It's been a busy 2023 so far for Ribble Cycles as one of the world’s oldest bicycle companies celebrates its 125th anniversary year. The brand marked their special anniversary with the launch of their Ribble 125 Campaign, a series of year-long events, and launched special edition bikes that celebrated the brand's heritage. They also added the steel-framed Ribble 725 to their award-winning gravel bike range, a nod to their steel forging roots, that expanded their best gravel bike range and completed a full offering of frame materials for consumers from titanium and alloy to carbon framed models.
The Lancashire-based direct-to-consumer brand has also launched the Ribble Collective, featuring a group of individual privateer riders competing across multiple cycling disciplines including gravel bike racing, cyclocross, road and TT. ‘Riding As One’ with the support of Ribble.
Ribble has always aimed to be at the forefront of the cycling industry with continued innovation and now expands its range with the addition of Shimano 105 R7100 Mechanical 12-speed groupsets to their award-winning line-up of gravel bikes. With Shimano introducing the 105 R7100 12-speed groupset, along with the GRX RX820 12-speed Mechanical groupset, it opens doors of affordability and choice for gravel riders. Ribble has yet to say whether they will add the new GRX RX820 12-speed to its range, but we would expect to see that happen at some point.
The first Ribble gravel bikes to feature the new 105 R7100 12-speed groupset, which are available to order now, are the stunning looking Ribble CGR Ti and the Ribble CGR SL, which are the brand's popular titanium and carbon-framed gravel bike models.
Jamie Burrow Head of Product at Ribble was full of excitement as he spoke about the new Shimano release saying, "With the introduction of the Shimano 105 R7100 Mechanical 12-speed groupset, Shimano are providing ‘self-powered adventure’ to a massive cycling community seeking easy-to-maintain componentry at an affordable price."
Shimano Media also stated, "Each component of Shimano 105 Mechanical is engineered to work in perfect harmony. With the refined 12-speed gear system, riders will have peak efficiency and accelerating performance for any gravel bike riding situation."
Shimano has recently brought electric shifting to the masses with their 105 R7100 Di2 12-speed. But although cheaper than most of their best electric groupsets, it is still fairly costly. They now bring the Shimano 105 R7100 mechanical 12-speed which they claim is lightweight and will offer premium mechanical shifting, adding that it means riders can capture that natural riding feeling without worrying about battery levels and still enjoying the comfort and range of a high end 12-speed groupset.
The Shimano 105 Mechanical 12-speed comes with an RD-R7100 rear derailleur with Shimano's Shadow RD technology which is a low profile and a single-tension construction that should give riders a smooth, efficient, and silent performance. Upfront, the FD-R7100 front derailleur features a toggle-link construction claimed to give hassle-free shifting, whether going up to the larger chainring or dropping down to the small.
Shimano also says that by upgrading to the 12-speed 105 R7100 Mechanical groupset, gravel riders will have a range of gearing ready to tackle the best gravel bike adventures. Optimized drivetrain components include 11-34T and 11-36T cassette options, while the FC-R7100 Hollowtech II 12-speed cranksets have either 50-34T and 52-36T chainring choices that gives an excellent all-round drivetrain performance.
Pricing and availabilty
Both the Ribble CGR Ti and the Ribble CGR SL featuring the Shimano 105 R7100 Mechanical 12-speed groupset are available to order now with pricing starting at £2,899 for the titanium framed Ribble CGR Ti. With the Ribble CGR SL starting at £2,699.
US and European pricing are still to be confirmed and don't forget to check out Ribble's excellent CustomColour offering online which allows riders to choose their own coloring options. Find out more at Ribblecycles.co.uk and we hope to test out the new upgraded Shimano 12-speed 105 R7100 groupset on the Ribble CGR Titanium gravel bike very soon, so keep an eye open for our test review.
