What's the low-down on Ribble?

I have one of their winter/audax bikes, had it since 2009. Onto it's sixth winter now and it's put up with all kinds of crap over the years. Still does me absolutely fine for winter commuting, club runs, and training. The only thing is that in comparison to my summer bikes it weighs a ton so the first few rides in the winter feel horrible. But you get used to it of course, and it makes that first ride on the race bike in March so, so sweet

Get one - they are extremely good value. Customer service can be really up and down in my experience - sometimes it's ten out of ten, sometimes it's, um, not.

I bought a Ribble Evo-Pro in 2011 with a Campagnolo Centaur groupset. Great to ride. Light and fast. Never had any niggles and it looks as good today as it did when I first opened the box! All I had to do was put the saddle and bars on before riding. Go for it.

I have a Ribble Sportive 7046, great bike, only problems were the wheels, I wouldnt bother with Rodi Airline Clinchers again, massive problems with spoke breakage. Ribble were great however, they paid for pickup and repaired, but after 1 year hubs were trashed. If I did it again I would ask for Campagnolo Scirocco wheels as standard, bought some earlier this year, for another £100 on top of Rodi's they are worth it! Awesome wheels. Also bottom bracket and chain trashed after 1 year, have upgraded to Shimano 105 much better.......

I've heard good things and they certainly offer value for money! I have a friend who rides a mid-range carbon frame and he's experienced no problems, despite riding several Ironman events on it and numerous other centuries.

Negatives? I suppose you could say the frames aren't top-quality, but if they do what they say on the tin, does it matter so much at that price?

I've a 2009 "Aluminium Winter" (Sloping top tube) model. ie. Dirt Cheap, bottom of the range. I cannot fault it in any way. Sure, the stickers may be coming off, but it's a great bike - I can commute and go on long rides on it, no problems.

I have a 7005 series Audax. The blue cheap one. One of many bikes and frames i have.

An idiot designed that frame. The rear end of the chainstay, towards the rear lugs, have holes on the underside of the stay. This is i assume to let the hot air out during welding.

Only problem is that this fills up the stay with water in no time at all. I could stop every half mile and pour out a pint of more of water when it rains. Needless to say it is now being built up as the indoor trainer. Taping it up with a few rounds of electrical tape did the trick but put it thee in the firs tplace?

I know two other people, one of which works in a bike shop and races on it, who say to stay away citing too light and flimsy/flexible.

3 years ago last month to be exact

things may be better now but i wont be buying a complete bike from them ever again

I was looking for a road bike last year in the 2k price range. I even visited the Ribble showroom a couple of times to speak to and listen to the staff there. I ended up buying a Kuota from Jack Parkers in Burscough as I couldn't handle the sales twaddle that I was hearing at Ribble.
I have a Ribble alu frame that seems OK for the money.

No real opinions on Ribble either way but there are so many good options these days.
I would suggest though that before you order what is to be your first road bike that you need to be sure that it is a good fit for you and the style of riding you do.

So, it is worth going to a 'reputable' local bike shop that can advise you and let you sit on them etc and talk through options etc.
I would suggest having a proper bike fit at somewhere that does this in your area. It will cost you around £180 for a three hour session but is well worth it and you will be better prepared for the correct frame size and geometry that you need. This will lead to more enjoyment of your bike. You are about to spend a considerable sum on a new bike, don't skimp on making sure it fits!

I've had an aluminium frame/carbon fork bike from Ribble for 13 years. It has now been resprayed and had new wheels and groupset. Looks like new, never caused me any problems. Oh, and after the respray, I rebadged it as a Ribble as well; bugger the snobs!
Never had any problems with customer services. They helped with questions when I replaced the groupset and everything |have bought from them has been delivered promptly.
The only issue, in common with every other mail order bike, is that you can't see it or try it for size/fit first.

