I tested the Ribble Ultra-Race this summer, back- to-back with a Colnago V5RS. I wanted to dislike the Colnago because it’s so otherworldly expensive, but I just couldn’t. It’s relatively conservative road geometry compared to something more thrilling like a Specialised Tarmac made it steady in all situations and the comfort afforded from the frame gave a level of refinement you don’t expect in a road race bike, and I loved it.
At the same time, I was riding one of these, A Ribble Ultra-Race, and whilst I made some reasonable points about what I did and didn’t like about the bike in comparison to the V5RS, the comparison isn’t that fair. And the differences, tiny. When you consider the price point, even at full price. I noted at the time that the Ribble Ultra-Race offered more thrills, for a lot less cash, and that I thought it was a fantastic bike.
That’s why I’m absolutely sideswiped by this deal. They cannot be making any money at this price, on a bike that already offered exceptional performance and value.
The Colnago V5RS i tested – also tested by my colleague Rook – was kitted out with Enve wheels, and you could say that’s not even a fair comparison, given Ribble’s position in the market compared to Colnago at the premium end. That would be fair, and the Colnago is nearly 13k in that spec. 8.5k more than this Ribble.
I’ve found a deal on Colnago V5RS in the same UAE team colours, which ordinarily retails at £8995, for just £6999. If you’re in the market for a Colnago and have more money than sense today, that’s also a killer offer.
SRAM Force Axs is my favourite groupset just now, for it’s sheer brilliance in terms of braking performance, and the simplicity of the SRAM user experience when it comes to set-up, bleeding brakes, the app, indexing and what it’s like to live with is without equal when all things are considered alongside price.
I’ve made no secret of the fact that I think it’s sheer stupidity to shell out for the Red groupset if you don’t have a sponsor to pay for your bikes, so the fact that this Ribble can be had today, for less than five grand, in this spec, is astonishing to me.
There is no faster way around your local crit’ circuit for less money than this bike, today. If you can find something better, buy it. No one should care enough about the brand on the downtube to deny the value you’re getting here in comparison to almost any other road bike offer I’ve seen this year.
They won’t hang around, and I’m sure Ribble won’t hold this discount into this week, so act fast whilst there’s still plenty of sizes available.
If you would prefer to plump for the Colnago V5RS, I have found a really outstanding deal on that bike, and I absolutely love it – for all the irrational and rational reasons you’d hope – and for me it’s a near perfect bike. If you’ve got the money, why not have the dream brand.
They only seem to have them left in size 51. Don’t be alarmed if you’re bang average sized like me, because 51 in Colnago land is equivalent to a medium-large, 56.
Don’t ask me why the fit numbers make no sense – this whole article is about the numbers not making sense on the price tags this weekend, and I know people will still ignore my advice on this Ribble today anyway.
Do as you wish. Two cracking bikes, both on a very decent discount. None of it has to make sense of course.
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