The most important component of any bike is the frame, so that’s where I’ll be starting. And the range of possibilities is enormous, and it’s worth spending some time getting familiar with all the options. I shall be “measuring twice, cutting once”, so I need to be sure this is the best I can get Rebecca.
In the end, I’ve gone for a Ribble Sportive Carbon Monocoque frame (a frame consisting of one continuous piece of carbon fibre, or two ‘halves’ sealed together), for the following reasons:
- Carbon Monocoque frames are renowned for their combined ride comfort and efficiency, and lightweight. All of which are essential in a Sportive bike.
- For £500 and around 1.2kg in weight for Ribble’s frame and fork (in Rebecca’s size), the “lightness to pounds spent ratio” is very high. This frame is extremely good value. Getting a Carbon Monocoque below 1kg in combined weight will easily cost 2-3 times this.
- Carbon is one of the best materials to combine good ride comfort, and high performance (stiffness). The Ribble Sportive is well known for it’s combination of both qualities. Long story short – your bum won’t go numb, and you won’t tire as quickly!
- The Sportive has reasonably ‘relaxed’ geometry; this means it’s less “twitchy” than a dedicated race bike. It has an emphasis on the carbon around the head tub to improve stiffness. This keeps the wheels in line, even when under stress in high-speed corners.
This makes it feel “safer”, and easier to ride. This helps confidence, and helps the rider maintain speed through corners.
- Two bottom cages to allow for hydration on long rides.
- And one of the most critical – it’s a good-looking bike, and good-looking bikes are always faster!
Ribble Sportive frame
What else did I consider?
- Titanium frame
Titanium frames are known to be the best riding of all materials, combining smooth ride, relative lightweight and performance. The only snag being is price = Titanium is very expensive.
- Latest hi-tech lightweight aluminium frame
From our experience we’ve noticed that the ride of these frames can be quite “buzzy”, and the weight is slightly up on carbon. That’s not to say these frames aren’t excellent value, but side-by-side, the “numb bum” arrives much earlier on these frames, compared to a carbon monocoque.
- Carbon Monocoque from a “big brand”
More often than not, these same “big names” source their frames from the same factories as Ribble. Typically a factory in Taiwan. Even the former high price bespoke supremos such as Colnago now buy in frames from the Far East.
Manufacturing Carbon Fibre is a very specialist industry after all, and many big names prefer just to rebadge “midrange” frames from 2 or 3 manufacturers as their own, and assemble bikes to a price point.
Snag is, ‘big names’ also mark the prices up…
- Steel
Even the latest generation of steel is struggling to offer the ride, flexibility and weight advantage of carbon these days. However, some riders still prefer steel – it’s not gone the way of the Dodo yet!
So there we go – the frame. Next month, we start building!
Spent this month: £500
Running cost: £500
{ 5 comments… read them below or add one }
Could you kindly explain the difference between 3K and 12K carbon? and which one is better in term of value?
The 3k and the 12k refer to the amount of fibres there are in each thread – 3,000 or 12,000.
12K is the newest form, and is better for structural loadings, which is why it is useful for bike builders. It’s also rumoured to be cheaper, so should lead to better value…but value is all relative – just ask Colnago…;-)
However, the real question is – which is stronger?
Truth is, it comes down to the quality of the fibres themselves, rather than how they’re weaved. And that assumes laboratory conditions, where each type is used and measured in identical scenarios.
for example: 3k woven with AS2C fibres has nearly the same tensile strength as 12k with AS4 fibre. (644 vs 649 Ksi). And there are loads of fibre/weave combinations – too many to list here!
Truth is, the advantage of carbon is it can weaved, layered and formed to provide the characteristics that are required. Eg a bottom bracket shell may have extra layers of carbon to provide additional rigidity, while a non-weight-bearing tube can be wafer thin and might only be made of one layer. A good builder will know exactly what is needed where.
It’s probably not important to worry about which fibre has been used, but how the bike feels to ride, it’s as simple as that.
Hi Euan
A few comments:
(1) What size is the Ribble you are getting Rebecca? I’m the same height as her (about 1.70m). Does this frame work for men and women? (sorry if it’s a dumb question)
(2) I haven’t yet decided on the chain ring setup. What I mean is, I climb mountains all the time in the Alps and I really need the gears to climb. I am still not sure if I should get 2 chain rings or 3 chain rings. So the question is: would this frame suit either 2 chain rings or 3 chain rings? Anything special to consider before I also splash out on £500 of frame?
Best regards, Oli
Actually, the above question is quite relevant for me. Basically I want to get a bike for the better half and she is about 5foot 4. However I haven’t seen any bike that I like because what I really want (I know the purists will beat me up over this) is a racing geometry frame onto which I will swap the saddle for a nice big comfy ladies touring saddle. I have a racer (sorry, I am of the age where these were called ‘racers’ at school and not ‘road’ bikes!) with a very tight almost equilateral geometry and the difference to my hybrid with its stretched-out geometry I find very noticeable, the racer is simply far far less tiring to ride. So basically I am trying to source a small frame in a race geometry onto which I can add all the gubbins, but I’ve only found very specialist sites online wanting a king’s ransom. If anyone knows any sites/shops offering race geometry frames for the smaller rider, I’d be very glad to hear. I’ve seen loads of ‘ladies racing’ frames offered on the web but they are *not* racing frames – I can tell from looking at them that the geometry is wrong. Many thanks!
Nick,
Im not sure if you are in the north but I would call in on Mike Howson at Lakeland Cycles – 40 years cycle trade experience and always an excellent selection of road racing and hybrids in stock.
Keith