RIBBLE ENDURANCE SL ULTEGRA DISC £2709

REVITALIZED RIDE FROM LANCASHIRE’ S FINEST

Ribble’s new chassis design has been more than two years in the making, and it’s the first step towards revitalising the brand as a cost-conscious premium provider of bikes built for British riders and British conditions.

The frame is constructed with T800 and T1000 Toray carbon fibres, the same brand used by Pinarello, and the new design shares elements of the Italian firm’s bikes. The SL is well equipped for the price, but that didn’t stop us upgrading the wheels via Ribble’s online bike builder. So, we ended up with a bike at £2709 that included the full swathe of Shimano’s excellent Ultegra hydraulic disc group, along with Mavic’s superb new low-weight Kysrium Elite (1670g), which, when combined with Mavic’s latest 28c tubeless Yksion Pro tyres, makes for a ride that is best described as luxurious.

The SL isn’t the lightest bike in its class, but the wheels help it to ride light when climbing. The gear range (52/36, 11-28) is racier than we’d have expected from an endurance bike but we never found ourselves wanting more – although riders looking to push themselves might like a 50/34 option or an 11-30 cassette.

The Endurance SL is a bike you can ride all day without getting a kicking. It’s up there with Synapse, Defy, Roubaix et al and should go some way to establishing Ribble as a brand to aspire to, rather than the brand you buy because it’s the best equipped for the cash.