Ribble Endurance AL Disc 2021

With the Endurance AL Disc, Ribble has created a bike for the masses. It's ideal for winter training, commuting, club runs, short blasts or long rides – it's even quick enough for entry-level racing. The balanced, neutral handling works for the beginner, without feeling overly relaxed for the seasoned roadie. It's a lot of bike for the money.

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For seven years I commuted 35 miles a day, five days a week in every season, and it was Ribble's Audax that came out of the shed for winter and wet days. It wasn't perfect – tyre clearances were tight with mudguards fitted, for example, and it was a bit 'buzzy' – but it was a great, cheap frame with decent stiffness and racy geometry.

This Endurance AL embodies all of the good bits of that Audax, but in a much more refined and up-to-date package.

For starters, the alloy frame is much more comfortable. It's not the smoothest ride out there, but at this price, I'm certainly not complaining.

With the tyres pumped up hard (the way I like them) I can feel what's going on with the road below, but the frame and fork dampen much of the harsh vibration. The contact points don't tire you out on long rides. And that's ideal because long rides are something the Endurance AL does very well.

The geometry is more relaxed than the majority of race machines, with a slightly shorter top tube and taller head tube for a slightly more upright position. The head angle is a touch slacker too, which takes the edge off of the steering speed, while the longer wheelbase (there to allow the frameset to accept mudguards) adds to the stability.

It still focuses on performance though, and by slamming the stem (removing the spacers) I could get a good saddle-to-bar drop when I wanted to get a shift on.

Overall, the Endurance feels nicely balanced. The steering is quick enough to be fun in the twisty bits without stepping over the line and becoming a handful, which is perfect if you're new to road riding or when heading into bad weather.

I love descending at speed, and the more technical the downhill, the better. Pushing a bike hard into and through the bends (especially off-camber ones) highlights any understeer or delay, and the Ribble copes well, showing no real issues.

In fact, while its 10.03kg weight can hamper things under acceleration, it also gives a real feeling of confidence when gravity is giving you a nudge. The decent spread of gears helps you up the steeper slopes, and to be fair, the Ribble is plenty stiff enough for out of the saddle shenanigans when the going gets tough.

Summing the ride up, it's a good all-rounder; a capable road bike that puts a smile on your face whether you're just popping out for a few miles or heading further afield.

Frame and fork

The frame uses 6061-T6 aluminium alloy tubing which is double-butted (two different wall thicknesses) to reduce weight and increase comfort by balancing stiffness levels.

The welding is pretty neat and tidy in most places, with the main junctions looking smooth and clean, though some spots, such as the seatstay bridge and the rear dropouts, are a little more agricultural.

The whole frameset is covered in a thick paint job which even has a bit of a metallic flick to it. It looks cool in the sunlight and belies its entry-level price point.

To get the appropriate stiffness levels, aluminium tubing needs to be larger in section than steel or titanium, so it's no surprise to see some chunky aspects to the Ribble frame.

The head tube is tapered, growing as it meets the large D-section down tube. This tube hides the cables and hoses inside until they exit at the bottom bracket (BB).

Speaking of the BB, Ribble has gone for an externally threaded option as opposed to press fit. That's a sensible choice on a bike that can take mudguards, and is likely to see plenty of wet weather. While tolerances between frames and press-fit BBs have improved, there's still a chance of water/dirt ingress leading to creaking.

Even though the Endurance AL is disc-equipped, Ribble has kept the chainstay and seatstay bridges there to make fitting mudguards easier. Unlike on a rim braked bike, though, the bolt for the guard is on the underside of the bridge rather than facing backward, so some guards may require drilling to fit.

It's not a big issue, though, to be honest, I've done it on my own bikes in the past. The same is true for the underside of the fork.

Sizing

The Ribble is available in five sizes from x-small through to x-large. Our medium has a 550mm top tube and a 150mm head tube with stack and reach numbers of 551mm and 388mm respectively. The head angle is 72.5° and the seat angle is 73.6°.

Ribble has managed to keep the wheelbase under a metre (by 5mm), so you get that stability while staying short enough to be fun in the corners. Claimed weight for a medium frame is 1,680g and 470g for the fork.

The fork is full carbon fibre and, like the frame, comes with flat mounts for the calipers and a 12mm thru-axle. It offers plenty of stiffness and I never found any flex when cornering or braking hard.

