Boardman or Ribble?

bob_sergio

Hi,

I’ve occasionally read these forums but this is my first post, so if This is a duplicated or similar thread to others then I apologise.

I’m a runner who has always enjoyed cycling as a leisure activity rather than a sport or for fitness. However, I’ve just had my 6th operation on my left knee so I’m thinking it’s time to hang up the runners and buy myself some cleats instead.

I’ve been riding a Boardman hybrid comp for a few years, mainly at weekends for 20 miles or so so nothing serious. The bike has been great apart from the bottom bracket which I’ve changed quite a few times now.

As I intend to increase my riding considerably and do less running I’m thinking it’s time for an upgrade! I like the idea of gravel bikes and living on the door step to the Peak District there’s plenty of opportunity to make the most of such a versatile bike.

I think I’ll do the cycle scheme at work (which is strange as it’s impossible for me to commute on a bike) and was looking at the Boardman ADV 8.9, seems a lovely bike, the bottom bracket issues I’ve had with my current Boardman casts doubts in my head though. I would be prepared to upgrade the BB and crankset with the money I save from the C2W scheme.

With that in mind would I be better off looking at something like the Ribble CGR AL 105?

https://www.ribblecycles.co.uk/ribble-c ... ano-105-1/

Granted it’s a bigger out lay but considering I’d be happy to upgrade the Boardman I’d be getting a better group-set and through axles...

Seems a no brainer to me, holding my hands up though I don’t know much about bikes, so I’m hoping the expert and experience heads on here can offer a little help.

Sorry if the post is too long but I would very much appreciate any advice!

Tyresome

Boardman design their own frames and have their own molds in Taiwan. I believe Ribble use open molds, and don’t design their own frames. I’d go with Boardman personally. In house R&D, in Britain, is worth its weight in Gold I reckon.

Brakeless

Tyresome wrote:

Boardman design their own frames and have their own molds in Taiwan. I believe Ribble use open molds, and don’t design their own frames. I’d go with Boardman personally. In house R&D, in Britain, is worth its weight in Gold I reckon.

The Taiwanese have far more experience designing and manufacturing Carbon bike frames than the UK has. Being designed in the UK means very little.

lakesluddite

I wouldn't bother about how the frame is designed as long as it's the right bike for you. No good in having home-grown design and moulds if you can't get on with it. You mention the BB - the Ribble has a threaded BB which many manufacturers are going back to rather than press-fit - especially with Alloy. I think it comes down to which does the job for you, and of course the one you like the look of most!

If it were me, I'd go for the Ribble on looks alone, plus the slightly better (and 11speed) groupset. Plus it comes in either the bright orange or a more muted blue. Actually, I would go for the CX version - not sure if it's much different - as it's a stunning red, and we all know red bikes are quicker.

https://www.ribblecycles.co.uk/ribble-cx-shimano-105/

Still has mudguard mounts if that's something you need.

navrig2

I've got 2 Ribbles and had no major issues. One is now on the turbo and the other is the winter bike. I'd buy another if I was looking.

Although the orange is nicer than the red....

svetty

£1300 is a lot for a bike c 105 IMO

mrfpb

I'd go for the CGR 725 (Steel) rather than alu. The Tiagra set up is £999.

lakesluddite

Svetty wrote:

£1300 is a lot for a bike c 105 IMO

I'd say about average with 105 and Hydraulic disc brakes. Certainly not overpriced IMO.

imposter2.0

Tyresome wrote:

In house R&D, in Britain, is worth its weight in Gold I reckon.

No idea why you would think that. What makes 'in house R&D in the UK' so critical..?? I'm asking this while fully expecting you to ignore the question, as you do whenever you get called out...

keef66

Imposter wrote:

Tyresome wrote:

In house R&D, in Britain, is worth its weight in Gold I reckon.

No idea why you would think that. What makes 'in house R&D in the UK' so critical..?? I'm asking this while fully expecting you to ignore the question, as you do whenever you get called out...

Since R&D doesn't actually weigh anything, technically he's correct. Which must be a first.

imposter2.0

keef66 wrote:

Imposter wrote:

Tyresome wrote:

In house R&D, in Britain, is worth its weight in Gold I reckon.

