Ribble Cycles today revealed a prototype titanium hardtail mountain bike at the London Bike Show as it continues the rapid expansion of its 2019 range.
Currently known by its project name, the HT/650/Ti has been developed in the UK for “tough trail riding” and is likely to hit the market in the summer, says Ribble Cycles CEO Andy Smallwood.
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Ribble Cycles HT/650/Ti
While best known for road bikes — Ribble's Endurance SL Disc is our best value road Bike of the Year 2019 — Smallwood says that the HT/650/Ti “…is completely aligned to the new Ribble brand strategy.”
While Smallwood, who joined Ribble from Boardman Bikes in 2017, says that mountain biking is a new market for the brand, it does have some history with the company producing the R4 mountain bike at the start of this decade — although no-one involved in this project had a hand in that bike.
The sweet looking HT/650/Ti is built from triple butted 3AL/2.5V titanium and is designed around a 150mm travel fork with a geometry that, Ribble claims, combines “confidence inspiring agility and stability through the long wheelbase, short stem, slack head angle around a wide bar with an ability to put the power down with maximum traction due to the big tyre clearance up to 650x2.6in and tight back end.”
Ribble says that the HT/650/Ti was designed in house “by riders for riders” while embracing a “building the bikes we want to ride” philosophy before being tested on UK trails.
According to Jamie Burrow, Ribble Cycles’ Head of Product, the prototype is the result of “combining detailed and very specific product requirements and feedback from riders with seeing how far we can push the ride capabilities and attention to detail envelope in hardtail mountain bike design.”
There are certainly some interesting design touches: custom shaped and butted tubing, shot in seatstays, strengthening and stiffening gussets where required, internal cable routing including the rear brake, gear cabling and full internal dropper post routing.
Ribble is yet to confirm pricing, build options or delivery dates but if the prototype tickles your fancy you can register your interest at ribblecycles.co.uk
Electric urban and gravel bikes added to Ribble range
Ribble also used the London Bike Show to launch two new e-bikes: the Hybrid AL e and CGR AL e.
These join the Endurance SL e, introduced earlier in the year, in Ribble’s electric bike stable and all three bikes use ebikemotion’s stealthy hub-based power unit. The ebikemotion motor uses a slimline battery in the down tube to deliver up 250 Watts of electric drive.
Both of the new electric bikes are built from 6061 aluminium, come with a full carbon fork and are compatible with 700cx45 and 650x2in wheels. The flat-barred Hybrid AL e is available from £1,899, as is the CGR AL e, but both bikes can be built up to more expensive tastes using Ribble's Bike Builder.
