Ribble steel Vs alu Winter bike

menthel

drlodge wrote:

I would certainly look for a frame that takes 25c tyres AND full mudguards, SKS chromoplastics preferably not those add on thin plastic pretend guard objects.

Something the equillibrium does rather well. In fact, it is how mine is set up!

darkhairedlord

drlodge wrote:

I would certainly look for a frame that takes 25c tyres AND full mudguards, SKS chromoplastics preferably not those add on thin plastic pretend guard objects.

have these on my trek 1.5 (not red and white).
removed for summer vanity and noticed they have scuffed through the surface layer on my cfrp fork leaving a fluffy wear mark.
I'll have to trim them before they go back on.

navrig2

drlodge wrote:

zx6man wrote:

aluminium does not become brittle at low temperatures. Instead, its strength increases.

Plasticine is very ductile, hence not brittle at all, but very weak.

Unless you dip the plasticine in liquid nitrogen in which case it becomes very brittle. It will also be come stiffer - nobody has yet mentioned Euler and his theories on stiffness.

darkhairedlord

oxoman wrote:

Ladies please, Steel bikes are usually more comfortable and easier to repair if on a round the world tour. Only exception to steel being comfortable is probably something like my dream bike which is the Trek Domane with its isospeed decoupler thingy. Either way if the op wants to be different why not, if there wasn't enough demand for steel frames they wouldn't make them would they. A few extra grams in weight is worth the comfort gain IMHO.

whole heartedly agreed by most on this thread.. i think?
I'm hoping for some shares to come good so I can re-frame my trek 1.5 with steel. ( I say re-frame, the frame, fork and stem are the only original bits on it.) Leaning towards an equilibrium.

cycleclinic

I am sorry to say it has to be alot colder than 0 degree's to make alumium or steel britle. Try -70 degrees and you might start to see brittle failures on impact. In normal temeperate conditons even in winter it does not anywhere close to cold enough for alumium to fail in any other way than ductile unless it is a fatigue failure.

I am banging my head against a wall now.

mikenetic

Never mind the frame material, if they can only run 23mm tyres as someone has said in the thread then that's a terrible design decision for a winter bike.

I'd much rather be riding 25mm at lower pressure for better grip, with sensible mudguard clearances.

napoleond

I ride 24mm GP4000s fine on my ribble winter, on 23mm wide rims. :?

desweller

zx6man wrote:

drlodge wrote:

jordan_217 wrote:

I think I may just go for the steel one. Why?:

1. I own both ti and alu bikes already, steel will give me a full house.
2. It looks nicer than the alu one.
3. It's red, which is scientifically proven, in stringent wind tunnel testing, to be the fastest colour known to man.

In the absence of any real-world feedback from current owners, the 3 points above seem like sound justification :-)

Its as good a reason as any, plus steel is the less brittle of the two Of course carbon fibre is really brittle, but arguably the strongest of all :shock:

Carbon melts in the rain though, another thing to watch out for

It doesn't melt, it dissolves, FACT. Everyone knows that.

timbob67

Changing the topic...(!) I have a Ribble 525 frame - I bought it last summer as a first upgrade, and built the bike up myself, transferring my 2300 groupset off my first roadbike (a Viking thingy) onto it.

I like the frame - it rides nicely, and is much more comfortable over rougher road surfaces than my previous (albeit low end) aluminium bike. It takes my 25mm tyres and Crud mudguards fine. It also looks great.

The one issue I have with the frame was its quality control - though I may just have got a bad one... I had to spend half an hour with an old screwdriver scraping out some welding flux which has splashed into the bottom bracket threads before I could screw a BB cartridge in. Also, the rear derailleur hanger is integrated into the frame, and the threaded hole for the rear hanger wasn't drilled straight - when assembled, the jockey wheel was a few degrees off true and even on "full out" on the limit screw I couldn't get the it over far enough to line up under the biggest sprocket on my cassette. Some "suitable force" and a pair of mole grips later, everything lines up fine.

