After a lot of thought and a bit of research I think I’ve decided to get a Ribble CGR SL disc bike. I thought I wanted the endurance SL but there so little in it, especially at my level, plus the flexibility of wider tyres and it also takes a rack.

I was really impressed with the ribble shop, the lad who helped me knew his stuff. The bike looks amazing but they didn’t have one in with the spec I wanted. Just a bling bike that GCN had used that’s nothing like my budget build in shimano 105.

The only thing that was a disappointment was the £40 delivery charge even if I collected it from the shop. And its only available in blue unless you spend £350 for a custom paint job but to be fair, it’s looks a lot better in real life than the pictures on the website.

Anyway, show my your CGR bikes and let me know why I should definitely buy one. Have you had any issues?

Thanks

This new bike build was for Hannah according to the fancy touch screen with a firework display.

Also I’m 6ft3 and I have always bought XL bikes or 60cm bikes. However, when I sat on their bike jig they suggested I ride a large frame with a longer 100 or 110 stem rather than a XL frame and a 80 or 90 stem.

The frames did all look on the large side.

My current bike has a 90 stem and I haven’t noticed any issues with steering. Any 6ft or more riders out there? What size are you on?

I’ve just got my g/f a CGR Al 105 and it’s bloomin’ lovely!

Hers is an XS and she’s 5’6” which makes me think they size large.

Beautiful bike….serious envy!

I have the 725 Steel version. Brilliant bike for the money but it was built with the wrong components and the way the bike was assembled was shocking. Outright dangerous. I emailed them and they didn’t give a hoot. Rear brake calliper was bodged to the frame with an assortment of wrong length bolts and a dozen washers… fortunately the bolts snapped before I rode it and not whilst I was riding it.

I’d buy again purely for the value but check the bike over 100% before riding it.

Check out @datomakin on Instagram. His SL is an example of a high end build.

I’ve a CGR Ti, 105 and “upgraded” to mavic allroad wheels.

The wheels seem to be made of cheese. Dent easily and I’ve had a spoke dislodge from the hub rendering the wheel useless. Picked up a second hand wheel for a few €s.

Ribble offered 40€ for a local shop to fix it, but there’s nothing to fix, so I would have to send it to them, but not got round to it yet.

The Schwalbe G-ones wear quite quickly on the rear.

Smooth ride. Beautiful frame, quite a head turner (unless they’re looking at me, but I doubt it).

Was going to buy the GF the AL version, but the long wait times and brexit put me off.

Uuuu, very handy thread… Question to CGR owners. What is actual, rear and front forks clearance? Can you stick anything bigger than declared 46c in 700 flavour?
Actual, caliper checked 46c?

Cheers!
I.

@alpin

mavic allroad wheels.

…I’ve had a spoke dislodge from the hub rendering the wheel useless…

That’s a warranty issue on those Mavics (I’ve had Aksiums do the same). Mavic warranty is two years.

I have one – Overall I like it.

I bought it as a frames and built up from there – so notes (if useful).

* Be prepared to have to chase up for missing bits. I think when I received the frame I had to be sent the headset, carbon expander, seat post, seat post wedge (their version of the clamp), rubber cover for the seat post/top tube, port covers. They were really helpful and sent out the missing bit, plus a load of other things (I’ve now got 2x spare through axles etc) to cover. Good response, but ideally shouldn’t have happened in the first place. A quick check will show that this isn’t an usual occurrence.

* Internal routing is okay – not great, but not too bad. The rear mech/chainstay is a bit of a fiddly job (even with the BB area port – which is useful). I used some foam tubing around the brake hose to keep it quiet.

* Headset is proprietary and has been a little fiddly. I’ve fixed it by using a different manufacturer’s carbon bung (Wolf Tooth I think). The top cap/cover is a very oddly weighty bit of metal.

* (D-Shaped) Seat-post is also proprietary. This may or may not matter to you. I had an issue with my original clamp (the seat post head is a one-bolt job – I’m generally not a fan). Again Ribble were really helpful and sent out a new seat post and some additional guidance (torque it up to 14nm, rather than the 8-10nm suggested on the clamp.

