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3D Printed Ribble Titanium All-Road Prototype Leads Out 5 Bikes for Rouleur Live

Ribble Allroad Ti Prototype, 3d-printed titanium aero all-road gravel bike, teaser
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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

Ribble Allroad Ti Prototype, 3d-printed titanium aero all-road gravel bike
(Photos/Ribble)

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.

Ribble Allroad Ti Prototype, 3d-printed titanium aero all-road gravel bike, prototype carbon handlebar & stem aero cockpit

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.

Ribble Allroad Ti Prototype, 3d-printed titanium aero all-road gravel bike, etched headtube badge logo

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.

Ribble Allroad Ti Prototype, 3d-printed titanium aero all-road gravel bike, angled

As for the other 4 bikes in The Edit, check out the:

Ribble x Vic Lee – The Vic Lee E

Ribble x Vic Lee – The Vic Lee E, artist hand-painted alloy city commuter ebike

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.

Ribble x Vic Lee – The Vic Lee E, artist hand-painted alloy city commuter ebike, graphics detail

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.”

Ribble x Vic Lee – The Vic Lee E, artist hand-painted alloy city commuter ebike, custom drivetrain detail

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.

Ribble x Vic Lee – The Vic Lee E, artist hand-painted alloy city commuter ebike, front end detail

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

Ribble Endurance SL R Superlight Edition, UCI-illegal 6.6kg carbon road bike

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

Ribble Ultra SL R Forces Edition, carbon aero road bike

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.

Ribble Ultra SL R Forces Edition, carbon aero road bike, with Royal British Legion commemorative top cap

“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

Ribble Gravel SL Hero Stone Collection World's Edition, pro carbon gravel race bike

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.


RibbleCycles.co.uk

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Champs
Champs
3 months ago

Never knew I wanted a Ribble, but that All Road finish is a beauty, save the calipers.

FrenchPress
FrenchPress
3 months ago
Reply to  Champs

And that bar is hideous. But the rest of the bike – amazing!

Fig Ciocc
Fig Ciocc
3 months ago

Where are these bikes made?

G-Bike
G-Bike
3 months ago
Reply to  Fig Ciocc

Do you really care? Seems everything is made in one place these days….

myke
myke
3 months ago
Reply to  G-Bike

yes, it matters. No, there are a lot of frame builders in the US.

pedro
pedro
3 months ago
Reply to  Fig Ciocc

looks to be ti superbond or TSB. could certainly be wrong but has that look to it and they have a good amount of ti 3d print capability

Squirreleater
Squirreleater
16 days ago
Reply to  pedro

Well, this one seems to be from Waltly. On Sumi Lai’s Facebook page there is exactly this frame shown in queue. Posted 12. Jan 2024.

Matthias
Matthias
3 months ago

Great bike I’d you take off all the marbled shit.
Although it bears repeating: road buzz eating smoothness is a result of geometry, not frame material. I have a Ti frame that I love for it’s corrosion resistance, robustness and looks but forget about those myths.

Astro_Kraken
Astro_Kraken
3 months ago
Reply to  Matthias

You can make road buzz eating smoothness out of anything given the right sizes and shapes and geometry only plays part of the entire role.

Stereotypes are lazy.

Matthias
Matthias
3 months ago
Reply to  Astro_Kraken

“Sizes and shapes” are literally what geometry means.

Roger Pedacter
Roger Pedacter
3 months ago

Some interesting design concepts there. Not much in the way of subtlety and I can’t say I’m particularly drawn to any of them.

But wow, that allroad bike stands out as a huge swing and a miss. The bar and stem are proper hideous. And the 3DP parts look cheap and like they were designed for a different size frame. So unfortunate.

Exodux
3 months ago

Okay Ribble……make these bikes already!

El Babaduk
El Babaduk
3 months ago

Whoa. That bar and stem on the allroad bike are terrible looking.

Gerald
Gerald
3 months ago

Meh, so tired of dropped seat stays, and all five bikes sported them. The only thing that stood out was the ugly stem/bar setup on the Allroad with the cool application of Hope calipers and rotors with a drop bar groupset.

Max
Max
3 months ago

Anyone know when these bikes will come out?

MagnanimousWaffle
MagnanimousWaffle
3 months ago

I bought two ribbles before in the past and that was 2 too many. First had a lot of QC problems and the frame manufacturer sent me a new frame which was plagued with other issues. I tried to give them the benefit of the doubt with a gravel frame and was plagued with horrible paint blems, frame problems. So much so that Ribble gave me back my money and didnt even ask for the frame back. Another friend had a bike break on them in the first month of ownership and their response noted it was a flaw they were aware of but did not recall the frame. Buyer beware.

Also, I love small bike brands but this, aint it.

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