I'm guessing if you buy a built bike from ribble, you won't have any problems like that though...! But now my bike is built, I love it - I'm saving to upgrade my old groupset to something nicer now

jordan_217

timbob67 wrote:

Changing the topic...(!) I have a Ribble 525 frame - I bought it last summer as a first upgrade, and built the bike up myself, transferring my 2300 groupset off my first roadbike (a Viking thingy) onto it.

I like the frame - it rides nicely, and is much more comfortable over rougher road surfaces than my previous (albeit low end) aluminium bike. It takes my 25mm tyres and Crud mudguards fine. It also looks great.

The one issue I have with the frame was its quality control - though I may just have got a bad one... I had to spend half an hour with an old screwdriver scraping out some welding flux which has splashed into the bottom bracket threads before I could screw a BB cartridge in. Also, the rear derailleur hanger is integrated into the frame, and the threaded hole for the rear hanger wasn't drilled straight - when assembled, the jockey wheel was a few degrees off true and even on "full out" on the limit screw I couldn't get the it over far enough to line up under the biggest sprocket on my cassette. Some "suitable force" and a pair of mole grips later, everything lines up fine.

I'm guessing if you buy a built bike from ribble, you won't have any problems like that though...! But now my bike is built, I love it - I'm saving to upgrade my old groupset to something nicer now

Thank you! At last someone who owns one and isn't hung up on the brittleness of metals and the properties of plasticine

Seems indeed like a QC issue that led to your frame slipping through but at least you've got it sorted. I'll be getting a complete build from Ribble so they can sort out any snags with the frame. Good to know you're using 25mm tyres, it wouldn't be an issue for me to use 23's but I have a stock of 25mm GP 4 Seasons.

Out of interest what tyres and mudguards do you use? I will phone Ribble this morning and check if the mudguards they fit have clearance for 25's.

Ref peoples comments on the Genesis Equilibrium - it's a lovely looking bike with some great reviews but I'd be looking at the '20' model to get 105 and the spec I'd prefer, which costs more than the C2W scheme allowance and several hundreds more than the Ribble.

timbob67

I use some Scwalbe Durano plus things - slightly heavy but 2 puncture free years so far... My guards are the Crud Roadracer mk2 plastic ones. Clearance is a little tight perhaps, but no tighter than on a lot of other bikes I think after reading the thread on those guards. There's a good 1/2 to 2/3rds of an inch clearance under the front fork to the tyre, and fractionally less under the rear brake mounting bit to the rear tyre.

jordan_217

timbob67 wrote:

I use some Scwalbe Durano plus things - slightly heavy but 2 puncture free years so far... My guards are the Crud Roadracer mk2 plastic ones. Clearance is a little tight perhaps, but no tighter than on a lot of other bikes I think after reading the thread on those guards. There's a good 1/2 to 2/3rds of an inch clearance under the front fork to the tyre, and fractionally less under the rear brake mounting bit to the rear tyre.

Great, thanks. I'll hopefully order in the next week.

rolf_f

jordan_217 wrote:

timbob67 wrote:

I use some Scwalbe Durano plus things - slightly heavy but 2 puncture free years so far... My guards are the Crud Roadracer mk2 plastic ones. Clearance is a little tight perhaps, but no tighter than on a lot of other bikes I think after reading the thread on those guards. There's a good 1/2 to 2/3rds of an inch clearance under the front fork to the tyre, and fractionally less under the rear brake mounting bit to the rear tyre.

Great, thanks. I'll hopefully order in the next week.

You get most of the puncture resistance and a much better ride and a lot less weight from standard Duranos rather than the Plus. I use the still light S and even those rarely puncture.

As for Cruds, you can increase the clearance with a bit of careful heat application in one spot if you need it. Makes the world of difference if you do get a bit of rubbing.

