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Ridgeback Solo World

7
£587.00

VERDICT:

7
10
Solid winter workhorse, a bit unforgiving for a lightweight trainer
Weight: 
10,100g
Contact: 
www.ultimatepursuits.co.uk

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The Ridgeback Solo World is a solid single speed Winter companion, best for a mixture of short hops and longer training rides. If you're looking for a straight up Winter trainer then the Solo is probably a bit overbuilt, but it's a stable and dependable cruiser for the darker months.

The heart of the Solo is a Reynolds 520 Cromoly frame, which talking to the Ridgeback designer turns out to be an evolution of the Genesis Flyer using similar tube profiles. The Flyer is designed as an urban machine and was overbuilt to a certain extent to mitigate against bumps and dings, the Solo gets this solidity too but it comes at the expense of a certain amount of ride quality. The frame is certainly stiff and puts the power down well but at times it's a little unforgiving.

There's plenty you can do to compensate for this and certainly the Continental tyres do a good job of soaking up road imperfections. Although I found the 58cm a good fit in terms of reach I tend to run quite a lot of seatpost, and there wasn't enough of it with Aluminium one suplpied, so I swapped it out for a 350mm Carbon 'post from my road bike. Call it serendipity but it transformed the ride, giving a bit of compliance where it's needed. I'd certainly recommend it as a first upgrade and indeed other component choices could probably make way for it if the bike was specced a bit differently.

Take for example the supplied clip and strap pedals. They saddle you with whole lot of toeclip overlap – especially with the mudguards on – and the first thing you'll do is swap them for your own units anyway. Better to supply the bike without the pedals and spend the money on a decent 'post instead.

Other than that minor gripe the kit is sensible and hard wearing. The Sugino 48T track chainset mated with an 18T Shimano freewheel gives a sensible 72" gear that's good for most riding. I'm not a quick or light rider but I've had the Solo up some steep climbs and cruised round some longer rides too, up to 70 miles.

The Solo is at its best when it's cruising. Bring it up to speed on the flat and the Solo is happy to buzz along for mile after mile. The handling is great at the mid-range speeds that a singlespeed will spend most of its time at. The Solo feels a little pedestrian when it's moving slowly but a bit of speed in the solid-but-fairly-weighty wheels and the momentum combined with the fairly relaxed geometry combine to give an unflustered feel. Some people will probably find it a bit too easy going, especially those looking for a Winter trainer to replicate the feel of a Summer road bike.

Going down it's plenty stable enough and pointing upwards it's a lot more sprightly than the 10.1kg all-in weight and single gear would suggest. Power transfer is good, I wouldn't expect the bog standard square taper BB to last too long given the torque you put through a single gear, but it performed fine during the test period. The bars are a bit narrow, and the hoods a bit small, to get good leverage when you hit the steep stuff and I'd rather have seen a 44cm bar on the 58cm machine. Other than that the controls, such as they are, are fine. The brakes aren't anything special but there's plenty of stopping power available.

The overall impression is of a well rounded machine that's comfortable on a longer ride but better suited to mixed use through the Winter. If you're looking for a workhorse then it may well suit, if it's a trainer you're after then you might want something a bit more lively.

Verdict

Solid winter workhorse, a bit unforgiving though for a lightweight trainer

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road.cc test report

Make and model: Ridgeback Solo World

Price: 587.00

Size tested: 58cm

About the tester

Age: 36  Height: 190cm  Weight: 105kg

I usually ride: Schwinn Moab, urbanised with 700cs. My best bike is: Trek 1.5 with upgrades

I've been riding for: 10-20 years. I ride: Every day. I would class myself as: Experienced

I regularly do the following types of riding: time trialling, commuting, general fitness riding, fixed/singlespeed, mtb, Mountain Bike Bog Snorkelling

About the bike

Frame material: Reynolds 520 Cromo

Fork Material: Carbon

Build quality of the frame
 
8/10

Tell us about the bike spec. List the components used to build up the bike.

Frame: Reynolds 520 Cro Mo

Forks: Carbon

Chainset: Sugino Track 48t

Bottom Bracket: Cartridge Cro Mo

Chain: K810

Freewheel: Shimano Freewheel 18t

Headset: Sealed w/alloy spacer

Stem: 6061 Aluminium Ahead

Handlebars: 6061 Aluminium 420/440

Brakes: Shimano R450 Dual Pivot

Brake Levers: Shimano BL-600

Rims: Alex AT-400 32h black w/CNC sidewall

Hubs: Formula Track sealed

Spokes: Stainless steel black

Tyres: Continental Ultra Race Folding 700x 25c

Saddle: Ozone SLX

Seatpost: SL Aluminium 27.2mm

Pedals: Road w/clips & straps

Grips: Cork Tape black

Riding the bike

Sizing and fit: how was the bike in terms of height and reach? How did you find it, and why did you think that was?

The 58cm frame was fine in terms of fit as I tend to run a long seatpost. The seatpost supplied with the bike wasn't long enough though, so I swapped it out for a 350mm Carbon 'post from my road bike.

Was there any toe-clip overlap with the front wheel?: Plenty with the supplied pedals but once I fitted my SPD-SLs it was fine

Comfort and efficiency: was the bike stiff? Was it comfortable to ride? Tell us how you felt about the ride.

The bike's certainly stiff, sometimes to the point of being unforgiving. Running a Carbon 'post helps and the tyres are a good choice to smooth out the rough stuff.

Rate the bike for efficiency of power transfer:
 
7/10
Rate the bike for acceleration:
 
6/10
Rate the bike for sprinting:
 
5/10
Rate the bike for high speed stability:
 
7/10
Rate the bike for cruising speed stability:
 
9/10
Rate the bike for low speed stability:
 
8/10
Rate the bike for flat cornering:
 
7/10
Rate the bike for cornering on descents:
 
8/10
Rate the bike for climbing:
 
8/10

The drivetrain

Rate the drivetrain for performance:
 
8/10
Rate the drivetrain for durability:
 
10/10
Rate the drivetrain for weight:
 
7/10
Rate the drivetrain for value:
 
8/10

Wheels and tyres

Rate the wheels and tyres for performance:
 
8/10
Rate the wheels and tyres for durability:
 
9/10
Rate the wheels and tyres for weight:
 
6/10
Rate the wheels and tyres for comfort:
 
8/10
Rate the wheels and tyres for value:
 
7/10

Controls

Rate the controls for performance:
 
7/10
Rate the controls for durability:
 
7/10
Rate the controls for weight:
 
7/10
Rate the controls for comfort:
 
6/10
Rate the controls for value:
 
6/10

Your verdict

Did you enjoy riding the bike?: Yes

Would you consider buying the bike?: Maybe, but given that I'd most likely be buying a singlespeed as a trainer not a commuter I think the Solo is a little unforgiving

Would you recommend the bike to a friend?: Yes

Overall rating: 7/10

 

Dave is a founding father of road.cc, having previously worked on Cycling Plus and What Mountain Bike magazines back in the day. He also writes about e-bikes for our sister publication ebiketips. He's won three mountain bike bog snorkelling World Championships, and races at the back of the third cats.

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1 comments

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Anonymous (not verified) | 15 years ago
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like all the new guff at the bottom of the reviews....

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