Dubbed The Ribble Edit, the UK consumer-direct bike maker put together a unique 5 bike collection for this year’s Rouleur Live show, headlined by a subtle silver all-road bike prototype crafted of 3d-printed titanium. The 4 customized bikes and 1 all-new prototype all-road bike are meant to celebrate “the brand’s heritage craftsmanship, innovation and design“.
Ribble Allroad Ti Prototype all-road & gravel bike
The most interesting of the 5 to us is this prototype Ribble Allroad Ti. Built up with a 3al/2.5v titanium tubeset, it’s the seamless headtube and seat cluster that piqued our attention to details. Using 3D-printed titanium, Ribble creates the smooth look of an aero carbon bike. But with all those lovely benefits of building with ti. Durability, a road buzz-eating smooth ride, and the beauty of a raw metal finish.
Ribble prototype carbon cockpit, too
Besides aerodynamics, additive manufacturing also let Ribble integrate fully internal cable routing and a built-in hidden integrated seat clamp.
“Furthermore, it provides the freedom to create shapes with a high strength to weight ratio coping with more multi directional loads as well as allowing you to put material exactly where you want it to deal with specific stresses as opposed to taking material away in a more traditional format like CNC milling where you cannot always access the small areas like a 3D printer can.“
Finishing off the ti all-road bike and its full carbon fork are a couple more Ribble prototypes in the cockpit. Ribble created a dramatically-shaped RS-2 Prototype stem & UB-2 Prototype carbon aero handlebar that mix aerodynamics with ergonomic comfort. And retain full cockpit adjustability.
The ti frame gets an etched-in headtube logo, and a brushed finish. While all the carbon parts get painted in speckled Ice Marble.
The Allroad Ti Prototype all-road bike build features a Shimano Dura-Ace Di2 groupset paired to 4-piston Hope RX4+ calipers & floating rotors for extra stopping power. Purple ano Hope RD40 Carbon wheels on Pro5 hubs hang a set of 35mm fast gravel Pirelli Cinturato Gravel H tires with classic tanwalls.
As for the other 4 bikes in The Edit, check out the:
Ribble x Vic Lee – The Vic Lee E
This is probably the most visually impressive of the bunch. A collaboration project with graphic artist or “inkist” Vic Lee, this hand-painted city bike is actually a stealthy commuter ebike. The Vic Lee E itself is everything but stealthy overall.
But with all the dazzling hand drawing over the muted pink frameset… It is easy to overlook the Mahle X35 hub motor out back.
The graphics take their inspiration from “a bike ride from the brand’s original store in Preston on Watery Lane on the banks of the River Ribble to the Rouleur Live venue at the Truman Brewery in London. The journey visually expresses the joy and freedom of cycling and interweaves the narrative with the cities, iconic locations, tow paths and twisting roads down to Shoreditch.”
This alloy ebike gets a full carbon fork. And it tops off an FSA KFX SiC integrated carbon flat bar cockpit with a Mahle ebike controls computer. A SRAM Red AXS XPLR groupset combines with a Hope RX crankset, MTB shifter & Hope Tech 4/X2 brakes.
To battle city streets, it gets Mavic Cosmic SL45 carbon wheels with that hub motor laced in. And then topped off with fat 42mm Pirelli Angel GT Urban slick tires.
Ribble Endurance SL R Superlight Edition
A more subtle build is this carbon Endurance SL R road bike built to break the UCI’s weight limit. Coming in at just 6.6kg complete, the Endurance Superlight pares back to the carbon for its frame. But it lets color pop with a “Purple Haze” metallic paintjob for the fork, cockpit, seatpost, and the frame logos.
A premium build kit gets the complete bike weight down. A wireless Shimano Dura Ace Di2 group, THM Clavicula crankset, unpadded Selle Italia SLR Boost SuperFlow Tekno saddle. And then Mavic Cosmic Ultimate Disc wheels with 26mm Pirelli P Zero Race SL TLR tires.
Ribble Ultra SL R Forces Edition
Back with some flash, it this WWII Spitfire-inspired Forces Edition build of Ribble’s Ultra SL R aero road bike. An RAF roundel over the green fuselage is complimented with Allied fork stripes. All created to “coincide with the launch of the Royal British legion’s London Poppy Day on the 2nd Nov” when these bikes debuted last night.
“The Forces Edition features an authorised one-off Royal British Legion logo adorned Kapz Titanium Top Cap to seal the brands union.”
Ribble finished off the monocoque carbon aero road frameset with a SRAM Red AXS Aero 1x groupset and CeramicSpeed OSPW Aero System derailleur upgrade. Then, Zipp 454 NSW carbon wheels, and 30mm Pirelli P Zero Race TLR tires for fast everyday riding.
Ribble Gravel SL Hero Stone Collection World’s Edition
Lastly, Ribble actually created this Hero Stone Collection Edition gravel bike as 1 of 4 for Ribble riders to compete at this year’s Gravel World Championships in Veneto, Italy. Ribble rider Metheven Bond raced this aero carbon Gravel SL. It comes straight from Gravel Worlds. There’s still plenty of Italian gravel dust left on it – topping off what was already a hand-painted faux marble finish.
Interesting standout kit on this gravel pro race bike includes wide for Gravel Worlds 43mm Panaracer GravelKing SK+ tires on Zipp 303s wheels. Plus, a dirty Shimano GRX Di2 1x 11-speed group with an elliptical 46T Rotor Qrings chainring.
