Ribble Road Bikes

Robert Duley said:

I am thinking of buying a new road bike and have been playing around
with the bike builder function on Ribble's web site. What are they
like as a mail order company? Has anyone had any particularly good or
bad experiences?

I've had several bad experiences, ranging in severety from being sent
mis-described inner tubes to what felt like attempted theft: They charged
my debit card for goods I didn't order, plunging my bank account into the
red (for which I incurred charges). It took five weeks of phoning, letter
writing and emailing to get my money back, except they never did
compensate for all my expenses.

~PB

Pete Biggs said:

Robert Duley said:

I am thinking of buying a new road bike and have been playing around
with the bike builder function on Ribble's web site. What are they
like as a mail order company? Has anyone had any particularly good or
bad experiences?

I've had several bad experiences, ranging in severety from being sent
mis-described inner tubes to what felt like attempted theft: They charged
my debit card for goods I didn't order, plunging my bank account into the
red (for which I incurred charges). It took five weeks of phoning, letter
writing and emailing to get my money back, except they never did
compensate for all my expenses.

I've had bad experiences too - wrong stuff, damaged stuff and missing
stuff. They were totally disinterested until my bank showed me how to
cancel a cheque with a cheque guarantee number on it. Then they got
irate because it was affecting them rather me for a change. Wouldn't
touch them with a barge pole.

A Google of urc with Ribble probably tells you all you need to know.

--
Tony

"I did make a mistake once - I thought I'd made a mistake but I hadn't"
Anon

Robert Duley said:

I am thinking of buying a new road bike and have been playing around with
the bike builder function on Ribble's web site. What are they like as a
mail order company? Has anyone had any particularly good or bad experiences?

I have had good service from them, but only bought components and a
frame; the frame did take a long time to arrive but have had no other
problems. I personally would buy a bike from them; would just make sure
I didn't need it for a while.

Sorry to hear about the previous poster's reply.

I purchased a road bike from Ribble a couple of years ago. All things considered, the service was fine.

However, I can't say I was convinced about the sizing method used. I remember spending ages tinkering around with tape measures and agonising over which size to go for. When it arrived, it was definitely a little too large.

Personally, I wouldn't purchase a bike unless I had at the very least sat on it. Seeing as you're going to be riding it for long hours, comfort is the most important thing.

However, I would say that I reckon that Ribble are very good value for money and it might even be worth making the journey there from wherever you are in England.