Ribble CGR Ti Sport

Offering the versatility of riding in all sorts of weathers on all kinds of terrain, Ribble's CGR Ti Sport also provides a beautiful ride quality. This build balances performance with value too, proving you don't need to spend a fortune to own a quality titanium bike.

We are big fans of the CGR here at road.cc, as are our colleagues over at off.road.cc. After all, we've just crowned the Reynolds 725 steel version of the CGR as our combined gravel bike of the year for 2020/21, with the aluminium CGR ALe taking the number seven spot (the 'e' denoting it's an ebike).

> Buy this online here

That's the great thing about the CGR range: you can have it in any material you want; aluminium, steel, carbon fibre and of course, titanium.

I've ridden the aluminium and steel versions of the CGR and really liked the way they behave, and both had a great ride quality, so I wasn't expecting anything less from this titanium model. Especially as I'd not long finished testing Ribble's Endurance Ti Disc Enthusiast a few months before.

Just as with the Endurance Ti, Ribble has exploited the smooth ride quality of titanium alloy tubing. Regardless of how hard or soft you pump the tyres, the CGR smooths out the majority of high-frequency buzz, and has just enough 'give' that even the bigger jolts are reduced.

Ride feel

Being designed as both a road and gravel/adventure machine, overall stiffness isn't as high a priority as a decent ride feel, and that is what Ribble has focused on.

The frame is still plenty tight enough – especially at the front end and the bottom bracket junction – for any out of the saddle shenanigans, but Ribble hasn't overdone it.

The beauty of the big (40mm) Schwalbe G-One Allround tyres is that I've been able to explore new routes locally that I've never tried before.

One mystery turning led to routes that are technically roads, but even most farmers would think twice about driving a tractor down them, so rough and covered in mud are they.

This is where the versatility of the CGR highlights itself. One minute I'm bombing along on the smooth asphalt, and the next I'm riding over little more than a gravel track – and constantly switching between the two, with a bit of canal towpath chucked in for good measure.

I ended up completing quite a lot of rides this way, with most over 100km and – as the riding wasn't massively technical or demanding – I spent the majority of the time in the saddle.

The ride quality really comes through on these mixed rides, as does just how good the geometry is. To work on different surfaces, you need to balance handling responses to make it enjoyable and fun on the road without it becoming a handful in the loose.

This medium size has a head angle of 72°, which does just that. When paired to a wheelbase of 1031.8mm, it means you get a bike that is easily controllable while still holding on to the fun factor.

On the road it feels positive. There is plenty of feedback through the frame and fork and, although the handling is more subdued than you'd find on a road-specific bike, you still feel involved. Meanwhile, carving your way down a technical descent is still a pleasure, just not quite so frantic.

Relaxed nature

Thanks to the smooth handling and ride quality, this is a machine you can really cover some miles on. I could literally lose myself for hours just tapping away at the pedals enjoying the scenery, or just processing those thoughts and ideas you never get chance to at home.

It was the same when I took to the gravel tracks, trails and byways. The CGR is such a relaxing bike to ride; it takes everything in its stride. You can give it a little dig, slide about on the gravel a bit, but when you want to you can just kick back and enjoy the ride.

The only thing, with this build at least, is the weight. It's not massive at 10.81kg, but a lot of that mass is in the wheels.

You don't notice it hugely, it just blunts acceleration a bit, and out of the saddle climbing can take a knock. I've said it plenty of times before, but I'm not a huge fan of Mavic's Aksium Disc wheelset. Tough, yes, but svelte they ain't.

At the same time I was testing the Ribble I also had a set of FFWD RYOT44s in. It's a versatile set of wheels that's a bit like the CGR – capable both on and off the road.

They dropped around 400g from the overall weight, and while that's not massive, boy did it make a difference to how the Ribble rode. The boost to acceleration and climbing prowess made the CGR feel much more sprightly, and showcased what this frameset can really do.

Frame and fork

The frame is made from 3AL/2.5V (3% aluminium/2.5% vanadium) titanium alloy which has been rolled and seamlessly welded to create the tubing.

The tubes are also triple-butted, which means the material has three different thicknesses: thicker at the tube ends for stiffness where they mate, and thinner in the middle to drop a gram or two and give a bit of flex.

The welding is of a high quality, and the contrast between the polished tubes and untouched logos give the whole frame a top-end look. Full internal cable and hose routing keeps the frame looking neat and clean, and there are plenty of mounting points for water bottles, mudguards and a rear rack.

As with most frames the CGR is oversized where it's likely to see the largest loads – such as at the head tube with its 44mm diameter, the down tube and bottom bracket – while slender elsewhere for a bit of flex and comfort.

The compact style with the sloping top tube also allows for more seatpost to be exposed, promoting a bit of flex there too.