No idea why you would think that. What makes 'in house R&D in the UK' so critical..?? I'm asking this while fully expecting you to ignore the question, as you do whenever you get called out...

Since R&D doesn't actually weigh anything, technically he's correct. Which must be a first.

He's not clever enough to think like that though..

bonzo_banana

I'm pretty sure in the past some of the Boardman frames were open mould designs but perhaps that was the early ones and did see the report about them opening a research and testing centre.

Maybe they are going the Canyon route of designing futuristic looking bikes to add value but personally from what I've seen open mould designs are the most evolved safest designs and add to that a fantastic paint job I wouldn't see those as inferior. Open mould designs are far more exposed to failure as they are used by 100s possibly 1000s of brands around the world yet seem to be some of the least likely to fail.

I've seen lots of reports of Canyon frames failing and some reports of Boardman carbon frames failing but perhaps because they are a small supplier not seen reports of Ribble failures. Always worth comparing warranty and rider weight limits because some frames like Canyon have short warranties and lower weight limits and that sort of gives the game away about what the certification has said about the frame. I know I can keep going on about Giant but they have a reputation for quality and the most advanced factories and sell an absolute huge number of bikes and offer a lifetime warranty on carbon frames and forks with high weight limits. Saying that I have seen some Giant carbon frame and fork failures but it's hard to work out what failure rate that is when it seems like almost every independent bike shop is selling them, at least around here.

If you are considering Ribble why not consider Merlin or Planet X they all offer amazing deals on open mould carbon frame bikes, some absolutely stunning bikes at great value prices. I'd probably only go the Boardman route if it was the only way I could get the cycle2work discount, I'd also wait until a bike got discounted close to the £1,000 price to max out the value of the purchase. I believe while you can't use discount codes for cycle2work purchases you can buy discounted bikes, I could be wrong there but that's what I seem to remember possibly wrongly.

Matthewfalle

different bike will probably mean different b/b so no dramas there.

i'd go for a Boardman as i personally prefer them to Ribbles: they just seem nicer.

also Ribble ate getting a bit of a doofing elsewhere in the forum re their adventure bike.

also have a look at Planet X - cycle 2 work and their ti stuff is very nice.

Matthewfalle

Imposter wrote:

Tyresome wrote:

In house R&D, in Britain, is worth its weight in Gold I reckon.

No idea why you would think that. What makes 'in house R&D in the UK' so critical..?? I'm asking this while fully expecting you to ignore the question, as you do whenever you get called out...

imposter is yet again correct. nick is yet again spouting bollox. utter complete bollox. covfefe bollox.

bob_sergio

Wow, lots of great replies! Thanks.

I was 90% thinking about the Ribble but it seems about 50-50 between the two from the replies. Luckily I have time to to look at other bikes as I’m still doing my physio, can’t see the point in having a bike until I can ride it properly!

The two I mentioned was because of the cycle scheme (seems and easy way to save £250) however I would consider buying the right bike out right as I’d rather the correct bike over saving a bit of money.

bob_sergio

mrfpb wrote:

I'd go for the CGR 725 (Steel) rather than alu. The Tiagra set up is £999.

Might be a daft question... what’s the advantages to a steel frame?

bonzo_banana

Bob Sergio wrote:

Wow, lots of great replies! Thanks.

I was 90% thinking about the Ribble but it seems about 50-50 between the two from the replies. Luckily I have time to to look at other bikes as I’m still doing my physio, can’t see the point in having a bike until I can ride it properly!

The two I mentioned was because of the cycle scheme (seems and easy way to save £250) however I would consider buying the right bike out right as I’d rather the correct bike over saving a bit of money.

Take your time and maximise the value of your purchase, I absolutely detest paying full price for anything. Sounds like you are perfectly setup to play the waiting game until the right deal comes along. If you have access to the cycle2work scheme and its open so you can use pretty much any bike shop that runs the scheme that would be absolute heaven to me, getting both a shop discount and a large tax discount. Of course many bike offers aren't really offers they have inflated prices just so they can discount them later but if you look at what you are actually getting in component terms you should be able to work out the best deals.