* Limited to 2 bottle cage bosses (if you go for the GCR SL – the Gravel SL is exactly the same geo, with more bosses. Positioning of the bosses is a little annoying as I can’t get a little Dakine hot last gripper between the two cages. That’s not unique to this bike though – my previous bike couldn’t either.

* The paint/blue is really, really nice. Much prettier than in the pictures. Seems pretty tough too.

It rides really nicely – possibly a bit stiffer than I thought it might be, but can be very rapid on or off road. Builds up quite light (think the version above with 650b wheels is about 8.5kg. Road with 700c and 32mm wheels (Ali wheels at around 1500g) comes in about 8kg with pedals.

As for clearance – loads. My 650bs are coming in at about 52mm and there’s still a fair few mm clear either side. Seems there’s loads at the front. (pic is with a 32mm that’s about 33mm.

Give me a shout if you’ve any other questions.

Rich

P.S. Just over 6ft on a L and a 90mm Stem.

I’ve got the steel gravel CGR. Happy enough with Ribble and would use again. Rear mech needed some adjustment when it arrived. The stuff that Ribble make was all decent quality uk designed taiwan (I presume) built stuff. Avoid the cheap sram groupsets and go shimano if you can.

With regard to the delays on the builds.

The delays are down to lack of Chainsets. 165 and 170s will take your build to Easter 2022. If you are happy with 172.5 or 175 cranks it’s the 4th of October 2021 (but probably subject to change)

@RichBowman thank you. At 6ft3 would you suggest large or XL frame for me?

Avoid the cheap sram groupsets and go shimano if you can.

I actually wanted the gravel SL bike with shimano 105 double just because I wanted the extra bolts for sticking things to the bike for road touring but it wasn’t an option. Its all grx and sram and a lot more expensive.

But I think frame prices are similar.

I even asked if I could just swop the forks as they have the 3 bolts but that wasn’t possible.

An interesting fact is the steel, aluminium and ti bikes all have the same geometry but the carbon SL has a slightly more racier geometry.

With regards to build quality I got the impression they have had to rapidly employ lots of bike mechanics to manage the new demand and some are probably learning on the job. This might be why the quality has dropped after march 2020.

Hmm – at 6’3″ I’d have immediately assumed that you’d be on an XL – unless you’ve got interesting body proportions…Their size guide has you bang on in the XL category.

I’m running a 90mm stem on my L – pretty sure 100mm would be fine as well, but not tried it. Any cornering issues are more likely going to be down to my technique… 😀

They will swop your frame over in the first 30 days for £40 if you get the size wrong but not if you buy through the cycle to work scheme which I am doing. I’m guessing that’s because of the % cut for the admin work so less margins.

Cheers RichBowman! Top man.

If you happen to have rear end picture with similar, or chunkier rubber I won’t mind…

Cheers!
I.

@ivanmtb

Crap pic – but this is a Teravail Rutland at around 47-48mm..

It’s a good 4-5mm clear either side. I’ve got Terrano Drys in at the moment and they’re coming in at about 50-51mm and still have good clearance.

Thanks Chaps!

Very helpful snaps.

Cheers!
I.

@RichBowman what’s the mudguard Bridge like? The plastic insert that creates a bridge for the mudguard to attach to?

Hi – don’t think I received one, unfortunately.

No turning back now. I’ve ordered and paid for it.

Currently loving the monster cross look

Nice – Just to update (as I was foolishly optimistic about getting a gravel ride in tonight…) – I put the Terrano Drys back on.

For 650b x 47s, they’re coming in at just over 50mm wide. That’s leaving about 10mm clear either side of the seat stays and 6mm clear either side of the chain stays. So plenty of room. The front has yet more – something like 16mm either side and nigh on 20mm from the top of the fork (that’s even with the mudguard bolt in. Take that out and it’d be another 3mm or more clear).

Looking good. If I get out tonight I’ll try and get a pic taken and put it up for you – feed the stoke levels. What the delivery date looking like?

@RichBowman the delivery date has already slipped from 4th of October to the 8th of October but that’s probably caused by the delay of getting thr R2W voucher sorted.

It was a bit wet out. At one point I was wading through waist high water…

Bike did well though. Think I tempted fate by putting the terrano drys on. Might put the Rutland back on a see if the weather improves..

P.s you going with SRAM or Shimano?