Groupset

The test bike we have comes with the majority of a Tiagra 4700 groupset. If you haven't swotted up on your Shimano component hierarchy, then I'll tell you that Tiagra sits above Claris and Sora, with 105 above it. It's the only 10-speed groupset in the road line-up, and offers a very good balance of shifting performance versus cost. You can read a full review of Tiagra here.

This standard build pairs a 50/34t chainset to an 11-32t cassette, although you can spec an 11-34t if you want a little extra help in the hills. Overall, it's a good spread of gears that get the majority of riders up and down their local climbs.

Throughout testing the shifting remained spot on – after a little tweak to combat cable stretch – and, as long as you are happy to sacrifice that extra sprocket at the rear, it's a groupset that won't need updating or replacing for many thousands of miles.

To keep costs down, Ribble uses the standard mechanical-braking Tiagra STIs, rather than the more expensive hydraulic version with matching calipers.

Taking care of the actual stopping are Tektro MD510 mechanical calipers and 160mm Tektro rotors, which on the whole aren't too bad. I had a few sketchy moments before the mating faces had bedded in, but after a couple of wet rides things did improve.

They don't offer anything like as much stopping power or modulation as hydraulics, but do match the Tiagra dual-pivot rim caliper they're technically replacing, with the added bonus that they work straight away in the wet.

Finishing kit

Level is Ribble's in-house component brand, so it's no surprise to see the Endurance AL coming with plenty of it fitted.

The standard build comes with an alloy Level 1 seatpost, but ours has an upgrade to a Level 2 carbon option, which nudges the price up by £20. You can play about with different options using Ribble's Bikebuilder.

The Level 1 stem and handlebar are entry-level stuff but do the job. The bar has quite a shallow drop, which means even those new to road riding will be able to exploit all positions.

The cork ribbon bar tape is a little on the thin side though, so treating yourself to something a little thicker will increase comfort.

I like the shape of Prologo's saddles, so I was pleased to find the Kappa RS here. Its supportive padding takes the bumps out without you bouncing around on it, and its long, slender shape works well when you are in the drops.

Wheels and tyres

Ribble specs the Endurance AL with a pair of Mavic Aksium wheels, which are heavy – nearly 2kg a set. I've ridden various pairs on road and gravel bikes though, and if you want something strong and robust look no further. Durability is good.

They come with 24 spokes connecting the alloy hubs to the 21mm deep rims, front and rear.

> 44 of the best road bike wheels — reduce bike weight or get aero gains with new hoops

Rim width is a bit 'old school' at just 17mm so they won't work too well if you want to exploit the Ribble's 32mm max tyre clearance, although they're fine with the 25mm maximum when mudguards are fitted. If you're after a performance boost further down the line, treat yourself to some lighter wheels, even if it is just for summer use.

The Endurance AL uses the ever-dependable Continental Ultra Sport III. It's a training tyre, but one that offers decent levels of grip and rolling resistance. It's quite a common tyre and I've ridden thousands of miles on them – they offer a good bang for your buck. They seem pretty robust, too.

Value

This Tiagra build is £999 with the standard alloy seatpost, while the frameset is available for £599. The sub-grand price point is highly competitive, so it's no surprise to see pretty much every brand trying to get a foothold.

> Buyer’s Guide: 13 of the best road bikes under £1,000

Merida's offering, the Scultura Disc 200 has (like many bikes) increased in price since I tested it, with the latest model costing £1,000. It's a bit more race orientated than the Ribble, so only has clearance for 25mm tyres and there's no option to fit mudguards. It also comes with Sora/FSA components. It's nearly a kilo lighter, though.

Also a fair bit lighter is the Canyon Endurace AL Disc 6.0. Its frame is about 300g lighter than the Ribble's, but you could redress the balance by ditching the Aksiums on the latter. The Canyon comes with a Tiagra groupset, DT Swiss wheels, and Conti Grand Prix tyres so it's a decent build for £1,199. Like the Merida it also doesn't take mudguards, so you lose some of that versatility.

Conclusion

The Ribble is a loveable bike. You only notice the weight a small amount of the time, such as on steep climbs or in stop/start urban situations. Everywhere else it's just fun and quick to ride, plus it's just so easy to live with – and all at an impressively competitive price too.

Verdict

Very capable and versatile road bike that doesn't break the bank