My Ribble Stealth

zn533
zn533 Posts: 66
edited July 2011 in Your road bikes
5910011584_4fe43ac5d9_z.jpg

Highlights:
Ribble Stealth Frame
Shimano RS30 wheels in white
Mainly Shimano 105 in black
Fizik Arione saddle
Odds and ends from my sadly deceased Cannondale CAAD9 (bars, stem, bottom bracket, cranks)
Zipp Service Course seatpost
Continental GP4000s tyres

and...

Dura Ace chain!

It weighs something between 7.5 and 8kg.

Ok, it's not dripping in top-end stuff but doesn't it look nice? It goes fast too. And it's mad stiff. At some point I'll get some snazzier bottle cages, and when I'm rich, some better wheels.

Thanks for looking!

Also, I'm very proud about putting the picture up there all by myself.

Comments

  • brin
    brin Posts: 1,122
    Very nice looking bike, Ribble seem to be turning out some decent models this year, would look much better of course with a billiard-table cut lawn in the background :wink:
    (i won't mention the comp sensor being back to front, i'm beginning to sound like a broken down record on this subject)
  • zn533
    zn533 Posts: 66
    Hey thanks man.

    Sensor the wrong way? The diagram on the instructions had it in the centre of the fork blade, between it and the spokes. That didn't work at all.
  • FransJacques
    FransJacques Posts: 2,148
    brin - not pickin' on ya but Ribble doesn't "turn out" anything. They do what we do: go on the internet, look at catalogues, order frames. You can pay a NEET £5.50 an hour to put stickers on them.

    They do it well tho, and scooping this Stealth frame was a good choice, as is the Sportive Bianco which I got for the little lady - 1050g for the 44cm frame. They're selling these things by the bucketload.

    This Stealth looks great, the Zipp seatpost is sweet. A white or white/black stem might set off all the white accents a bit better. Again, like the Isaac guy, you picked your frame size really well - a good amount of seatpost showing and you don't have so many spacers under your stem that it looks like an ostrich's neck. I must say that the head tube gusset looks massive! For looks and ride quality, I wonder if they could have made the top of the ST smaller in diameter - to go with a 27.2mm seatpost.

    - How much did the bare frame sans BB weigh? Is it below 1 kg?

    - Did you put the BB30 to English adapter in or was your Crack'n'fail BB30?
    When a cyclist has a disagreement with a car; it's not who's right, it's who's left.
  • west green
    west green Posts: 134
    I do like this, great job, what size is the frame?
  • zn533
    zn533 Posts: 66
    Hey there fellow cyclists, thanks for checking out my ride. I'll try and answer your questions in no particular order...

    I have since removed the spacer on the stem so it's now all the way down - the headtube really is massive by itself. The frame is the largest size they have - 54.5cm - and I'm 6 feet tall.

    I needed to buy a new seatpost because the Cannondale's one was smaller in diameter. I've heard that for one reason or another, most carbon frames have larger diameter seatposts than bikes built from other materials. The Zipp one wasn't too expensive!

    According to Ribble's site, the frame is something like 960g. The fork is another 400g ish. I didn't weigh it myself.

    And yes, the BB is from the Cannondale. I hasten to add it did not crack'n'fail on me, rather it fell off the back of the car on a Belgium motorway on our way to the Tour of Flanders, but that's a different story!

    As for ride quality, it's not as buttery smooth as the CAAD9, which really was everything it was hyped up to be, but it is stiffer. The CAAD9 was very stiff at the rear end, this one is just as stiff at the front too! When you're out of the saddle you really can feel the difference. Considering the handlebars and the stem are the same, It must be that massive headtube!

    Z
  • rolf_f
    rolf_f Posts: 16,015
    FransJacques wrote:
    brin - not pickin' on ya but Ribble doesn't "turn out" anything. They do what we do: go on the internet, look at catalogues, order frames. You can pay a NEET £5.50 an hour to put stickers on them.

    He's talking about a bike - not a frame. Ribble actually probably do more than quite a few 'manufacturers' as they actually build bikes to order - so Ribble do 'turn out' things. They might not design the frames but then they are hardly unique there.
    Faster than a tent.......
  • Skippy2309
    Skippy2309 Posts: 426
    zn533 Just curious what happened to your CAAD9

    the ribble stealth looks really good. them zipp seat posts cost a fair wack... good contrast with the flat black and the white :D
    FCN: 5/6 Fixed Gear (quite rapid) in normal clothes and clips :D

    Cannondale CAAD9 / Mongoose Maurice (heavily modified)
  • petemadoc
    petemadoc Posts: 2,331
    What size seatpost does the frame take?

    I've got one on order from carbonzone, currently sat in UK customs.
  • zn533
    zn533 Posts: 66
    Skippy - We were on our way to the start of the amateur run of the Tour of Flanders. It was early in the morning, and one of our group obviously hadn't had enough coffee. I saw him lashing the bikes to the rack and tightening everything up, and it looked like he knew what he was doing. Half an hour later, and we were bombing down a motorway on our way to the start and... I heard a sound and looked out of the back window...

    3 tangled bicycles bouncing along the middle lane of a Belgian motorway at 70mph.