Fans of home maintenance will be glad to see a threaded bottom bracket shell to support external bearing cups. It's good to see on a bike like this as it's likely to see plenty of bad weather, dust and mud, but avoid any creaking issues associated with press fit options.

The fork is a full carbon fibre monocoque design with a tapered steerer and its stiffness is impressive. The large profile legs will take plenty of abuse while also taming vibration from the road or trail. Tyre clearance is impressive at 45mm for 700c wheels, and 47mm if you decide to go 650b.

One nice touch is that not only does the hydraulic brake hose run internally, there is also provision for you to run a dynamo with a mount on the fork crown and a channel to run the wire to the hub.

When it comes to sizing there are five available, which Ribble suggests should cover everyone from roughly 5ft 4in through to 6ft 4in.

I've touched on the geometry a bit, but I'll give you the rest here. This medium has a 555mm effective top tube length, 170mm head tube, 435mm chainstays and a 1031.8mm wheelbase. The angles are 72° for the head and 73° for the seat tube.

All this results in a stack and reach of 589mm and 380mm respectively.

Finishing kit

The CGR Ti is available as a frameset only, or in one of five builds that top out with Hero, a spec featuring a SRAM Red eTap AXS groupset, carbon fibre finishing kit and Zipp 303 wheelset for £7,999.

If that's a little to rich for you this Sport model is the entry point into CGR Ti ownership for a much more modest £2,299.

You're getting a full Shimano R7000 105 gear system and the latest R7020 hydraulic brakes, which as you can tell by our reviews, is a very impressive setup.

Shimano 105 may have a reputation as a bit of a workhorse, but it really can't be faulted for both its shifting and braking.

The Sport model has a road-focused build which gives you a compact chainset with 50/34T rings paired to an 11-32t 11-speed cassette. If you're going to be spending a lot of time off-road and would prefer a 1x groupset, a GRX version of the CGR Ti is available for £2,899 with a higher build spec than the Sport.

> 16 of the best titanium road bikes—should you buy a titanium bike?

For me though, the gearing was fine for most applications with only some of the long, steep gravel drags causing a bit of cussing as I winched my way up out of the saddle.

Level is Ribble's finishing brand, and the Sport gets a Level 1 6061 aluminium handlebar and stem, plus a Level 2 carbon fibre seatpost. It's all decent quality kit, and the shallow drop of the handlebar means that you can use all of the hand positions even when away from the road.

Level also provides the headset, with seven anodised colour options available.

Sitting atop the seatpost is a Prologo Kappa RS. I really like the shape of Prologo saddles and this one didn't disappoint, even on longer rides.

The Sport comes with 46mm mudguards included, and while it's great to have some protection from the elements they're too short to keep the worst of the spray and mud away from your feet – and more importantly, from the bottom bracket and gear components.

I've mentioned the Mavic Aksium wheels already and you know my opinion. If durability is your main concern rather than performance, then you won't be too dismayed with them. I had a set on a gravel bike that did thousands of off-road miles without complaint (and that included the punishment of the Dirty Reiver race).

> 71 of the best road bike and gravel bike wheels — reduce bike weight or get aero gains with new hoops

You can use Ribble's Bikebuilder to upgrade any of the components should you wish – including the wheels – and paying the excess from the start.

Tyre wise the Sport comes with the excellent Schwalbe G-One Allroad in a 40mm width. I love the way the tan sidewalls go with the titanium frame.

I've used various iterations of these tyres over the years and they're fast and grippy on the road, while offering good performance away from it so long as the surface isn't too soft. They're great for chopping and changing terrains, with the only caveat being their slight fragility compared to some gravel tyres out there.

They are tubeless ready though, so at least the addition of some sealant should stop you suffering flat tyres mid-ride.

Value

I reckon a fully built, quality titanium bike with Shimano 105 for £2,299 is an absolute steal.

Dave loves the Tripster ATR V3 from Kinesis and I'd say it certainly looks to be a very high quality frameset. Dave's feedback on how the bike behaves is very similar to my findings with the CGR.

> 29 of the best production frames that you can buy to build into your dream bike

The Kinesis costs £2,200 just for the frameset though – that's the frame, fork and headset. If you go down that route with the CGR Ti you're looking at £1,799, which further highlights just what a bargain this full build is.

The Enigma Escape is similar titanium machine, although it does have a few more load-carrying capabilities with mounting points on the fork legs. It's available as a frameset for £2,186.

Mat is currently testing the Van Nicholas Rowtag, another titanium beauty, and it costs £1,630 for the frame only – I'll be interested to read how that behaves on a mixture of terrain.

Conclusion

With a couple of component changes this could really be my ideal do-everything bike. It really is that versatile. But not only that, it is just such a beautiful bike to ride, and gives you such a positive feeling... and it's a bargain too.

Verdict

A well balanced, smooth riding, well priced, very versatile mile muncher for any terrain