Moonbiker

I think its the similar to a Reynolds 531ST (Super Tourist) frame,

531 pro though are lighter & has 725 heat treated stays gives a stiffer back end.

drlodge

Moonbiker wrote:

I think its the similar to a Reynolds 531ST (Super Tourist) frame,

531 pro though are lighter & has 725 heat treated stays gives a stiffer back end.

531 Pro has 753 rear stays.

timbob67

jordan_217 wrote:

timbob67 wrote:

I use some Scwalbe Durano plus things - slightly heavy but 2 puncture free years so far... My guards are the Crud Roadracer mk2 plastic ones. Clearance is a little tight perhaps, but no tighter than on a lot of other bikes I think after reading the thread on those guards. There's a good 1/2 to 2/3rds of an inch clearance under the front fork to the tyre, and fractionally less under the rear brake mounting bit to the rear tyre.

Great, thanks. I'll hopefully order in the next week.

Update now I'm home and have had a look - there's half an inch clearance under the front fork with my 25mm tyres, perhaps 5-6mm under the rear brake mounting "bridge" (and the same clearance to the "bridge" between the chain stays just behind the bottom bracket.

menthel

timbob67 wrote:

jordan_217 wrote:

timbob67 wrote:

I use some Scwalbe Durano plus things - slightly heavy but 2 puncture free years so far... My guards are the Crud Roadracer mk2 plastic ones. Clearance is a little tight perhaps, but no tighter than on a lot of other bikes I think after reading the thread on those guards. There's a good 1/2 to 2/3rds of an inch clearance under the front fork to the tyre, and fractionally less under the rear brake mounting bit to the rear tyre.

Great, thanks. I'll hopefully order in the next week.

Update now I'm home and have had a look - there's half an inch clearance under the front fork with my 25mm tyres, perhaps 5-6mm under the rear brake mounting "bridge" (and the same clearance to the "bridge" between the chain stays just behind the bottom bracket.

Then why the hell won't Ribble sell it with 25s? It becomes a more attractive bike at that point and the mudguard thing can be overcome! What fools they are.

jordan_217

timbob67 wrote:

jordan_217 wrote:

timbob67 wrote:

I use some Scwalbe Durano plus things - slightly heavy but 2 puncture free years so far... My guards are the Crud Roadracer mk2 plastic ones. Clearance is a little tight perhaps, but no tighter than on a lot of other bikes I think after reading the thread on those guards. There's a good 1/2 to 2/3rds of an inch clearance under the front fork to the tyre, and fractionally less under the rear brake mounting bit to the rear tyre.

Great, thanks. I'll hopefully order in the next week.

Update now I'm home and have had a look - there's half an inch clearance under the front fork with my 25mm tyres, perhaps 5-6mm under the rear brake mounting "bridge" (and the same clearance to the "bridge" between the chain stays just behind the bottom bracket.

Thanks for the update. I had seen on an Australian touring forum that someone fitted 25mm GP4 Seasons and clearance was ok. I have some SKS Chromeplastics already so if the Ribble fitted, Zefal ones don't fit then I'm sure I'll be ok without having to fork out more cash.

I've got an order number now and am just sorting the C2W admin with their accounts team.

Thanks again for checking and posting an update, much appreciated.

jordan_217

I've now ordered the Ribble 525. Will be here in 2-3 weeks.

Since this thread was active I've spoken to Ribble on the phone and they have confirmed that the 525 will definitely take 25mm tyres and the standard (no cost upgrade) mudguards also have adequate clearance for 25mm tyres. It would make sense for Ribble to add this to the spec/options...

I know this was confirmed by timbob67 but just wanted to report back that Ribble have also confirmed.

For anyone wishing to buy a complete bike. It's worth checking the price difference between using the 'Special Edition Bikes' tab and the 'bikebuilder' tab. The spec I ordered was ca. £50 cheaper using the 'Special Edition Bikes' tab.

secretsam

drlodge wrote:

531 Pro has 753 rear stays.

They're more brittle,you know