ribble bikes and sales and aftercare

swanny24

looking at ribble road bike, as seen in cycle weekley. anybody used them good or bad reports.
web page looks good, buying looks easy and bike look fantastic for the price and spec (bianco)
any feedback would be nice

dawebbo

Never had any problems with delivery, and generally one of the cheaper online stores.

Would recommend

keasden

I ordered a Gran Fondo last Saturday and thought I'd offer my opinion for whats it worth. I only live 2 miles away so in reality I suppose they are my LBS. I first went in one midweek afternoon and there were 3 other guys in there all ordering new bikes (2 x new sportive and 1 x Blanco) and there was only one guy serving. I wan't bothered as it gave me longer to drool at all the bikes on display. I spoke to the sales guy when free and he was patient and helpful and answered all my queries. I commented on the amount of sales and he said its manic at the moment, both online and in the shop.

I returned last Saturday half expecting the shop to be packed but there was no one in. A different sales guy said it can be hit and miss at weekends but usually hectic. While placing my order we chatted and I mentioned tales I had heard about unreturned calls and unanswered emails and he said they tried to deal with everything but often they are so busy in the shop and warehouse that they will return to a stack of 100's of calls and emails all to be dealt with, so it takes time.

I am lucky, I can go up there in person anytime so don't have to worry about phoning them but my experience of anyone I have met in there is that they all seem to be decent genuine guys and it appears they are so popular because they sell a decent product at the right price.

navrig

I have two road bikes.

Both Ribbles. One bought 3 years ago (winter audax) and one bought this year (Gran Fondo).

I have bought loads of other stuff - pedals, clothing, replacement gear mech, tools.

I would say that I am 90% happy with their service.

The missing 10% relates to their poor response when my rear mech tangled with my spokes and the hanger twisted. It took them far too long to send a replacement and I couldn't find it locally initially. However this was in the lead up to Xmas (2 years ago) and they would have been very busy.

I have spoken to them on the phone (sometimes you wait for a while before you get through) and I have had email replies. On one occassion I ordered the wrong rear derailleur so I sent it and a pair of gloves back. Two days later they emailed to say they didn't have the next size of glove available. What did I want to do? I checked on their webiste found a differemt make and emailed back. They confirmed within 2 hours and gloves and correct derailleur arrived in the same box. Can't fault that.

Strangely my order often arrives before the email confirming its despatch.

Would I buy my third bike from them? Yes if it was what I wanted.

mattshrops

have to agree the products are fantastic for the price. i have a gran fondo and couldnt be happier with it.

also have to agree about the service. there is an order tracking facility on the website which was not updated at all while i was waiting. if you want your bike quick forget them especially at this time of year. if you can relax a bit and wait 6+ weeks youll be delighted when your bike comes. it really is the wrong time of year to expect a fast build and it really is the wrong time of year to have to wait-unless youve got another bike youre happy to use for a couple of months

rolf_f

Yet another satisfied Gran Fondo owner here. I also picked up in person and was glad I did! I'd asked for continental brake routing and they'd forgotten to do it. I had some second hand wheels to pick up in the area so they sorted that out while I waited (and stripped the Campag Centaur 2010 shifters from a display bike to replace the 2011 ones they'd put on mine). Basically, despite the fact that they were very busy packing for the bike show, they did exactly what I asked straight away and the bike was ready when I got back. However, if they'd posted the bike to me I'd have had the problem of how to deal with the wrong shifters and wrong brake route.

So, 10 out of 10 for dealing with the situation but only about 6.5 out of 10 for listening to my instructions and reminders in the first place! If I was ordering a bike for postal delivery, I'd probably be asking them to check the details every other day......

Ribble are often the first place I look for stuff.

Avezius

I'm ABOUT to order a GranFondo! Can I be in the club?
Just waiting for my voucher to be delivered - any day now.

I'm not local so a little scared but havent seen anything else as sexy for the money - it's why I'm going Ribble.

Dan

swanny24

Avezius wrote:

I'm ABOUT to order a GranFondo! Can I be in the club?
Just waiting for my voucher to be delivered - any day now.

I'm not local so a little scared but havent seen anything else as sexy for the money - it's why I'm going Ribble.

Dan

VOUCHER ???? tell me more

keasden

I would guess he means cycle to work voucher?

hammerite

I have an Aero TT, got it through cycle 2 work. Very easy to deal with and sort out. As others have said the lead time was 6 weeks, but it was ready within than time.

Yes speaking to them on the phone can be a bit of a task, but they do always return e-mails.

I went up to collect mine and glad I did.

R8JimBob88

I recently bought a New Sportive. Increddible bike and great service from them. They even built it up with RS80's that I ordered seperately. The said it would be ready within 2-3 weeks but it was ready in 7 days.

ASISLIFE

I took delivery last Friday of Sportive Bianco with 105 (after reading the 10/10 cycling weekly review few months back) . Only took 3 weeks from posting C2W voucher to day of delivery. Service has been fantastic throughout, website order status always updated. Phoned them a few times during the whole process and always accessible and helpful.

Bike arrived ready to ride (just pop on handlebars , peddles etc) and quite honestly no £1000 bike as any right to be as good as it is!

Would definitely recommend

jonrwg

Waiting for my new Gran Fondo !!
Ordered last Tuesday and now my bike is with Parcelforce. Either tomorrow or Friday will be delivered to me. Cant wait..

Well, hopefully they don mess up my order. Finger cross. :?

c0ugars

For the price they charge they are great, Dispatch can take a while sometimes but never longer than 4 days for parts clothing etc. But overall they are great and im still using them.

luckly enough i have not had to contact them regarding any problems or questions.

Headhuunter

Good products for the price but they hardly ever answer the phone or answer emails. Eventually I managed to get the specific email address of someone who works there who responded to my queries. When my bike developed a cracking noise they said that I could send the bike back to them and they woudl cover postage, however if they could find nothing wrong then I would have to pay it. In the end managed to sort the problem myself....

keasden

I ordered my Gran Fondo a week ago last Saturday, got phone call this afternoon to say it was ready for collection!!! Thats just 10 days from order to collection, looks like the tales of 6 week delays may be behind them.

Just picked it up and couldn't be happier with the bike or the service from Ribble. Will post photos when my son returns from his hols with MY camera!