Belgian manufacturers Ridley will soon be joining the hydraulic disc brake road bike party after revealing that they’re testing their Classics-orientated Fenix frame with discs.
Ridley frame designer Toon Wils spoke to BikeRadar at the Eurobike 2013 Demo Day and confirmed they’ve been working on the project for six months. “We’re testing the first protoypes on the road at the moment,” he said, adding that the finished article will offer customers the choice of fitting 140mm or 160mm discs.
“We believe for a road bike it is better to use 160mm because, especially if you go into the mountains and you do big descents, it will become very hot,” he said. “But for some people who really want to have them lighter they can use 140mm.”
Wils said that as soon as the testing process is complete the project will move quickly to a pilot phase before full-scale production. He was hazy about a final availability date, but summer 2014 is a reasonable guess.
The sturdy Fenix frameset was released as part of the Belgian company’s 2013 lineup and was used by Lotto-Belisol during the cobbled Classics. Ridley join a growing number of top frame manufacturers offering disc-ready high-end frames as part of their 2014 ranges.