The Ribble Carbon R872 and using the Ribble bike builder

Ribble's bike builder

Ribble's bike builder gives you the flexibility of building your own bike, without getting your hands dirty.

The only problem with this is... Ribble build it.

My order with Ribble

Is much as I love my new purchase, the road to delivery (and then the rest) was not a smooth one. So for all of you thinking of using Ribble, or their bike builder, you are in for a bargain, but don't expect great service.

Here is my experience:

The Ribble service

They took four days longer to build it it than the maximum time frame promoted at purchase, and it was only through multiple calls chasing the order that I found out they had got my delivery address wrong(!) on the system. Despite the email confirmation with all the correct details. That could have been bad.

A long 27 days after paying the bike then arrived... in a bike box marked for a frame a size smaller than the one I ordered, with the wrong seat post, and was short of any rubber bungs for the oddly placed and roughly finished drainage holes on the frame. The frame was the correct size as it turned out, the box was must have been some kind of cruel trick.

They did however kindly give me a bottle and bottle cage for the delay, and when the seat post was replaced, I got another two bottles with cages, and when the rubber bungs arrived... you guessed it, they arrived with a complimentary bottle and cage.

Ironically, my frame despite having the fittings for two bottle cages, due to the positioning of the fittings, and frame size, you can only fit one bottle cage on it anyway.

Choosing my bike spec'

Whilst I'm still learning and have little experience in the mechanics of bikes, I was slightly nervous in case of choosing non-compatible parts, I assumed however that the logic of the tool would prevent me from choosing non-compatible parts.

In many cases the tool is advanced enough to do this, it checks wheels against groupsets, and only gives compatible gearing options. It did however miss a trick on the Sella Italia Monolink Alloy seat post I ordered with my Sella Italia X1 saddle. A match made in heaven you'd think... apparently not. The seat post is not compatible with the lady's saddle.

I didn't find this out until the day they were supposedly building it. Because I didn't answer their snail mail query instantly (I took approx 15 minutes to get back to the email, asking what other seat post I'd choose) I lost my build slot and had to wait a further three days before getting another build date booked in. You'd think that somebody would check the build list for compatibility before the workshop date, given they had had 4 weeks to process the order. I'm not sure what processing an order entails if it's not looking over the order.

The Ribble Carbon R872

Despite the many pitfalls within the order I placed with Ribble, I am very happy with the bike itself. Whether it's because it's been so long awaited - I'd been wanting a faster bike for a while - or because it is such a nice looking bike, it's hard to stay angry with Ribble for too long.

The bike looks sleek and fast, it's understated, and it's safe to say it looks much better in the flesh so to speak, than on their site, or on my site for that matter. I can't say the backdrop does it justice, sorry.

I chose this bike for the value, I didn't expect to like looking at it so much. I had however taken careful consideration when choosing the various parts, to make them as aesthetically complimentary as possible, as well as high spec for value. I even went as far as making a weight to cost spreadsheet, and I might have even dabbled in a bit of photo shop for tape and spacer options. Very sad.

Following the velominati rules 

I've not really followed the rule #9 on the velominati - keepers of the cog rule sheet on this build, however I feel I'm somewhere in between the final option, and a newer improved option I am considering putting forward, where by your spacer colour matches your saddle instead of your bar tape, because spacers are easier to maintain at a crisp white.

This is the spec I went for in the end.

	Model	Make	Weight
Frame	R872 Frame	Ribble	980
Forks	R872 Forks	Ribble	400
Groupset	Ultegra	Shimano	2441
Cableset	Shimano	Shimano	300
Wheels	Shimano RS21	Shimano	1850
Skewers	Generic	n/a	145
Bars	Ritchey Pro Race	Ritchey	260
Stem	Ritchey pro carbon stem (Deda in the pic'... upgraded after fitting issues)	Ritchey	110
Headset	Not sure	n/a	80 ish
Spacers	Headset Spacer Ritchey Wet White	Ritchey	3
Saddle	Selle Italia Ladies Saddle (X1 in pic')	Selle Italia	270
Seatpillar	Deda RS02 Seat Post	Selle Italia	333
Tyres	Vredestein Fortezza Tricomp Folding	Vredestein	240
Innertubes	Yaw Butyl Inner Tube	Yaw Butyl	85
Bar Tape	Ritchey Cork Handlebar Tape	Ritchey	70
Pedals etc	Speedplay pedals	Speedplay	206
		Total kg:	7.77 (ish...)

The spec' on my R872

R872 Frame - Weight and feel

The frame is very light weight for the price, slick, and besides the not particularly well finished drainage holes, that were the cause for confusion for me for a while (without bungs they just looked like accidental holes in the carbon...), I am very happy with the frame itself aesthetically.

The carbon however is not as smooth on the ground as I'd hoped, it really picks up the vibrations in the road, to the extent that my bars have dropped a few times after fitting a new stem. The torque bolts are glued in place now and seem to be holding.

Bottle fitting issue

Bit weird that standard bottle cages overlap on the frame, meaning you can only fit one bottle in any two cages at one time, and it's incredibly ironic seeing as I now have a cupboard full of their bottles and cages. 

Internal cabling and gear issue

It has internal cabling which for the price is pretty rare, and was one of the main things I liked about the bike. The only draw back is that it seems to push the gear cabling out at such an angle that it puts force on the shifting and stops the Ultegra group set from running as seamlessly as it could be at the back. This has been quite disappointing, and means I'm often going up and down gears to move into the one I want. Not ideal for a groupset of that value. Not ideal for time trialing either.

Ultegra groupset

The breaks work like magic, and the gears look smart in Grey. The shifting isn't great though, as mentioned above, this could very well be a frame issue, although the front takes a bit of a nudge sometimes too to shift. I've heard similar reporting from other Ultegra users for the front rings.

It's miles better than the clunky Sora on my previous main bike, however I actually prefer the Tiagra in terms of shifting ease.

Shimano RS21 Clincher Wheels 

Ok so these wheels are pretty low spec. RS21 Shimano Clincher. This was a calculated decision however. Wheels are the easiest thing to upgrade so I reasoned to spend out on the groupset and frame, the wheels can be a next season purchase.

Good decision really seeing as I wrote off the front wheel in the first month.

Speedplay pedals

I started off with Look Keo Classics. I chose white to match the spacers and saddle. It was beautiful. (for about a week)... then it was just sad to see. Never buy white pedals.

When my cleats fell apart I jumped at the chance to buy some Speedplay pedals  I missed the dual sided clipping of the SPDs and egg beaters on my other bikes, and Speedplay design is supposed to be excellent for performance through power, these pedals do look good too.

No white this time, team red instead. Matches the accents on the forks so I feel that velominati would approve.

Selle Italia Ladies saddle

Not exactly light weight, but necessary. I first went for the lighter weight Selle Italia X1... I didn't like it. It got replaced quite quickly.

The usual touring one I opt for is heavier than the far superior (in weight and comfort ratio) saddle that I eventually went for... unfortunately for me, and the rest of the self respecting female racing community, it's called Diva, and has pink on it.