I'll just make the case for open mould frames, firstly they are often massively improved over time as different importers feedback information on failures, there is no prototyping, testing and certification costs because the frame design is an existing one this means the factory door price is very, very low and performance is still very competitive with safety if anything improved. I personally think open mould designs offer the best value and safety plus still competitive performance. In contrast going for a new carbon frame design is much higher risk and cost. If your budget is close to £1000 or less and you want a carbon bike then open mould is the best and possibly only option. If you are going for aluminium the same pretty much applies although they aren't called open mould of course but each factory has a existing range of frame designs which are pre-certified and have a lower factory door price. Most importers try to only subtly change the frame designs so as not to require additional certification costs which can be huge. Here frames can look quite different but still fall under the original certification if model variations are incorporated into the original certification. I used to be a certification compliance officer and we had a license from the BSI so I would look at a lot of bicycle standards even though that wasn't the industry I was involved in and came across bicycle test reports occasionally.

chippyk

Matthewfalle wrote:

different bike will probably mean different b/b so no dramas there.

i'd go for a Boardman as i personally prefer them to Ribbles: they just seem nicer.

also Ribble ate getting a bit of a doofing elsewhere in the forum re their adventure bike.

also have a look at Planet X - cycle 2 work and their ti stuff is very nice.

Planet X’s pricing is confusing and doesn’t help. £800 one day, a grand the next, then £700 and then £1100. You never know when to buy. They’re also creeping up in price, they had a reflective London Road SL for a grand over Xmas, £1100 now. Their Ti bikes seem to be on the way out too, the Hurricane has all but disappeared.

Matthewfalle

ChippyK wrote:

Matthewfalle wrote:

different bike will probably mean different b/b so no dramas there.

i'd go for a Boardman as i personally prefer them to Ribbles: they just seem nicer.

also Ribble ate getting a bit of a doofing elsewhere in the forum re their adventure bike.

also have a look at Planet X - cycle 2 work and their ti stuff is very nice.

Planet X’s pricing is confusing and doesn’t help. £800 one day, a grand the next, then £700 and then £1100. You never know when to buy. They’re also creeping up in price, they had a reflective London Road SL for a grand over Xmas, £1100 now. Their Ti bikes seem to be on the way out too, the Hurricane has all but disappeared.

agree - its all over the shop. I'm looking at a Spitfire and don't understand what is going on. Same as when I was looking at one of their aero frames.

chippyk

Matthewfalle wrote:

ChippyK wrote:

Matthewfalle wrote:

different bike will probably mean different b/b so no dramas there.

i'd go for a Boardman as i personally prefer them to Ribbles: they just seem nicer.

also Ribble ate getting a bit of a doofing elsewhere in the forum re their adventure bike.

also have a look at Planet X - cycle 2 work and their ti stuff is very nice.

Planet X’s pricing is confusing and doesn’t help. £800 one day, a grand the next, then £700 and then £1100. You never know when to buy. They’re also creeping up in price, they had a reflective London Road SL for a grand over Xmas, £1100 now. Their Ti bikes seem to be on the way out too, the Hurricane has all but disappeared.

agree - its all over the shop. I'm looking at a Spitfire and don't understand what is going on. Same as when I was looking at one of their aero frames.

I’ve been looking at a Spitfire, want something for touring and I think the Hurricane is better sorted to that.

Tyresome

Matthewfalle wrote:

Imposter wrote:

Tyresome wrote:

In house R&D, in Britain, is worth its weight in Gold I reckon.

No idea why you would think that. What makes 'in house R&D in the UK' so critical..?? I'm asking this while fully expecting you to ignore the question, as you do whenever you get called out...

imposter is yet again correct. nick is yet again spouting bollox. utter complete bollox. covfefe bollox.

Tyresome

Bob Sergio wrote:

mrfpb wrote:

I'd go for the CGR 725 (Steel) rather than alu. The Tiagra set up is £999.

Might be a daft question... what’s the advantages to a steel frame?

