Ribble has lifted the curtains in its latest flagship road bike dubbed the Ultra-Race, touting the use of MT65 carbon fiber, the first such application in the fabrication of a bike frame.
“When we set about this discovery process, we knew we wanted to push the boundaries, as we did with the Ultra-Aero,” he says. “We realized this wasn’t possible using conventional carbon layups and, just like we did previously with the Ultra-Aero, we wanted this to be an evolution in bike design, which meant using materials never utilised in bicycle production before, at least to the best of our knowledge. Ultimately, we landed with a new product, MT65 carbon, which we’ve adapted into this frame, used in key areas to reinforce the structure in a way that, traditionally, would have added weight,” explains Jamie Burrow, Ribble’s head of design and product development.
“We’ve managed to create an ultra-light platform. However, this is only one part of the design story. Our testing phase does not only utilise machines and gauges, we also use real people, and this bike has taken a serious pounding over the last year and a half on the roads of northern England around our HQ. These bikes take a proper punishment to make sure they stand up to the test. When we’re talking about an ultra-light bike, which this is, we want to make sure it’s also bombproof on the road. The new Ultra-Race is built around a blend of 33-ton and 46-ton carbon, which we introduced in the Allroad SL R last year. Then, with experimentation, we finally ended up adding the third carbon, which is a super-high modulus 65-ton fiber,” he adds.
Aerodynamics also played an important role when developing the Ultra-Race, with the goal of bridging the gap between a pure aero bike and a lightweight climber, featuring newly developed tube shapes and profiles throughout the main frame, as well as flared seatstays that further bolster the bike’s aerodynamic signature.
“The Aerodynamic thinking trickles down from the Ultra project with the head tube shape into the fork crown into the down tube, without compromising any stiffness. We’ve taken a lot of the understandings and learnings from the Ultra, but this bike replaces the Endurance SLR, which has been our race-proven bike for many years. That was our benchmark in this project, to make sure we came up with something that performs better in aerodynamics, stiffness, and weight. This chassis delivers both a higher lateral rigidity and additional vertical compliance so every watt goes into the road,” says Burrow.
Elsewhere, the Ultra-Race is fitted with Ribble’s latest integrated carbon cockpit and a D-shaped seatpost, while geometry pretty much falls within the spec of what one would expect from a WorldTour level road bike.
“It’s a very race-focused geometry and comes in six sizes. The clearance accommodates tires up to 32mm, following modern trends, even though all fixed specs are leaving the building with 30mm, which offers a great balance between speed and comfort for most people’s riding,” says Burrow.
All things considered, the Ultra-Race frame tips the scales at an impressive 775 grams in a size medium, along with an 8% improvement in lateral stiffness and power transfer over the outgoing Endurance SLR.
The Ultra-Race is available in a number of different guises, with groupsets and wheel options that span Shimano, SRAM, Zipp, Vision and Scope.
Here’s how the models breakdown:
Additionally, the Ultra-Race can be equipped with a set of Scope Artech wheels, which increases the price to £10,499 on the SRAM Red variant.
Ribble
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