UKC

Toying with replacing my trusty Fondriest road bike, does anyone own or have any experience of the 3 bike brands?? The Planet X Red Sram looks a good deal but also like the Ribble Gran Fondo and the Focus Cayo, Will be used for commute and also rides out in the lancashire and lakeland hills. Fancy a carbon fibre bike just for a change, have Ali and steel bikes. Anyone of the UKC cycling fraternity help me with this painful decision??

In reply to quirky:

Friend of mine got a Ribble carbon bike over the summer. She's very pleased with it, but it took ages to arrive and their customer service was rubbish (which I've also heard from other people). It eventually arrived with upgraded wheels and tyres, as some sort of apology.

I nearly bought a Focus, but the shop wouldn't change the cranks, so I went elsewhere and got a Trek.

In reply to quirky:

Check out Flandria

http://www.flandriabikes.com/

PM me and I'll pass you Adam's details. Really nice bikes.

Paul got nothing -

http://www.hewittbikefitting.co.uk/

In reply to quirky:

My experience of Ribble:

- Excellent value bikes

- Worst customer service I've ever come across

In reply to quirky: I have heard good things about these bikes
http://www.bikeradar.com/gear/category/bikes/road/product/extro-lc-10-39378

In reply to LastBoyScout:

Ribble - nice bikes at the price point. Suffering from over-popularity, I think they're overwhelmed with the number of orders and disenchanted careless build staff let them down.

I own a Ribble Sportive. Arrived 2 1/2 months late, wrong tyres, staff were un-contactable for weeks and uninformative, abrupt and rude when I finally got through during the wait. Having snapped my steerer tube clean in 2 under normal use conditions, and read around the subject, I've issues with their component choice matching a "hollow" stem to a carbon steerer. Subsequent component orders (no build required) have been prompt and good value.

All that said I might still buy a complete bike from them again.

Planet X/On-one - Again nice bikes/frames at the price point. 1st order they sent me a frame with the headset fitted upside down, and missed out an item, but were available to contact by telephone immediately, genuinely apologetic and very polite and helpful, refunding the fitting charge promptly so I could get it refitted locally and sending the omitted item speedy delivery at their cost. Subsequent orders have been prompt and correct.

I've developed a greater trust in their service culture than Ribble. Wouldn't hesitate to buy from them with the right deal.

In reply to quirky: I've not seen the Gran Fondo but I do have the Ribble Carbon Sportive which i think is it's predecessor and am really pleased with it. I went for the Shimano Ultegra groupset rather than the Campag which is my only regret, but for the price i paid nothing else really came close.

The bike seems to be made really well and i haven't had any problems with it over the last 500 miles or so, although it is due a service now.

My only recommendation, depending on what the bike comes with, would be to look at getting a new set of wheels on it ASAP as mine came with Fulcrum Racing 7s which are pretty heavy.

I also looked at the Focus Cayo when I was buying but decided i preferred the look of the Ribble.

If you're struggling to get replies here cyclechat.co.uk run a pretty active forum which you might be able to search and find other people's opinions.

There's also the reviews on bike radar to look at (links below) but you've probably looked at those.

Gran Fondo - http://www.bikeradar.com/gear/category/bikes/road/product/gran-fondo-210-39...

Cayo Expert - http://www.bikeradar.com/gear/category/bikes/road/product/cayo-expert-10-37...

In reply to steev:


It's tragic, if only someone would shake them up a bit they could be something incredible and beloved of the cycle community.

In reply to quirky:

Since I have no idea off Ribble, I'll only give my opinions on Planet-X and Focus.

At least of the two, Planet-X seems to have the most bang for bucks (at least that was the case last year, haven't looked what parts they slapped on this season). I did however end up with a Cayo, as I got a good price and didn't have to have the bike shipped to Finland.

You can hardly go wrong with any of them. Me thinks. Sure, they ain't a Cervelo or an italian dream, but they are about half the price.

Oh, Red Bulls from Rose-versand.de might also be an option.

In reply to quirky:


As your're local, you can easily arrange to pick up your bike from Ribble's workshop.

I got my Gran Fondo in May (after a bit of a wait for the frames to arrive from the far east). Alan Gray in their sales dept was very helpful - though I did have to 'nudge' him a few times to get an actual build date from him.

No problems with the spec or the bike itself. I just went for the cheapest Veloce option - with a 13-29 cassette. I even managed to ride up Jeffrey's Hill last Sunday (1.2km avge 11% - max 20%)

I didn't go for Planet X or the Focus as I couldn't get the ratios I wanted without buying an extra cassette -- they wouldn't budge from their basic spec. With Ribble you do have the option of specifying crank length, bar width and stem length - even within the basic spec- and to extra cost. The responses I had to enquiries at Wiggle (Focus), PX and Halfords (Boardman) was that they did not deviate from their basic spec -- it was a case of take it or leave it.

Being local also meant that I saved on delivery cost.

Please don't get a Gran Fondo - as I like the admiring looks it gets -- believe it or not you see very few of them in Central Lancashire!

In reply to quirky: Thanks for the reply's, more food for thought! Am swayed toward the PLanet X at the mo as i have heard bad reviews re, Ribble customer service.

... Dave Hinde anyone?

In reply to Loughan: got to agree there , dave hinde= terrible service.
i have a focus cayo. had it since may and love it. cant coment on the others , but heard good reports about planet x and ribble service as said above is poor.

In reply to quirky:

Best solution is to visit some good local bike shops, eg Geoff Smith in Bolton, LBS's can often put some great deals your way from a choice of major brands to compete with mail order, but more importantly the bike will be right for you, ie frame size, type of wheels, crank length etc - also assured of great service for upgrades (ok i know you should ride them not buy them), wheel repairs etc

In reply to kevin stephens:The LBS is the best place for buying bikes, I have ended up buying both my bikes from the LBS (revolution bikes in Bangor) I spent hours playing around with the bike builder on ribble but at the end of the day when it came to it the best deal came from the LBS nad the best advice.
You will find as well as good free advice you will often get discount as a regular customer Especialy if you bought your bike there.
Also as far as fitting in my experiance the bike shope will swop thing around for you especialy the likes of stems when fitting you out.

In reply to quirky: I have a ribble and am very happy with it, I knew service would be slow nd was prepared to be patient. Pals have cayos, planet xs, cayos all are happy with those.

The bikes are all very similar, good value, budget carbon frames dressed up with high end kit and average wheels. Very close to being same bike, different stickers. Pick the one you like the best

flexibility of spec - ribble
fast service - wiggle
right deal at right time - could be any
yorkshire type - planet x
nicest paint job - you choose

In reply to 3leggeddog:

should read pals have cayos, planet xs, ribbles

In reply to quirky: "The LBS is the best place for buying bikes"

my local bike shops dave hinde, so not always the best place to go.