the perfect commuter as is 95% of the time I'm either going to be lugging a battery beyond the assist speed or not getting any quicker any how as I'm stuck in slow moving traffic. Admittedly for the other few minutes of each ride where the hills kick up it would be a bit of a bonus.

I’d rather suffer and get fitter

But you can still suffer as much as you like - you just go faster during the suffering.

This is an ace transport solution

Of all the (good quality) ebikes designed to be ridden on road, this is probably the worst I’ve seen to use as a transport solution.

Not built to carry anything, not much power, short range etc. There are hundreds of better ebikes to use for transport purposes than this one.

But that’s not what they designed it for really, so that’s not a negative point for the bike at all.

Yeah, but Castelli guy looks so cool in the pics, I’m sold!

I was going to say that I don't get the point of this because I thought road bikes were all about taking on climbs from a fitness rather than technical aspect. But I then remembered that roadies sometimes do all that complex training where they're keeping in heart rate zones or power ranges and therefore you could programme a bike like this to let you do that and still ride with others or in terrain that would normally force you to ride harder when you shouldn't be.

Gah! It looks fine to me. Ride one if you want, don't ride one if you don't want etc.

But, jesus - sort those units out!

I'm surprised that a bike shop in Lancashire is making the worlds lightest e-bike. Surely it's an open mould jobby from china? Maybe they've agreed some sort of licencing arrangement where they are the first to use it.

I rode the Orbea gain version of this the other week (well a flat barred version) back to back with a standard commuter type Ebike (Raleigh strada) as I’m considering getting an ebike but struggling with the generally fugliness that comes with them.

As a tool for commuting I can’t see the point. I’d want more power to get me up the hills without breaking too much of a sweat. (My commute is 12 miles each way with 2500 feet of climbing a day). Plus by the time you’ve added mudguards, a rack, panniers and lights the weight differential disappears

As a bike to ride for pleasure allowing longer days with more climbing and still helping with fitness I think it’s ideal.

When on a road bike are you going much under 15 mph?  (unless you live in the alps).

are e-bikes allowed on club runs?

Depends on the club and/or the section you are riding with. On our social rides, I'm pretty sure it won't be a problem, but on the faster rides, words might be had. Anyway, as the assistance stops at 15mph, an 18mph+ club run isn't going to see you using the electric assistance that much so if you need power-assistance for the hills, chances are you'd be struggling to keep up on the straights anyway.

Quite fancy a go at one though... 🙂

But you can still suffer as much as you like – you just go faster during the suffering.

Actually it'd be slower, assuming that the motor would only kick in when the speeds drops <15mph, that would only be on hills, on anything flat or slightly up you'd be riding a bigger heaver bike with some inevitable motor/hub drag.

When on a road bike are you going much under 15 mph?  (unless you live in the alps).

The opposite of the above, anything more than 1-2% gradient.

As a bike to ride for pleasure allowing longer days with more climbing and still helping with fitness I think it’s ideal.

Suppose it depends if you're solo or on a group ride. If solo then why not just stick a climbing cassette on the bike and go for a shorter ride of the same duration?

My parents and OH all have e-bikes, when I go out with them the pace is very different to a club run even if the average speed is similar. We're pootling along on the flat, then it's balls out all the way up the hills. Which is why I said they'd be fine for the really old guys on the club run who have always done it and want to keep up with the social aspect of cycling clubs, they'd be able to keep up but would be more likely to respect the pace of the group.

But they wouldn't work for someone "lazy but competitive" who took one along to a 15-16mph clubrun as they'd blast off the front up hills when everyone else drops to ~10mph and then be stuck off the back on the flats when the speed picks upto ~23mph. Yes they could just pedal harder than everyone else on the flats to keep up, but then why bother with an e-bike, you may as well have been on a normal bike and kept your effort in sync with everyone else's.

Where they would be ideal is cargo bikes and towing trailers, where you're already able to maintain the average speed on the flats, but could do with some extra oomph on the climbs.

with some inevitable motor/hub drag

You know this or just made it up?
My Emtb has no motor drag above assist cut out and can use any normal mtb hub I choose so exactly the same drivetrain drag as a normal bike.
I've no idea what motor the ribble uses. Why I ask.

If you can use any normal MTB hub it means you don't have a hub motor; the Ribble uses a rear hub motor.

You know this or just made it up?

Know, it's the drawback of hub motors Vs mid mount.

I’ve no idea what motor the ribble uses.

Stop being so combative and read the link then.

no need to read the link. STW has all the answers. 😉

Plus.

it's 3 grand. You've just confirmed it's rubbish. Neither of us are going to ever buy one.

Thanks both

This bike is built around this drivetrain:

https://www.ebikemotion.com/web/x35-light-smart-ebike-system/

So does this hub system work like the motor in the levo etc. Ie does it give a percentage increase on your own power, or is it like the cheaper bikes I've seen that are either on or off.

I know nothing much about road bike sizing, but is this chap riding a bike two sizes too small for him?