Reviewing my Ribble CGR AL Sport after 4 years | Gravel bike review

[@alastairwright77]

Excellent review. Practical, no-nonsense, real world opinion based on the things that matter to most owners, not the spoilt perfect world of nuance and unrealistic expenditure found in professional reviews.

[@kitpascoe]

Thanks! That's really great to hear because I wasn't sure if it would be useful as most reviews contain endless confusing specs that seem very important to the reviewer but not so important to me.

[@IanPascoe-s4e]

Had mine 12 months now, absolutely love it,👍nice to see another Pascoe👀

[@kitpascoe]

Another Pascoe, hurrah! Glad you're loving the bike, it's probably the thing I'd save from a house fire.

[@IanPascoe-s4e]

Same , I have 4 bikes but the CGR would be first out🤣👍

[@heebygeeby62]

Just bought one of these for many of the same reasons as you and I love it. It is so comfortable and versatile. Mine came with 105 12 speed groupset and I paid extra for a wheel upgrade. I was going to buy a higher spec used bike but glad I went for this as it suits me perfectly and it’s so nice having a brand new bike. I went to a Ribble store where they have a fitting rig so I was sure to get the right size frame, bars, stem etc.

[@DominicBellThreeBlackDots]

Brilliant and honest review Kitiara. I have the same bike, in the same colour scheme but with the new 105 groupset. I have it for nearly a yea and I can't fault it. I haven't been as luck puncture wise as you though. I've had three and two of those were while I was temporally storing it in my office!

[@carlfreeland5077]

No punctures .. amazing, I am considering Tannus solid tyres as I get do fed up with punctures .. hope you continue punctures free😊

[@jamesmcgarry2509]

Fantastic review thank you! New to the bike scene looking to do my first tri next year and live out in the sticks as well so can relate to what you’re saying!

[@kitpascoe]

Welcome to the channel and to tri :-D you're going to have a great time training and doing it, it's such a fun sport.

[@wandering_pete]

Great review, and it's nice to have a user perspective who's spent a long time riding the bike. I had been looking at the CGR Al or CGR 725 as their 'all-road' design is pretty much perfect for UK riding and the prices are reasonable, however the problem is Ribble don't offer enough choice on the groupsets. I'd prefer to run a 1-by rather than 2-by, but neither CGR variant offer that unfortunately. I'm leaning towards Sonder - Alpkit's bike brand - as they offer their models with a choice of groupsets, both Shimano and Sram. Talking about UK roads, another aspect about our lanes is the rougher, gravelly tarmac they've started using to surface them with. I'm guessing it's a cost saving and probably meant to be harder wearing, but it's nowhere near as smooth as that used on A-roads. You definitely need something with a more comfortable ride on lanes and b-roads now.

[@billhambelton7698]

Ive got the CGRal too. Love it. I am running grx 1x. So build was a bit more expensive. My only gripe would be the lack of mounting bosses on the fork and top tube for mounting luggage.

[@Ezri_Actual]

No puncture in four years?! I hopped you touched wood!! Lovely review though, seems like a great bicycle for almost anything. And I know what you mean with small frames. I'm 165cm, and can fit one 750ml bottle in mine, but the second has to be a 500. That's why I love my handlebar mounted bottle bag, I can put a Nalgene in that thing.

[@kitpascoe]

Ooo I'm so tempted by a handlebar mounted bottle bag, I'll investigate, they look so useful.

[@Joseph-jy5lz]

Nice long term review. I am heading up to their Clitheroe store next week to get fitted and try a couple of CGRs out but your review of the aluminium base package was interesting.

[@steveh9428]

The Tiagra group set is pretty amazing really. I had Ultegra on my 10 year old Wilier Izoard (road) until 2 months ago when the shifters disintegrated. 10 years ago Ultegra was 10-speed and I wanted to keep it that way, so the technician at the bike shop fitted Tiagra to suit - and in terms of action, smoothness, etc, I think it’s far better than the 10 year old Ultegra was. The trim function is certainly way better. I guess Tiagra is probably a few grams heavier than Ultegra, but just eating one less cake on a ride would negate that advantage. All in all, really happy with Shimano’s trickle-down tech.

[@kitpascoe]

Interesting to know!

[@sminettsmith]

Thanks for the review as im looking to get this bike as an endurance road bike for winter and longer distances bike tours with a rear rack. Did you find it comfortable day after day on the road and where did you go? 😊.

[@kitpascoe]

Yup, really comfortable on multi-day rides. I've taken it on three, week-long cycle tours and it's been great every time on road, gravel and earthen cycle paths. I'd probably benefit from getting a bike fit for it but it's been fine as is. I usually stick a rear rack on with ortlieb panniers and a handlebar bag - great set up for me on a week's adventure. I usually cycle tour in France - most of my cycle touring videos are here where I go into lots of depth: kzbin.info/aero/PLRA1rGSjBe7gmTL9h05F1SaQt0SPz8Y-r so you might find some of those useful :-D. Thanks for swinging by!

[@sminettsmith]

@kitpascoe i plan to watch the rest of the videos! They sound great. Im struggling to work put frame size as Ribble have 6, donl you mind telling me your frame size and hight so i can get some insight, im a pretty short chap and 5.7/5.8

[@kitpascoe]

@@sminettsmith my frame is the smallest at xxs and I'm 5'4. I seem to remember being between that an xs but I called them up and got their advice. They have a great one way video chat feature so should be able to advise you which frame size is beat for you 🙂

[@TimR123]

No punctures in that long? You said it out loud? You may be doomed now 🙂

[@davewright8206]

you dont ride clips do you . neither do i 😅

[@kitpascoe]

Nope! I used to and loved them but this bike frame's geometry means my toe would hit the front wheel in clipless when going up super steep hills. It knocks me off as I've discovered!