On a slightly different note:

Has anyone ridden a GCR-AL & a CGR-SL and can comment on the ride?

Ta P.

When I ordered this I was told it would be 5th October 2021 or there abouts. I’ve just sent a live chat and they confirmed

We are on schedule to dispatch by 17/09/2021.

If you have any further questions please dont hesitate to ask.

Wow, can’t believe it’s come forward!

Not a CGR, but a 653

[url=https://flic.kr/p/2mgSA7X]20210812_142545[/url] by

[url=https://flic.kr/p/2kJr41C]20210117_160340[1][/url] by

1st push back date

• Estimated Dispatch Date: 23 Sep 2021
• Status: Awaiting Stock

Still earlier than the original October date. I just hope it doesn’t get pushed back again.

I was rather surprised when I got a dispatch email for my CGR Ti frame on the 18th August with it turning up a couple of days later. When I ordered back in June the eta was about the second week of October. Appreciate that the delays are due to components rather than frames, but there is good news out there for some 🙂

@thegingerone

Do you have any pictures?

The same thing happened to me, ordered a CGR Ti with a protected despatch date of Jan 22. I even had a chat with a salesman about it (I wanted to see if I could get an Ekar groupset on a CGR – they only offer them on the Gravel frame), imagine my surprise when it turned up 3 days later. The slight challenge was that I hadn’t cleared it with the wife thinking I had 3 months to do that……

Mine will hopefully be built up next week. Will attempt photos then!

Estimated Dispatch Date: 24 Sep 2021

Status: Awaiting Pick

Message: Unfortunately your build has encountered a slight logistical delay. Please find your new estimated build date detailed above. We apologise for any inconvenience this may cause. Please be reassured that we are doing everything we can to get your bike built and despatched as soon as possible. Thank you for your continued patience and support. Team Ribble

Just received my dispatch notice and tracking number. Ribble have managed to deliver it early!

Coms have been great. I even changed my order and asked for mudguards which they fitted for free.

Really impressed so far. Just hope the bike build goes as well when it arrives.

49 days from ordering to delivery. Ribble have been great to deal with, emails and account info. Impressed so far but haven’t checked the bike over yet and ridden it. Mudgaurds rub which I think is caused by the plastic bridge moving.

Bike came well packaged and wrapped. Just bars and seatpost to attach.

If anyone is interested in the gravel wheels and tan walled tyres let me know.

I’ll upload more photos later.

Just a bit of an update now I’ve ridden the Cgr a couple of hundred miles.

The good bits

1) it’s a great fit, I felt comfortable straight away on the bike. I put this down to the bike fit I got in the shop. I did 4 hours the other day and it felt fine, should be good for longer days and touring.

2) it’s just as fast on the road as my previous road bike according to strava. I was worried as its a bit of a gravel bike it would be a compromise but it doesn’t feel it. Havent tried the spare gravel wheels and tyres yet.

3) I gave the bike a good check over, all bolts were tight, loads of grease on all the bolts and in the headset and bb. Gears indexed perfectly.

4) it was exceptionally well packaged.

5) having ridden in heavy rain for 4 hours I can tell you the mudgaurds work very well.

6) bike feels stiff, not a lot of flex in the bb but it doesn’t feel harsh. Been running 25mm tubeless tyres and now trying 28s. Bags of clearance even with 40mm tyres on and mudgaurds.

The bads bits.

1) I really don’t like the headset and the dip in the frame and the big flange it has. Just looks like it’s a dirt magnet and bearing killer.

2) the wheels let the bike down, I sold them straight away.

3) I really don’t like the white paint on the downtube, why didn’t they paint that blue?

4) The bike rattled really badly. In fairness to ribble I got a courtesy call a week after it arrived to see how I was getting on. They said they had run out of internal foam inserts but didn’t want to delay sending bikes out. They sent a ribble mobile mechanic to my house to fix it. Only problem was he thought my headset was knocking and when he “fixed” it, he forgot to tighten the stem bolts. Next day, 5 minutes from my house I nearly fell off at the traffic lights! But at least it doesn’t rattle now!

Overall I’m impressed with it. Looking forward to some gravel riding in the North Yorkshire moors later on this month as I’ve a week’s holiday near whitby.