Surosa winter/audax bike vs Ribble winter/audax bike

mtbhenry888
mtbhenry888 Posts: 287
edited January 2009 in Workshop
Surosa winter/audax or Ribble winter/audax bike, i have decided after much research that i will choose one of these bikes, however it will not be until April when i have the money!

Surosa audax bike, similar frame to ribble if not identical but no info on what size tyres it will fit, i would imagine 25's like the ribble

Surosa is £550 with 2008 sora and shimano r500 wheels

Ribble is £467 with mix of older and current tiagra parts and Shimano RS10 wheels

both have guard and rack mounts which is a must and i can easily get two small ortleib front rollers on the back and a bar bag which is my light touring set up

they both seem good value, the ribble has better components and good reveiws, C+ gave surosa a good reveiw but after trawling the web, I have not found anything else!

Can anyone suggest which bike is the better choice, value wise it's the ribble but if the surosa can fit bigger tyres, like 28's then it may sell it to me, if anyone has a surosa i would be interested to hear what it is like

Thanks!
Carbon fibre, it's all nonsense. Drink beer. Ride a steel bike. Don't be a ponce.

Comments

  • John.T
    John.T Posts: 3,698
    The Ribble will only take 23mm tyres with guards. You may just get 25s on but there is very little clearence. The sloping TT model will take 25mm with guards.
  • [/quote]The Ribble will only take 23mm tyres with guards

    On another thread, original started by me i asked the question about clearance and actually you can just get a vittoria rubino 25c and gaurds into the horizintal top tube audx/trainer
    Carbon fibre, it's all nonsense. Drink beer. Ride a steel bike. Don't be a ponce.
  • John.T
    John.T Posts: 3,698
    You may just get 25s on but there is very little clearence.
    That was my next sentence. I run 23mm on my Ribble with guards and get mud build up. You can hear anything that sticks to the tyre hitting the guards. I would not recommend using the horizontal TT frame if you want to run 25mm tyres. I had to fit long reach brakes anyway so would have gone for the sloping one if it had been available at the time.
  • I bought a ribble audax/winter ~3 years ago and run it on a shimano RSX groupset (older version of sora).
    I'm pleased with it. I have full length SKS mudguards with 25mm Rubino pros and have reasonable clearance. Occassionally a bit of crud gets caught between the tyre and the guard but it clears rapidly after a few revolutions. It's never been a problem.
    Check the geometry online as ribble bikes have long top tubes. It may lead you to buy a slightly smaller frame with more spacer height on the forks, or a longer stem.
    The paint finish, although nice in colour is prone to marking and the decals may peel off with time, but for me this is no big deal.
    Being a standard aluminium frame the ride is on the firm side, so use a decent saddle.
    I use mine for 18 mile commutes (each way!) and find this a great value bike.
    As it's ordered via bikebuilder online think about sizes (such as crank length, stem length & height) carefully to get the best out the bike.
  • redddraggon
    redddraggon Posts: 10,862
    Guards+25mm tyres is fine. I used to have issues with the front rubbing on the guards when out the saddle, but I hadn't set the guards up properly and it's fine now.
    I like bikes...

    Twitter
    Flickr
  • Highly recommend the Surosa, mine's been doing sterling service for tens of thousands of kilometres. Clearance sounds about the same as the Ribble, 25mm with guards was OK before I realised guards were fairly pointless :)
    I usually run 28s on this bike as I take it offroad quite a bit.
  • alfablue
    alfablue Posts: 8,497
    I'm amazed you find guards pointless :?

    edit: well I guess they're pointless if you can't fit the 28's you prefer.
  • I'm amazed you find guards pointless

    I'm amazed anyone finds them useful.
  • alfablue
    alfablue Posts: 8,497
    well they very effectively keep the wet from the road soaking my feet and my backside. and the bike stays A LOT cleaner - I think that is all useful. Didn't yours do that?
  • strangely enough, they did. It'd be wierd if they didn't , wouldn't it?
    But not a great deal of point when you still get wet from the other 270 degrees exposure to the elements. And besides, what's the harm in getting wet?

    It's the UK, for feck's sake. Rain is what we do best.
  • alfablue
    alfablue Posts: 8,497
    Yes it would be weird, but I wondered if you had a poor set.

    I do find the water thrown up from the front wheel is a hell of a lot more penetrative than the other 270 degrees, also when riding fast without guards, the spray shooting forwards from the top of the front wheel blows back into my face, which is not nice, impairs vision more, and tastes bad. When getting sprayed from the bottom of the front wheel, my feet and toes get particularly cold. The spray also comes up if its not raining if the roads are wet. On long tours the extra dryness and cleanliness mudguards offer is much appreciated. I also like the way the bike stays cleaner, especially at the bottom bracket / front mech area, and I enjoy the freedom from brown stains up my back. My following cycling buddies are also appreciative of the drier, cleaner faces they enjoy.

    I also wear a waterproof jacket.

    And I am very familiar with the effects of riding "unguarded" as I get caught out in the rain on my "fair weather" bike sometimes.

    But, each to their own :wink:
  • See, I don't use waterproofs either. I've never found any (the Endura EVent fabric being the best I've tried so far, but sitll not good enough) that don't just make you as wet through sweat as you'd be from the rain or standing water. I don't think anything has good enough breathability for cycling. Unless you like pedalling really, really slowly ;)
    Windproof kit, that's a different matter.





    But, each to their own
    Precisely.

    Oddball ;)
  • alfablue
    alfablue Posts: 8,497
    Yep, I use an eVent jacket. I do ride slowly on tour, and I just get too cold if I am soaked for many hours. It really works fine given the effort I am putting out. On shorter faster rides I use a windproof in preference.