Ribble SL
The low-cost brand looks to hobnob with the glitterati
t’s a question you could apply to Trigger’s broom or the Sugababes: at what point and after how many changes does an item cease to be the original and morph into something new? It’s a question that can also reasonably be applied to bikes. For example, years ago I bought a Fuji Roubaix 3.0 road bike with a Shimano Sora groupset and cheapo training wheels. I’ve still got it, but over time nearly all the components have been upgraded, so that it now sports an Ultegra groupset and decent wheels.
The difference is like night and day – it’s now about 2kg lighter than when I bought it and the ride quality is vastly improved. It’s not the same machine it once was, but to the casual observer it is still a Fuji Roubaix 3.0.
The point is that a bike is the sum of its parts. The way it feels and how it performs are down to the combination of frame, wheels, groupset, bars, tyres, saddle and all the other bits. But when we talk about a bike we tend to focus purely on the frame. It’s the part that establishes which bike you are riding – it has the name written in big letters on the down tube – and will tend to be the determining factor in any purchasing decisions.
When looking for a new bike, the chances are you first decide whether you want a Trek, Colnago, Condor or some other brand, then go for the best combination of components on offer depending on your budget (possibly with a view to upgrading at a later date). What you don’t do is decide what wheels you’d most like and then go looking for bike brands that spec that wheelset within your specified price range.
But what if you did? What if you picked all your kit first and then married it to a frame to give you a highspec bike at reasonable price? Then there’s every chance you’d end up with something like this Ribble SL.
Dressed to thrill
British brand Ribble made a name for itself supplying decent-quality bikes at good value prices, but it has
always lacked the cachet of the grand old brands. Over recent years, however, Ribble has looked to shed its cheap and cheerful image by producing increasingly advanced frames and inviting customers to spec them as they desire via the company’s Bikebuilder online system.
The version tested by Cyclist is about as good as it gets. The Shimano Dura-ace Di2 groupset represents the pinnacle of shifting proficiency. Mavic’s Ksyrium Elite wheels are a popular upgrade wheelset, weighing a claimed 1,520g, being tubeless compatible and costing £529 aftermarket. Add in £200-worth of carbon bars with the aero Deda Superzero, and a £75 Selle Italia Flite saddle, and the spec is starting to look very respectable indeed. We’d expect any bike sporting this kit to command a premium pricetag, so a shade over £4,000 represents excellent value for money.
It also presents a bit of a problem for me. When you can have whatever you like on a bike, it becomes tricky to assess its fundamental qualities without being overly swayed by the performance of the components.
It comes back to my thoughts about my old Fuji – what actually constitutes the bike? In the case of the Ribble SL, it has to be the frameset, so when I started reviewing the bike, I aimed to focus mainly on the frame itself.
Core credentials
On paper, the SL represents the second-to-top option in Ribble’s frame line-up, just behind the wind-cheating Aero 883 Disc. The SL is more of a climber’s bike, with a lightweight carbon frame that comes in at a reported 840g (size medium). Built as tested it weighed a svelte 7kg on the nose on the Cyclist scales.
It’s certainly light. The low bulk was noticeable when ascending, and it was on the hills where the SL really shone, but I found there was something lacking when it came to accelerating on the flat. There was a distinct lag between the hammer going down and the bike picking up speed. It felt like a scene from a cartoon where a character’s legs whiz on the spot for a moment before propelling them forward at full tilt.
It was hard to pinpoint the reason for the lag. I would have put it down to lack of frame stiffness, but its
My winter gloves helped to soften the bumps coming through the bars
boxy tubes and bulbous bottom bracket seemed to resist any unnecessary flex. Indeed I felt the frame was in many ways too stiff, making for a fairly harsh ride.
The rear wasn’t too bad in terms of comfort, which I attributed to the SL’S slender seatstays, but the front end seemed to absorb very little road buzz, sending the vibrations straight up to my hands. For once, I was happy when the weather turned cold, as my winter gloves helped to soften the bumps coming through the bars.
That stiffness at the front also translated to a certain twitchiness in the handling. Some might describe it as ‘race-orientated’, but my feeling was that the SL wasn’t quite as assured as other bikes I’ve tested recently, especially on rapid and technical downhills. That said, some of those bikes were among the best-handling models I’ve ever ridden, so perhaps I shouldn’t be too hard on the Ribble.
The handling left the most to be desired when sprinting or climbing out of the saddle, and the fault here lies almost entirely with the carbon Deda bars. As soon as the drops are put under any load the flex is disconcerting and it feels as if the bar ends are squeezing in to meet each other. Only on long climbs when holding the tops did these bars provide any confidence.
Once up to speed, the bike held its pace well and seemed to cut through the air with ease, despite not being particularly aerodynamic in its tube profiles. My overall feeling was that it would make an excellent choice for a hilly Alpine sportive, but would be less suited to long, lazy days out or short, punchy crit races.
Of course, when you can spec whatever kit you like, it wouldn’t be too difficult to create any kind of ride you want through smart component choices. Just be wary of the pick ’n’ mix trap: the initial price is temptingly low, so you start to pop all sorts of shiny, mouth-watering goodies in the bag, and before you know it the price of your new machine has spiralled upwards.
My feeling was that it would make an excellent choice for a hilly Alpine sportive