Steel is real.

imposter2.0

Tyresome wrote:

Bob Sergio wrote:

mrfpb wrote:

I'd go for the CGR 725 (Steel) rather than alu. The Tiagra set up is £999.

Might be a daft question... what’s the advantages to a steel frame?

Steel is real.

Troll.

bonzo_banana

ChippyK wrote:

Matthewfalle wrote:

different bike will probably mean different b/b so no dramas there.

i'd go for a Boardman as i personally prefer them to Ribbles: they just seem nicer.

also Ribble ate getting a bit of a doofing elsewhere in the forum re their adventure bike.

also have a look at Planet X - cycle 2 work and their ti stuff is very nice.

Planet X’s pricing is confusing and doesn’t help. £800 one day, a grand the next, then £700 and then £1100. You never know when to buy. They’re also creeping up in price, they had a reflective London Road SL for a grand over Xmas, £1100 now. Their Ti bikes seem to be on the way out too, the Hurricane has all but disappeared.

Same as Halfords, prices go up so they can do large discounts later, the pricing is a roller coaster. Still some of the pricing is amazing especially when its at its lowest point, some truly fantastic bargains there, it's just a pain trying to work out the best time to buy.

imposter2.0

Bob Sergio wrote:

mrfpb wrote:

I'd go for the CGR 725 (Steel) rather than alu. The Tiagra set up is £999.

Might be a daft question... what’s the advantages to a steel frame?

Actual advantages - there aren't any, really. It's just another material to make frames out of.

keef66

Imposter wrote:

Bob Sergio wrote:

mrfpb wrote:

I'd go for the CGR 725 (Steel) rather than alu. The Tiagra set up is £999.

Might be a daft question... what’s the advantages to a steel frame?

Actual advantages - there aren't any, really. It's just another material to make frames out of.

It's heavier than alu but it also feels different to ride. Seems to absorb a bit more road buzz. It can often be repaired whereas alu rarely can. Both alu and steel will corrode in the right (or wrong) circumstances.

mrfpb

Imposter wrote:

Bob Sergio wrote:

mrfpb wrote:

I'd go for the CGR 725 (Steel) rather than alu. The Tiagra set up is £999.

Might be a daft question... what’s the advantages to a steel frame?

Actual advantages - there aren't any, really. It's just another material to make frames out of.

This is the reason. I just prefer steel compared to aluminium. I can't quantify it in any way. I've never tried carbon so can't comment.

keef66

I've owned / ridden decent steel, alu and carbon framed bikes. The differences are subtle. I think frame material is going to be a minor consideration when choosing my next one.

lakesluddite

Matthewfalle wrote:

different bike will probably mean different b/b so no dramas there.

i'd go for a Boardman as i personally prefer them to Ribbles: they just seem nicer.

also Ribble ate getting a bit of a doofing elsewhere in the forum re their adventure bike.

also have a look at Planet X - cycle 2 work and their ti stuff is very nice.

Just to clarify, Planet X don't deal with Cycle to Work schemes, if this is what you are referring to.

svetty

Bonzo Banana wrote:

I'm pretty sure in the past some of the Boardman frames were open mould designs but perhaps that was the early ones and did see the report about them opening a research and testing centre.

Maybe they are going the Canyon route of designing futuristic looking bikes to add value but personally from what I've seen open mould designs are the most evolved safest designs and add to that a fantastic paint job I wouldn't see those as inferior. Open mould designs are far more exposed to failure as they are used by 100s possibly 1000s of brands around the world yet seem to be some of the least likely to fail.

Ribble do use open mould frames but I'm pretty certain Boardman have always designed their own. I have an open mould Ribble RT-80 which is a perfectly decent bike......

bob_sergio

Thanks for everyone’s input, it’s gratefully received.

Happened to be in Birmingham on Tuesday so I popped by the Ribble store and tried their bike jig, even though it was only the jig and not the bike, the geometry felt a lot nicer than the Boardman did riding it up and Down their show room, so on that basis I’m not looking at the Boardman anymore. That’s not to say I’m definitely getting the Ribble, I’m still looking at alternatives, like I said earlier in the thread, I’ve got plenty of time!