Ribble CGR SL

KoenM

Hey guys, this is my new bike, will be used mostly as a winter-roadbike but also as a gravelbike.

Winter-road setup:


Gravel setup:


Details:




Frame: Ribble CGR SL
Forks: CGR Carbon Disc Fork SL
Bars: Level 2 Alloy 6061 40cm
Stem: Level 1 Alloy 100mm
Bar Tape: Level Two Tone Bar Tape Black/Blue

Front STI Lever: Shimano 105
Front Caliper: Shimano 105
Rear STI Lever: Shimano 105
Rear Caliper: Shimano 105

Front Mech: Shimano 105
Rear Mech: Shimano 105

Seat: Fizik Arione R3 Versus Evo
Seat Post: Ribble aero seatpost

Cranks: Shimano 105
Chainring(s): Shimano 105 50/34
Chain: Shimano 105
Cassette: Winter-roadbike: Shimano 105 11-32 Gravelbike: Shimano 105 11-34
Pedals: Shimano PD-A600
Bottom Bracket: Shimano BBR60

Wheels: Winter-roadbike: Fulcrum Racing 4 DB Gravelbike: Mavic Allroad
Tires: Winter-roadbike: Schwalbe One Evolution 30mm Gravelbike: WTB Riddler TCS Light Fast Rolling 37mm
Thru Axles: DT Swiss Plug In RWS
Brakediscs: Winter-roadbike: Formula One-Piece SL Gravelbike: Tektro CL Rotor

Bottleholders: Supacaz Fly Cage Ano
Saddlebag: Winter-roadbike: Selle Royal ICS Gravelbike: Lizard Skins Cache
Pump: Birzman Velocity Apogee MG
Mudguards: SKS 45mm 700c P45

Weight with everything on it: Winter-roadbike: 10,2kg Gravelbike: 10,7kg

The bike is great, there were a few niggles that I had to deal with:
-The seatpostclamp needs to be tightened harder than u think, it felt a bit uncomfortable to tighten it to 9nm!
-I had to reinstall the handlbars and spacers, because the special spacer at the bottom didn't alway swing with the fork as it should.
All in all those problems were easly solved also thanks to the twitterguy from Ribble!
With the fulcrum 40mm wheels it really feels like a roadbike that is maybe on the heavy-side.
With the Mavic wheels and WTB-tires it's a really fast gravelbike with aero-features and it's more comfortable than it looks!

johnboy183

But it’s not a Rose

KoenM

johnboy183 wrote:

But it’s not a Rose

Honestly my 2 last options were this bike or the Rose Backroad 105 but all the reviews from the Backroad said the same, awesome handeling and price/quality BUT it wasn't comfortable. And comfort was one of the things I needed in this bike as I'm going to use it most as a winter-roadbike (probably 80% of the time) and with 30mm tires the frame must be comfortable enough.
If I had wait enough long enough (but isn't that always so) I maybe would have looked at the new Trek Domane as it now fits 38mm tires or 35mm with mudguards but it is about €400 more expensive and the mudguards needs to be removed everytime I would use it for gravel (as I tend to use at least 37mm on gravel).

johnboy183

Tbf the Ribble is a lovely looking bike and seem to be getting good reviews of late

andy46

I have the same bike, very happy with it. Can I ask what mudgaurds are you using?

KoenM

andy46 wrote:

I have the same bike, very happy with it. Can I ask what mudgaurds are you using?

Those are the once that u can order with the bike.
If u want to use mudguards u'll need the optional bridge: https://www.ribblecycles.co.uk/ribble-r ... fecfccf5d1

cougie

Lovely looking bike. The paint looks very nice indeed. Chapeau.

KoenM

Update on the bike, it's been very comfortable even on cobbles (with the 30mm tires, with 38mm it feels like u float).
I did change some stuff on it, bought a 80mm stem, the hoods sit alot further on the handlebar than my other bike so while the saddle to handlebar measurement was spot on the saddle to hoods were to far away. With 80mm it's alot better for me and it's even better on gravel.
I also had to replace the headset expander, I over tightened it after I put in some new grease on the fork bearings (we had alot of rain), honestly the Level "Ribble" expander headset isn't very good (it's only €5) so I'm actually not to mad about it, I bought a BBB one instead and that's alot stronger.

Also a question, does anybody know why I always have to adjust my rear discbrake after I change wheels (in the front it's not necessary), if I put in another rear wheel I always have to do this. Not that I change them alot but maybe there is a way that I don't need to do this?

singleton

Nice bike.

I have a Cube Cross Race pro which I do something similar with - winter road duties it runs DT Swiss wheels with 28mm Michelin Pro4 tyres and off road duties it has the original cube wheels with 40mm Continental AT tyres.

I also have to re-adjust the rear disc when changing wheels. I thought it was because one set was centre lock and the other was 6 bolt so they were slightly different - but maybe it's something else.

KoenM

Singleton wrote:

Nice bike.

I have a Cube Cross Race pro which I do something similar with - winter road duties it runs DT Swiss wheels with 28mm Michelin Pro4 tyres and off road duties it has the original cube wheels with 40mm Continental AT tyres.

I also have to re-adjust the rear disc when changing wheels. I thought it was because one set was centre lock and the other was 6 bolt so they were slightly different - but maybe it's something else.

Mine are both Centerlock, they do have different rotor's but they have the same thickness.

homers_double

Nice bike you have there but one question, are you as miserable as your profile picture appears?

joey54321

Lovely bike. I really like the look of this model, i think Ribble have made a good'en.

KoenM

homers double wrote:

Nice bike you have there but one question, are you as miserable as your profile picture appears?

Haha, no this is an old picture, i'll update it if I find another one.

simonlawman11

Looks really good. I'm looking at the exact bike now. I'll be buying either the carbon CGR like your or pushing the boat out for the titanium version. Did you think about the titanium version or were you set on the carbon?

Also...I'll be moving from the old Ribble Audax bike where the geometry is almost the same as on the endurance series. Have you noticed much difference in the set up given that it is a 'gravel' bike rather than a pure road bike?

Cheers

koen

Honestly I'm using my Ribble CGR SL mostly as a winterroadbike (80% road, 20% gravel until now), and because it's the aero (the Titanium and Steel) aren't for me it was an easy decision. But it's easy, will u do more road, pick the SL, want to do more gravel pick the steel or titanium.
Do u feel the difference between this and a roadbike (it replaces a Canyon Endurace), ofcourse! It's heavier, the wheelbase is ALOT longer so it's rather stable than nimble and it's a bit slower to get up to speed. I like to do steep short hills and I stay mostly on my big chainring on my performance roadbike (Rose X-Lite Six), with this bike I have noticed that it isn't always possible (heavier and longer has to do with it I think).
As in a different setup, mostly not although my reach till the handlebars is shorter but that's more because of the brakelevers, they sit further from these LEVEL 1 bars than my other roadbikes. But if I had my usual handlebars on it that wouldn't change.
What I would recommend is to use a slightly shorter stem, for gravel sitting more straight is never bad!