    My frame and wheels were totalled, but the rest was more or less ok, and made it onto the new Stealth. The bike belonging to the guy who was strapping the bikes on survived and he got to do the ride! It turned out he'd just strapped them together, and not to the rack. All water under the bridge now.

    Also, the Zipp seatpost was about 50 quid on Ribble. Bargain! I kind of wish I bought the SL version for another £20 and saved 50g...

    Pete - The seatpost diameter is 31.6mm. Mine is 35cm long and has plenty still in the frame.
  • petemadoc
    petemadoc Posts: 2,331
    zn533 wrote:

    Also, the Zipp seatpost was about 50 quid on Ribble. Bargain! I kind of wish I bought the SL version for another £20 and saved 50g...

    Pete - The seatpost diameter is 31.6mm. Mine is 35cm long and has plenty still in the frame.

    Ha ha, you could go on thinking like that all day and then you'd have no money but a very light bike :D

    Thanks for the seatpost size, I picked up a bargain FSA carbon one (240g) in 31.6 but thought I'd have to send it back as most bikes seem to take 27.2. I am happy now :D
  • FransJacques
    FransJacques Posts: 2,148
    Guys, just get a £5 shim, I do this with my frames that have larger seat tubes - 1 has a 31.6 and 1 has a 30.9.

    I have so many 27.2s lying around due to the frames I've owned over the last 10+ years that so I don't have too much kit around I bought the shim and kept the smaller diameter size post - in my head I reckon I'm benefitting from some extra comfort.

    Most shims are un-noticable. A couple of the larger ones I've dremelled the top down to a more inconspicuous size.
    When a cyclist has a disagreement with a car; it's not who's right, it's who's left.
  • Karl2010
    Karl2010 Posts: 511
    Does anyone know if this is the COLUMBUS SL rebadged as a Ribble?
    Check out the Fatbirds web site, if you havent seen the COLUMBUS carbon frames.

    They look idetical to me.
  • robklancs
    robklancs Posts: 498
    mate its an absolute disgrace, its a mess, it could do with a bit of colour, in fact, it might just about collapse........

    the shed that is :D ! seriously though mate, sort it out

    love the bike though! get some carbon cages of carbonzone from ebay think aout £17 delivered for 2
  • MattJPaul
    MattJPaul Posts: 95
    It's sexy bikes like this that make me want to say screw it and get a £2000 student overdraft.

    Very nice, though if it were mine I'd feel obliged to continue the stealth theme and keep it in the dark like the Chinese FM-Whatever in the other thread.
  • petemadoc
    petemadoc Posts: 2,331
    BTW the bike looks freeking sweet!

    It would definitely benefit from some nicer cages though. I know it's trivial but those cages look a bit . . . . er well . . . . 5hit. I hate it when people criticise little details but they really stand out. I'm gonna get some elite cages but each to their own.
  • mowflow
    mowflow Posts: 212
    OP, does the bike have a massive long reach?
  • brin
    brin Posts: 1,122
    Karl2010 wrote:
    Does anyone know if this is the COLUMBUS SL rebadged as a Ribble?
    Check out the Fatbirds web site, if you havent seen the COLUMBUS carbon frames.

    They look idetical to me.

    Might be the same colour, but the two frames are completely different
  • keyser__soze
    keyser__soze Posts: 2,067
    Nice looking bike. The missus has had one on order for a few weeks but Rubble are being slow building it up - no stock of the Force gruppo she's chosen. With the black-rimmed RS80s she'll be almost totally ninja apart from the white saddle/bartape.
    "Mummy Mummy, when will I grow up?"
    "Don't be silly son, you're a bloke, you'll never grow up"
  • Mr Sharky
    Mr Sharky Posts: 172
    Very tempted by the Stealth. Nice looking bike for the OP... would also love to see Mrs Soze's when it finally arrives... sounds cool. 8)
    Hairy-legged roadie ( FCN 4 )
    Occasional fixed ( FCN 6 )
  • zn533
    zn533 Posts: 66
    Hey mowflow,

    I don't think the reach is crazy long. I needed a setback seatpost as the straight one I had first didn't go back far enough. It appears to fits me (gangly six-footer) ok. I had wondered about getting a longer stem (maybe in white as Fransjacques suggested) for a really racy position though...

    I'm no expert on position so might not be the best person to ask to be honest. I really want to get one of those professional bike fit sessions on day

    Thanks to everyone for your positive comments. Happy riding!
  • MattC59
    MattC59 Posts: 5,408
    Nice looking bike, but those decals look like the ones which Speed_King pointed out, I'd complain to Wiggle !
    Science adjusts it’s beliefs based on what’s observed.
    Faith is the denial of observation so that Belief can be preserved
  • mowflow
    mowflow Posts: 212
    Thanks for the info zn533. I'm a gangly six footer myself but do appear to favour bikes with a shorter reach. I've been to 4 bike shops in the last week and every one has looked at me, guessed the size then put me one size down once they see me on the bike struggling to reach the hoods.

    Got my cyclescheme voucher sitting on my desk so going to order one of these in a size down from you right now.

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