They didn't have any real reason not to give me my money back, they just didnt want a lightly used bike back, this was on the ride to work scheme so they really wasn't happy about it

Under consumer law i gave them 3 chances to rectify the issue after that trading standards said im entitled to a full refund, so i contacted ribble and told them this and threatened them with the small claims court

within 2 hours i had a reply saying they will arrange for the bike to be collected and once it arrives at the shop they would refund the cycle to work scheme, which they did

As i said the actual product was good apart from the known issue, the customer service was the worst i have ever had

they look good for the money and you have a greater flexibility with your components and budget - however I would rather they left their branding off or gave you the option when building your order.

Had a Ribble gran fondo from them a few years ago, had a issue with the paint cracking on the rear dropouts and it flaking off within one month

Was told it was a known issue and to return the frame for a repaint

To cut a long story short after nearly 3 months and 3 frames returned with the frame coming back with the same problem everytime (once one frame was never even re-painted) i asked for a refund which they basically refused to give me

Finally got trading standards involved and got all my money back

They are great till you have a issue then there nothing but trouble, i still buy the occasional part from them but would never buy a bike from them ever again

The bike itself was good just the worst customer service i have ever experienced in 20+ years of using bike shops

Good value products. If you get them mail order you usually just have to turn the bars and set your saddle height.

Had a R872 for about a year now, really nice bike and I love the fact you build your spec to budget and you get so much more for your cash over off the shelf jobs. They ran out of Zonda clinchers and so popped two way on for free!! Its done about 2k so far and not had an issue, the build quality was there and it looks the dogs bollox for the price.

Had a Sportive Bianco for about 20 months. Love it. Not had any customer service problems. Broke the derailleur hanger in the summer, needed a replacement quickly. They were out of stock (due to a supplier issue), but gave me a contact for a compatible one (BETD).

I have upgraded the wheels (lighter, stiffer, sealed hubs) after 18 months. But the bike seemed well made and well put together- I've got nothing to compare it to mindyou.

It came mainly assembled- had to put the bars back onto the stem (they'd clearly been put on, the levers set up and tape on, then removed) and screw in pedals.

I don't have one but there are at least half a dozen in the club, all very well liked. I did ride one lad's R872 or Stealth or whatever it's called, it was stiff and fast, not that comfortable but you could always just let a few psi out of the tyres, choose well-padded bar tape and maybe a clever seat post like the Canyon VCLS 2.0.

I've had an R782 for the last 18 months and it's been great. No comment on their aftersales service as I didn't need it but communication was good and the bike arrived when they said it would.

To answer your last question it came very well packed and all i had to do was pop the wheels and seatpost in, tighten the stem and put the handle bars in.

I'd agree with CYCLIST.
I've been riding a Ribble Sportive Racing for over 4 years with no issues at all.
I've replaced 2 x headsets and 1 rear derailleur in that time...my fault not the build quality.
I've replaced worn drivetrain and heavier components as needed (or not ) - it originally came with full Ultegra 6700 and Fulcrum 7's
I find the frame ultra stiff - as it's an XS and really has no wibbly/wobbly issues...so power is there when the hammer goes down...except for my piss poor stamina and old man low power output...It suits me.

I've had no Ribble quibbles (and I'm sure I'm not the only one...) with any service that I've received from the company over multiple purchases (clothing/equipment)...some people berate them because they aren't a 'name'...but I just put that down to 'snobbery' and an 'elitist' nature of those that most likely have more money than sense/skill/both and have probably never actually experienced the bikes first hand - and that's entirely up to them of course...as everyone is entitled to hold their own opinion...I just turn the other cheek and go on riding safe in the knowledge I got a great deal when I bought the bike...

Many people will have their opinion on Ribble, Chinese carbon frames etc etc high resin content and so on.
However I have had a Ribble Pro Evo for over two years and it has been/is excellent. It is my second bike, however it has high end componentry and is great fun to ride and has never let me down.
Ribbles customer service has been good despite other people's expierience with them.
I would say go for it.