Ribble Ultra-Race 105 Di2

The Ribble Ultra-Race 105 Di2 is the entry point to the Lancashire company’s latest race bike range. These bikes blend a stiff and efficient frameset with some entry-level to mid-range components – balancing performance and budget. It is carrying a bit of weight, and the ride quality is middling but, if all you care about is getting the power down on a bike that is ripe for upgrades, then it’s worth a look.

Ribble Ultra-Race 105 Di2: Ride

Ribble describes the Ultra-Race as bridging the gap between pure aero and ultra-lightweight, so an all-rounder race bike and my first spin of the pedals show that it delivered on the most important attribute – stiffness.

The frame feels very tight with zero flex around the bottom bracket area and the front end takes high steering and braking loads in its stride too.

At just under 8.4kg this entry-level model is a bit weighty, and with a large chunk of that in the wheels it never felt exactly sprightly although with a change of wheels to something around 500g lighter this Ultra-Race began to show its full potential.

Hard efforts out of the saddle were at least then repaid with some efficiency whether climbing or sprinting out of a corner, while the short wheelbase allowed me to maintain speed through tight and technical corners.

In fact, the geometry is very well balanced, which makes it a bike that is easy to ride quickly. The front end’s numbers aren’t aggressive, so the steering is easily controllable at speed even when the road surface is rough, plus lower-speed manoeuvres don’t make the Ultra-Race a handful either.

Aero hasn’t been overlooked and the Ultra-Race has some interesting tube profiles to cheat the wind although in this build it doesn’t necessarily highlight any major real-world advantages over other bikes I’ve ridden in this bracket. Something that will make a much bigger difference to your efficiency is your wheels and changing the standard Mavic Ksyriums for a set of Scribe Inception 50+ carbon wheels I was reviewing at the time made the bike feel much quicker overall.

The one thing I wasn’t overly enamoured about though was the ride quality. It’s not an uncomfortable bike, and I appreciate that race bikes are about performance over comfort, but many others out there manage to deliver one without sacrificing the other.

I found the Ultra-Race to be quite buzzy on poor road surfaces, and on longer rides it did become a little bit of a chore.

It just lacks a little refinement in my mind.

That aside, though, if you aren’t worried about a smooth ride then the Ultra-Race will deliver on performance with a few upgrades.

Ribble Ultra-Race 105 Di2: Frame and fork

With a claimed weight of 775g for a medium frame the Ultra-Race is punching well at its price, especially when you consider that top spec bikes can build up close to the UCI’s 6.8kg weight limit. Ribble is obviously confident that no corners have been cut to deliver that weight either, offering a lifetime warranty to the original purchaser on all frames and forks.

For the Ultra-Race Ribble has used a blend of different carbon composite grades. M65, which has a high tensile strength, has been used in areas of the frame where high levels of stiffness are needed – coping with power output through the cranks for example, while Toray’s T700 and T800 grades are used elsewhere.

Although this isn’t designed to be a full aero bike there has still been a large focus on making it efficient at cutting through the air. The finished product that you see here has been designed using CFD (computational fluid dynamics) before a 3D model of the frame and fork is built into a full bike ready for the wind tunnel. For testing Ribble also uses a 3D-printed rider to get realistic results.

Alongside the computer designed tubing profiles you also get full internal hose routing to give more smoothness and neat lines, and all of the builds on offer are for electronic groupsets, which obviously keeps any wires to a minimum.

Being a race bike there aren’t any provisions for mudguards, with a couple of bottle cage mounts the only attachment points; tyre clearance is decent at 32mm. Ribble makes dedicated bottle cages that are designed to match the tube shapes and reduce drag.

The Ultra-Race is available in six sizes ranging from XXS to XL, which according to Ribble’s chart will suit riders between 4ft 11in (150cm) and 6ft 5in (195.5cm).

Our medium test model has a 550mm top tube, a 50mm head tube and a 520mm seat tube. The head angle is 72.5 degrees, while the seat tube sits at 73.5 degrees.

The resulting stack and reach figures 550.8mm and 388mm respectively, with a wheelbase of 991.4mm.

All in all, there’s nothing really out of the ordinary. 

Ribble Ultra-Race 105 Di2: Finishing kit and pricing

The five models in the Ultra-Race line-up top out with the Shimano Dura-Ace Di2 and SRAM Red AXS equipped bikes, which also boast Zipp wheels and power meters. Both of these models cost £7,999.

Stepping down a notch gets you SRAM Force AXS or Ultegra Di2 with Vision carbon wheels for £4,999, although the Force model includes a power meter.

Lastly, we have this one for £3,699 which as the name suggests comes with Shimano 105 Di2.

