Ribble R4

willbowden

Dirt Disciple
Anyone else got one of these then? I'm convinced I'm the only person to ever buy one...

Its a Ribble R4, 7005 Frame, Mavic X517 wheels, Shimano XT and LX components, Sugino cranks and chainrings to get a decent high gear. Flite titanium saddle...

Had it for donkeys year now and its been brilliantly reliable...


Will :cool:
 
Heres a picture

RibbleR4.jpg


Will :)
 
Interesting mixture of dates. X517 rims came out in 98, canti bridges died out in 96, 39cm rigid forks hung around a lot longer than maybe they should.

I had a TotalBike in 1998 with a test of a Ribble, I think it was an R4, although the tubes were round on that and yours don't look round. The usual thing - Ribble or Merlin vs big brand names. The Ribble was by far the lightest, by far the best equipped, had the best frame, had hand-built 517 wheels, but they hated it. Ribble had clearly had to fit a P2 fork in order to get to the price point of the group test, the frame needed a longer fork, so the head angle was 72 degrees, the handling was twitchy and of course none of the testers knew why. So they panned the bike. Put a decent fork on it and it was by far the best bike there, but the testers didn't know that. Soon afterwards, I noticed Ribble stopped selling mtb frames/builds and stopped advertising in mtb magazines!

Looking at yours, it does look as though it has quite a lot of bottom bracket drop, which is an indicator of fork too short for frame, so possibly a set up similar to the TotalBike R4. Obviously you like it as it is, but I just wonder whether you ever thought of trying it with suspension? A Z2 Bomber might suit it nicely.
 
Top memory that chap!

Looks like I misguessed the date I bought it, I was sure it was pre-'97 I got it :?

The wheels were fitted when it was new. It may have been the same article that made me buy it, the article I read had it easily the lightest (as you said) and very good for climbing (its bloody hilly round here). I had intended swapping the kona project 2 forks from my old Cindercone but it got nicked before I had a chance :shock:

Most of my riding is hardpacked paths and roads so theres no need for dragging hefty suspension forks around, my elbows seem to do a half decent job still ;)

It is as you rightly say pretty twitchy but you get used to it fairly quickly, if it doesn't throw you off and kill you the first time you ride it.

Cheers

Will :)
 
Ribble Bikes bring back memories. I had a '95 road bike made of Reynolds 531 frame and fork, with Campag Veloce.

Traded it in for a '04 Giant road bike. Alluminium frame, carbon forks, shimano 105........what a mistake. Made me realise how good that Ribble was.
 
Ribble Bikes bring back memories. I had a '95 road bike made of Reynolds 531 frame and fork, with Campag Veloce.

Traded it in for a '04 Giant road bike. Alluminium frame, carbon forks, shimano 105........what a mistake. Made me realise how good that Ribble was.
 
Steel Ribble MTB's

I had one which was identical to a Kona in appearance, I swapped it for a TV with a mate who owned a LBS. It was an unclaimed repair [about 4 years].

The frame was 4 oz lighter than my Lava Dome and pinged better with the scientific fingernail flick test.

Another of lifes "wish Id kept it bikes".
 
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