Ribble CGR Ti

It was a long wait but wow was it worth it. Titanium is not only beautiful to look at it, it is also a delight to ride. This is my first electronic groupset having mostly ridden 105 up until now and its just awesome. The thing tho that has really set this whole experience apart for me tho has been the wonderful aftersales service I have received from Ribble. Sadly my bike was knocked over in my house and a very slight bend to the hanger resulted in my derailleur being saved but at the same time not functioning as it should. I spoke to aftersales and told them my sad tale and within 2 days had a replacement hanger Free of Charge, this was more than I could have hoped for. I also did not receive the tubeless valves at handover and again these were couriered free of charge to my house too, nothing has been a problem, everyone, so helpful. Really good customer service.

The bike is a gem, handling sharp, rolling brilliant and it is putting so many smiles on my face. I have ridden it loaded with a panier too as a tourer and its just so versatile. I love it, it is going to replace the CX and Roadie in my collection. Its everything and more that I hoped for.

Wait list was 8 months but it was delivered exactly one day ahead of the date originally promised and you cannot ask for better than that. Ribble, I am a big fan, well done.

Ribble CGR Ti
Shimano 105 50/34, 11/34
Mavic All road wheels
Schwalbe 700x 40c
Double sided Shimano pedals spds/ flats

Ordered in Feb – collected in Aug – this review will not cover the customer service / process / pain that this involved but rather focus on the bike itself


Day after collection :
Week in Anglesey / Pembrokeshire
Week in Bath / Bristol
Long weekend Sandstone Way

770km since collection in less than 4 weeks

I love road cycling , but never got on with mountain biking – heavy bike , rough surface – I completely lack confidence – but love the idea of being more comfortable on fire tracks , forest tracks , poor road surfaces etc – so decided to give this bike a go with wider tyres , familiar gearing and handlebars- but with the ability to tour / bike pack and get away from traffic a bit more and hopefully be able to deal with what ever the route presented me with .

Fist ride – Newborough forest trails in Anglesey – could not believe how well the bike handled , didn’t slip or slide on any loose stones – amazing grip – but speedy and fast too whoo hoo fantastic
Over the week more of this and also lots of little tiny lanes with varied rough / smooth / mossy surfaces and bike performed amazingly well

Onto Pembrokeshire and seeking out the source of the bluestones from Stonehenge gave me my first tre taste of off road riding a rough track that peter out to a grassy trod to visit a stone circle in the Preselli hills – and I could actually ride it again with no grip issues and comfortable – this rout also include a couple of over 16% climbs and the bikes gearing performed well and super road handling on fast descents and winding lanes – love it !

Next we moved onto Bath & Bristol – camping just off the B2B cycle-path and using this to visit each city – the bike was fast and efficient , but we also completed the 140 km / 1345m Avon Cycle way in a day
And the bike was super comfy for all day cycling and performed very well on all surfaces and was fast and nippy when I need it to be
The mix of flat pedals for looking round the cities , and clipped in for long all day riding was really versatile and highly recommended

All this reignited my cycling mojo and I felt like anything was possible on this bike – so we came home had a night riding ride some moorland and reservoir tracks high up above the Calder Valley in West Yorkshire we planned the following BH weekend to do the Sandstone Way – which is billed as an 193km mountain bike route – off road tracks and quiet minor roads across Northumberland from Berwick upon Tweed to Hexham – there are options to take less challenging sections (which we opted for – due to my inexperience and previous MTB woes) but also kept in many, many off road sections in . Upon arrival into Hexham we then planned to take route 72 Hadrian’s Cycleway onto Newcastle to get home.

We loaded up the bags with bike packing bags (also a first) and planned to take 3 days ( 80km ish per day, 1 night camping , 1 night in a pub )
Well it was simply amazing over the 3 days (which were so much slower than road cycling … so all very long days in the saddle and the distance / elevation don’t even described what the days were like at all) .
The bike performed superbly in every scenario – moorland, sandy tracks, forest paths , grassy fields, stony tracks , river crossings and tidal causeways ,cattlegrids , tiny lanes with rough surfaces , smooth tarmac ) I really could not fault the bike in anyway (apart from maybe boses on the front fork to allow extra bags to be fixed here ?) and no mechanicals over the whole weekend and I wasn’t even running tubeless. I cant believe the places I have rode the bike this weekend – just amazing and its opened up a whole new thing to me . This bike is simply amazing, really confidence building and I love it .