The 105 groupset is brilliant and with a performance  very similar to that of Ultegra, this is probably the build I’d go for, freeing up some money to spend on deep-section carbon wheels such as the £649 Scribe Inceptions or you could upgrade to the Vision SC45s found on the Ultegra model for an extra £800.

The Ultra-Race ships with a 50/34T crankset paired with an 11-36T 12-speed cassette which is a decent spread of gears, though I’d have preferred a 52/36T chainring option on a race bike like this.

As always, the shifting is impressive, working well even under load and the battery life is long enough that you never end up with range anxiety.

For slowing duties, the 105 callipers are paired with 160mm rotors that offer good levels of power and decent modulation.

All bikes in the range get Ribble’s Aero integrated handlebar that is a neat touch for the money. Each frame size gets a specific stem length and bar width when you select it, but at the point of ordering you can tweak the options on offer.

As standard this medium bike gets a 40cm bar and a 10cm stem, but you can also choose from 38/8cm, 40/9cm, 42/11cm or 42/12cm.

Some people will still fall between the cracks, but at least you get the chance to spec different sizes, not something every brand offers.

The handlebar/stem is full carbon fibre, and the brake hoses run internally, so it’s a clean-looking setup and I found it comfortable to use.

I also got on well with the short Selle Italia Model X saddle. Its shape, cut-out and slim padding work for hard riding or when taking things a little simpler.

Like a lot of Ribble’s road bikes the Ultra-Race uses a D-profile carbon seatpost. This means you can’t swap it for an off-the-shelf round option, but that’s not a major issue as it does the job well and fitted securely inside the frame.

The Mavic Ksyrium 30 Disc wheels have a 30mm deep-aluminium rim and are tubeless compatible. They aren’t light, though, at nearly 1,800g and their 19mm internal width is narrow by today’s standards.

If this bike was to be your year-round steed though they’d make great training wheels, and my previous experience with them is that they are robust and durable.

The Ultra-Race comes specced with Pirelli’s P Zero Road TLR, which is a very decent tyre. Their supple compound offers impressive grip and good rolling resistance.

Ribble Ultra-Race 105 Di2: Value

For comparisons here I’m using full RRP, but as with many other brands Ribble currently has a large chunk of money off most of the builds it offers.

On paper the Ultra-Race looks to be decent value, but this is a busy sector and there’s some tough competition.

The TCR is Giant’s take on the all-round race bike and even the entry-level Advanced models have a better ride quality than the Ribble.

A TCR Advanced 1 with Giant’s aluminium wheels and a 105 Di2 groupset costs £3,199, or for the same £3,699 price tag as the Ribble you can have the Advanced 0 Di2 with the same groupset but carbon wheels.

You don’t get a carbon cockpit, but that wouldn’t be a deal-breaker for me.

I recently reviewed Specialized’s Tarmac SL8 Expert and the highlight was the ride quality of the frameset – it is quite literally one of the best out there.

That model was £6,000, with the closest comparison being the SL8 Comp. Just like the TCR it comes with shallow aluminium wheels, a standard cockpit, and a 105 Di2 groupset. It’s a little cheaper at £3,599.

Merida’s Scultura 5000 comes with a 105 Di2 groupset too, an aluminium cockpit and Vision’s Team 35 wheelset which have an aluminium rim, but it ‘only’ costs £3,000. If you want the same build but with a set of Vision SC45 wheels, then the Scultura 6000 will set you back £3,750.

I’ve ridden lots of different Sculturas over the years, with the most recent the 4000. I found the ride quality very good without sacrificing race bike stiffness and that bike with a 105 mechanical groupset weighed 8.6kg.

Canyon’s Ultimate CF 7 Di2 is also cheaper than the Ribble at £3,299 and that gets a carbon cockpit to go with the 105 Di2 groupset. If the shallow DT Swiss wheels aren’t deep enough for you then the CF 7 Aero Di2 comes with DT Swiss’s ARC carbon wheels for £3,949.

Check out our best road bikes buyer’s guide for more options.

Ribble Ultra-Race 105 Di2: Conclusion

If you want a no-nonsense race bike, then the Ultra-Race fits the bill. It’s stiff everywhere it needs to be, handles and behaves well and comes with a decent spec for the money. There are quite a few race bikes that in my eyes have a better ride quality than the Ribble and are also excellently stiff for racing duties – they all look to offer slightly better value for money too.

Overall, the Ultra-Race is a good bike, but it’s not what I’d describe as class-leading.

Verdict

Has everything a race bike needs for performance, but lacks the refinement of others in terms of ride quality

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