Ribble 7005 Sportive

So today I finally received my first road bike... After a 2 month wait!
Only had a quick spin so far but I love it. I'll get some better quality pics soon.
Only had a quick spin so far but I love it. I'll get some better quality pics soon.

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Jeffsy 27.5 2018
ABCC Cycling Coach
I would say that as I have one though lol
Going to change the bar tape, mainly due to Ribbles cable routing which is very poor.
Ribble Sportive 7005
I'm surprised at that. I was happy enough with Ribbles cable routing on my Gran Fondo - I've just replaced the tape at 21000 miles but I still left the tape on the tops for a double wrap so the cable routing will last another 20000 miles at least!
Wow. 21,000 miles out of a set of bar tape? Were they made from the same stuff that they made Robocop out of?
Also, I wanted some gel pads to see how it feels with some more cushioning also to make the bars a bit chunkier, I'm used to chunky mountain bike grips.
Ribble Sportive 7005
I'm already planning on a Gran Fondo next year when I can get another bike
Ribble Sportive 7005
Here's both the bikes together, apart from giving it a bit of a service today I haven't touched the mountain bike since I got the road bike.
Ribble Sportive 7005
I have a 7005 in Sora as a mess bike. The 7005 is a nice frame - comfy and transfers power well. Trouble is I find the front end twitchy and the clearance between the seat tube and rear wheel is tiny- even with 23C tyres.
The plan so far is to keep this for a year then to sell it on and whatever I get for it to put towards a carbon framed bike, possibly a Gran Fondo or Planet X, through the Cycle Scheme. We'll see what happens!
Ribble Sportive 7005
The frame isnt really that sportive orientated IMO, and I sort of wish I had bought something different to allow a bit more flexibility in tyre choice.
That is a bit irritating - but that said, not all bars have a notch underneath so the Ribble routing has to be that way for those and it works well.
But, on the other hand, it isn't hard to unwrap as far as the hoods and re route the cable - you don't need to take the tape off altogether for that. And that gives you the opportunity to add some padding before you re-wrap the original tape (in theory you'll need to reduce the overlap to compensate for the greater radius of the bars but because you'll also be reducing the diameter of the bars by using the cable recess it probably won't be a problem!).
Ordinary ITM cork tape! Just black and I'm careful when leaning the bike against things! It was a bit thin at the end but it still looked fine.
I also didn't like the smooth tape, I've put some cork tape on and feels much nicer.
I'm happy with the bike, it's my first road bike so nothing to compare it against but I know as far as it being my first bike I know it's more than enough.
Ribble Sportive 7005
My leather tape is 5 years old... pretty sure it's done well more than 20,000... just like new, really...