Ribble Bikes?

R8JimBob88

G'day all,

Ive done a little search online for a little bit of information about Ribble Cycles and I have read some pretty nasty horror stories.

Customer service aside, what are the actual bikes like? Dissatisfied people tend to should louder than happy customers so I'm hoping that if I buy a bike from them, will it be better than the customer service?

I'm looking to order a winter/commuter bike but also a nice shiny carbon framed bike too.

So do I cross my fingers and go for it, or leg it and take my money elsewhere? Ribble does seem very good value for money though!

robz400

From what i've read the after hours of research seems to suggest that the bikes are excellent and amazing value.

Customer service can be hit and miss though. I was after a Stealth but they said no more frames coming in for a month or two so I've gone the other way and bought a Fondriest...

R8JimBob88

Thats what I was hoping. I dont mind waiting but was worried after reading all the bad reviews. But not one bad review said anything negative about the actual bikes themselves

Headhuunter

I bought a Ribble 7005 race/horizontal framed bike with full Tiagra group for commuting. It was certainly the best value for money at the time, way better than your usual Specialized, Trek bikes etc. Yes, the customer service was a bit hit and miss, they barely ever answer the phone and only occasionally answer emails but it all worked out in the end...

Buckled_Rims

From what i've heard, read and seen, Ribble bikes are top notch. They always seem to be be rode by many a good club rider who probably knows a thing or two about equipment.

I've worked in customer services before and some customers expect the earth to be moved over a few pennies, so unless their customer service has been reported to the Trading Standards I'd treat any complaints with a pinch of salt.

northernneil

I ride a ribble, never had to deal with customer services them selves

bike been perfect for 4 years (nero corsa w/105)

Headhuunter

I wouldn't say my experience with their customer services warranted anything as serious as a call to trading standards, it was just "indifferent". I assume they keep their costs down by not employing armies of people answering the phone and responding to emails. As long as you don't have a serious problem you should be fine...

Warwickshire Whizzer

I ride a Ribble too. Very happy with it and couldn't fault it at my level of experience.

Only dealt with customer services once when I wanted to amend an order and it was dealt with fine. Also never had reason to grumble about deliveies. There are many others knocking around with bad service stories, but probably an equal number of happy customers who feel no need to comment.

zippypablo

I've got two Ribble bikes and they were fine to deal with on both occasions. I had a fault with the rear wheel and phoned them. I was told to send it in and they would sort it. As it happened I was driving to Scotland so dropped it off. They fixed the wheel and sent it on with no problems. I've also ordered a few bits and never had an issue.

R8JimBob88

Brilliant to hear folks, even better is their special edition section! £139 for a shimano 105 set...

Drysuitdiver

R8JimBob88 wrote:

Brilliant to hear folks, even better is their special edition section! £139 for a shimano 105 set...

do you have a link??

R8JimBob88

Drysuitdiver wrote:

R8JimBob88 wrote:

Brilliant to hear folks, even better is their special edition section! £139 for a shimano 105 set...

do you have a link??

Its under the special edition bikes section, you do have to buy a bike mind....

welkman

I'm in the same position and looking at buying a sportive racing in march. This thread is sealing the deal for me. Now do I get a white one or a black and red one....

Drysuitdiver

R8JimBob88 wrote:

Drysuitdiver wrote:

R8JimBob88 wrote:

Brilliant to hear folks, even better is their special edition section! £139 for a shimano 105 set...

do you have a link??

Its under the special edition bikes section, you do have to buy a bike mind....

theres always a catch .........

nevman

mate said that Cycling Weakly had a review this week and were impressed with a Ribble Sportif under a grand

R8JimBob88

welkman wrote:

I'm in the same position and looking at buying a sportive racing in march. This thread is sealing the deal for me. Now do I get a white one or a black and red one....

Snap, i was looking at the Gran Fonde but im swaying towards the sportive. Think i'll go for the new white one with the Shimano 105 set. Its a bargain if you build it under the special edition section.

welkman

Will look when I get home later, not sure on the silver bar tape though!

oli2001

i got the sportive bianco with sram apex, for just about a grand. its ace. wheels a bit heavy, but i've changed em to some american classics and it looks and rides great.
get one and you'll be well chuffed.

andy162

Ribble Winter/Audax for me. Only fault was water bottle mounts coming loose in the frame...araldite, sorted.

The first ride or so I hate it. Partly because this heralds the onset of winter & it's also a tank compared to my other bike. By this time of year I'm very happy on it. Partly because Feb heralds the onset of spring & my Addict R1 is getting ready to come out of hibernation.

Seriously though, they are the perfect winter hack.

Anonymous

Drysuitdiver wrote:

R8JimBob88 wrote:

Drysuitdiver wrote:

R8JimBob88 wrote:

Brilliant to hear folks, even better is their special edition section! £139 for a shimano 105 set...

do you have a link??

Its under the special edition bikes section, you do have to buy a bike mind....

theres always a catch .........

The catch is it's not £139 for the whole goupset, it's a extra £139 to have it as a upgrade. Still seems a good deal though.

Personally I'm getting a Grand Fondo as soon as my work starts the Cycle2Work scheme.

Karl2010

Im happy with my Gran Fondo from them. Also had other bits off them.

No problems. Even took it back when the BB was making a noise.
Dont know what they did but the noise stopped. So good customer service.

+1 For Ribble.. (oh and Bradley Wiggins bought his first bike from there. Says so in his book.)

john-e-big-guns

I've been dealing with Ribble for 30yrs now and never had a problem...bought a Grand Fondo frame and componants this time last year a v/good frame for the price...my main advantage is there outlet is only 2mls down the road from me

mattshrops

Gran Fondo with ultegra as my precious for de summer, no complaints at all with the bike.
Seemed to have to wait a long time and if theyd bothered to email me and tell me that would have been fine. There is a track your order facility, which they dont bother to update. pretty easy things for them to put right you would have thought??
I must have checked the website about 4 times every day-real shame coe they have a mighty fine product at a damn good price. :?

kev77

Been down there this afternoon and had a look at all there steeds.

The stealth and the new TT bike are good lookers, the staff were friendly and talkative.

Would not think twice about ordering from them.

R8JimBob88

Where abouts is their showroom? Is the the same address as their warehouse?

fungus_the_muffin_man

yep same place. Just pop down and look. The bikes are stunning in the flesh

R8JimBob88

Just been on their site again and the Gran Fondo is out of stock until May!

The-beast

bought a ribble sportive and a pinarello fp2 off them along with £1000's of pounds of accessories and clothes, so after making prob 20 orders or so i can honestly say the service is fantastic, obviously all the bikes are built to your spec so may take a little longer, but as far as bang for buck goes they cant be beaten. cheers to the guys from ribble,good job !

The-beast

bought a ribble sportive and a pinarello fp2 off them along with £1000's of pounds of accessories and clothes, so after making prob 20 orders or so i can honestly say the service is fantastic, obviously all the bikes are built to your spec so may take a little longer, but as far as bang for buck goes they cant be beaten. cheers to the guys from ribble,good job !

NW Postie

I've been contemplating getting a new bike from them myself.... my trusty old winter steed has now seen better days.

Seems to be plenty of their bikes knocking about and from speaking to their owners it seems there are very few negative remarks as to the quality and value of the bikes they build, I shall be popping over at some point this week to have a nosey as it's a while since i've been in.