Ribble Winter/Audax Frame

toby · Post by **toby** » 16 Sep 2013 22:13

Anyone ever ridden one of these;

http://www.ribblecycles.co.uk/sp/road-t ... ibbfraw220

??

... the BB30 shell on my Focus is now loose to the point where it rotates within the frame. While I await a warranty decision or decide to get the BB shell built back into the frame (I've found a place that will do this), I'm planning to get one of the above and just transfer the groupset, wheels, bars etc.

AlanW · Post by **AlanW** » 17 Sep 2013 06:02

Yep, I had one (well two actually but thats another story!!) for a while. And in summary you get exactly what you pay for, a cheap frame that gives you a poor quality ride.

Not only that, the frame geometry is just plain odd, so be very careful in your selection if you do decide to buy one. Hence why I ended up having two!

Tim · Post by **Tim** » 17 Sep 2013 07:33

Check out Dolan frames they have 58cm £79.99 in clearance frame only or £99 any size although they are similar to ribble weight wise.

http://www.dolan-bikes.com/index.php/cl ... esets.html

You do see a lot of those blue ribbles about though.

George · Post by **George** » 17 Sep 2013 09:30

I have recently retired one of those Ribble tourer frames (albeit an earlier version, but broadly the same thing). I agree with Alan: the geometry was weird, and I never felt totally stable on it.

Being a cheapskate, I've had several 'bargain' alloy frames and my experience is that they vary enormously. My current everyday bike has a Vitus frame that I picked up for next to nothing and has all the responsiveness of an inflatable bedfellow. On the other hand, my new touring bike has a Tifosi alloy frame, which handles very nicely. I chose it mainly because I had a more sporty Tifosi frame a few years back that was the best cheapo frame I've used. I binned it because it needed a respray and the front gear braze-on cracked, and dealing with those two things would have cost more than the frame was worth. Unfortunately, the thing I replaced it with (the Vitus) is nowhere near as good. I'm not sure what it is that makes the difference: geometry is certainly a big factor in ride quality generally, but the Vitus's geometry is very similar to the binned Tifosi. The difference there, I suspect, is the tubing. The Tifosi uses butted tear-drop-profile Columbus tubes and the Vitus has strange diamond-cross-section tubes, which I don't think are butted and seem to have no springiness at all.

My Ribble tourer was about midway between the nice Tifosi and the crap Vitus in terms of ride quality.

Tifosis are imported by Chicken and sold by various shops/online retailers, including Parkers and DotBike.

Kermit · Post by **Kermit** » 17 Sep 2013 13:32

Toby, I bought two alloy framed Ribbles about 5 years ago and they have been excellent for winter bikes and commuting. Ride quality fine and still going strong after quite a few thousand miles. As Tim says, they are very popular so beware making your decision on this small sample of opinions.

toby · Post by **toby** » 17 Sep 2013 13:43

This;

http://www.edencycles.com/Dolan-Preffis ... p/dpff.htm

was 200 quid with headset, forks and seatpost and it will be here in two days and the geometry is similar to my Focus.

If all goes to plan, I can get something a bit more special in the spring but this is a reasonable winter stop gap, i think.

Thanks for all the input!

Pedlo Mudguardo · Post by **Pedlo Mudguardo** » 17 Sep 2013 16:56

The Dolan frame is almost identical to Ribble's winter model. Both share a long top tube and very short head tube. Be careful when cutting the fork steerer that the front end isn't too low as both myself and Craig Walmsley discovered .....

The Dolan is fine for the money, as Alan says you get what you pay for.

Also be sure to empty the gallons of water that seem to collect inside the frame on wet rides.

AlanW · Post by **AlanW** » 17 Sep 2013 20:59

Pedlo Mudguardo wrote:The Dolan frame is almost identical to Ribble's winter model. Both share a long top tube and very short head tube. Be careful when cutting the fork steerer that the front end isn't too low as both myself and Craig Walmsley discovered .....

That would be three of us then.....ha ha!

The first frame I bought the top tube was exactly the length I was looking for. However, I didnt take into account the very short head tube, so I ended up with a huge amount of spacers to get the bars somewhere near to my position. I tried to ride it but it was to uncomfortable, so I sold it on e-bay.

Then like a complete and utter idiot, I bought the next sized frame up, and refiited all the components from one frame to the other and guess what?

The top tube was to long and I had to then put a smaller stem on to reduce the reach, but this only served to make the steering very twitchy. This was also uncomfortable, so it also had to go.

Both bikes rode the same, and the only way I can think to describe it, they were like riding in treacle. The power didn't seem to be transmitted to the rear wheel, no feel to the bike, just plain dead. But the fact remains is that they sell, as you see them everywhere. I just hated mine with affection.

Thats when I decided to go down the bespoke route and go to Rourkies.

But a couple of years ago I also bought a Ridley winter frame, this was reduced from over £400 to just £225 including carbon forks. The geometry is 100% bang on for me, and near enough the same as my bespoke steel frame. It is a fantasic frame, it rides like a dream and in truth had I have found this frame first, then I would not have purchased the bespoke frame and saved myself quite decent amount of money.

So my point being, dont rush out and buy a cheap frame for the sake of it, shop around. There are some very good frames around at knock down prices, you just have to find them

Pedlo Mudguardo · Post by **Pedlo Mudguardo** » 17 Sep 2013 21:21

Alan, you describe my experience exactly. I went for the 52cm Dolan as the top tube was close to my needs. However, after cutting the forks, noticed the super small head tube. After selling the original forks and buying a new set I've also ended up with a big stack of spacers. It's rideable and really I can't complain for the money.
After a painful spill earlier in the year and far too many sketches moments where I've almost lost the front wheel, I've just lost confidence in the bike. Hoping to sell and put the proceeds to a high quality steel frame that's good for winter and long distance but nippy enough to keep up with Mr. Regan which ain't easy .

Post by **CakeStop** » 17 Sep 2013 22:15

Now I don't feel so bad about riding round with a stack of spacers above my stem for 9 months before finally deciding I'd got the position right and having the steerer cut

deero83 · Post by **deero83** » 02 Oct 2013 15:30

I've looked at the Dolan and Ribble winter bikes on the net, but keep stumbling across the Genesis Croix De Fer as an alternative.

http://epic-cycles.co.uk/Genesis_Croix_de_Fer.html

On paper, it looks like the ultimate off-the-peg winter bike really - Reynolds steel frame, road/cross geometry and disc brakes to stop you in the wet.

However, I'm really not sure about the disc brakes. My mountain bike is nearly as old as I am, so only has V brakes on it. However, the cantis on my current winter/commuter are a pain in the neck (they don't brake very well, and judder when I do stop, although I can accept that this is perhaps down to my poor fitting of them in the first place at some stage). I've never ridden on discs so am anxious as to what they are actually like. I've read horror stories on the net of the pads wearing out after a long descent or the rotors warping with heat?! Oh, and that they squeal a lot.

If I was to get one, I'd definitely swap the cross tyres for say 700x25/28cs as I will be mainly riding on the roads.

There's also the Cannondale CAADX Disc, which given I have the CAAD10 does appeal to me, especially as it's a bit cheaper than the Croix.

http://epic-cycles.co.uk/Cannondale_CAADX.html

Any thoughts?