New bike, New wheels or be happy with what I have

Equipment
1

Hi all.

So, I bought a Ribble CGR SL off ebay late last year, I bought it as a gravel bike to use in winter and enable me to confidently do a 3 part event, 2 parts are done, 1 left to go which has been postponed until next week as it’s below freezing and the organizers had a 3degree cutoff.

Anyway, i’ve come to realise, I don’t really enjoy winter riding on the road. I’d much rather be off road at this time of year, on trails where getting muddy goes with the territory. Simply I just don’t like it. Don’t like the wind, don’t like cars, don’t like the rain. I’d rather be on the turbo trainer on rubbish days.

So i’m in a bit of a quandary as to what to do with the Ribble.

I’ve got an old Cube Litening Super HPC, SRAM red, crazy light and really fast (probably fast with a better rider but oh well!!)

I’ve also got a mountain bike which I’m really enjoying too, but of course, different type of riding - riding that I enjoy in the wet and winter far more than road.

I don’t know whether to sell the ribble - I paid £800 for it, I’ve seen them selling at £1300 easily.

So i’m considering cashing in.

My plans for this year have always been:

  1. Complete 1 event per month from spring onwards - I’ve got these booked, tempted to book an off road sportive for August, which would be on the MTB
  2. Start weekly club rides - these are normally 50 milers, they go every sunday. I’m really keen to join a club now i’ve got some riding under my belt.
  3. From April on, take part in the local 10m time trial events, not really to compete with anyone other than myself here.
  4. Go on Family rides encourage the lad to ride more.

So with those goals in mind, I don’t know what’s best in my garage.

Do I keep the Ribble, but get shot of the gravel bias (it’s on GRX which will still be fine, but the wheel and tyre setup is really gravel based) so potentially new wheels, definitely new tyres (i’m on 40mm atm) making it a comfy club bike. Maybe sell the HPC to fund a TT bike but make the HPC my “fast” bike for TT rides and perhaps good weather club rides.

or

Sell the Ribble, get a 2025 Cube - the specs on these are nuts for the price.
Stick 30mm tyres on, use it for everything. Likely be an attain or an agree depending on which feels nicer to ride.
If I enjoy TT rides, sell the HPC and use that to fund a TT bike.

Again, I just simply don’t enjoy bad weather rides unless it’s in the mud away from traffic so i’m trying to tweak my garage to suit my needs as far as is possible.

SO…

one scenary sees me have:
Ribble CGR SL - Regular do it all bike, tweaked for road rather than gravel (current setup)
Cube Litening HPC - TT rides, Fast Nice day club rides/events
MTB - Family rides, fun in the mud.

The other:
NEW Cube Agree/Attain - Do everything club rides, events,
TT Bike - when and if I enjoy TT riding.
MTB - As above.

Really don’t know what to do for the best. Gut is telling me to sell the Ribble, sell the Cube, by the best Agree/Attain I can then pickup a TT bike if I get to that stage in April.

2

only you can answer those questions m8

3

ahh poop… my own decisions… they’re always risky!

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4

I would rather have two road bikes in my shed than one.

If something goes wrong with one, the other one is there and I can ride it until the other is fixed.

Summers here in the UK are short enough that I wouldn’t want to lose a decent outdoor riding day for the lack of a bike to ride.

Of the options you outline, the first is the one I would, therefore, go with. But I wouldn’t do a lot to make the CGR more road ready - probably just tyres. Any other money I had earmarked to do more changes to the CGR would stay in the “new bike” fund.

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5

good points certainly.
I mean at the moment there’s three road bikes in the pot and 1 MTB.
I’ve also an older specialized roubaix on the turbo trainer…

I think i’m edging toward selling the Specialized and the Ribble, put that in the new bike pot, put the cube HPC on the turbo as my indoor/spare bike and get a new allrounder, if I like TTs I can get a TT bike at the time but the other 2 should cover everything I want from them.

6

Ride up grades, not upgrades. That’s what I try to tell myself anyway.

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7

My take would be that if you don’t like riding on the roads in winter and one of the reasons is cars, then you probably aren’t going to like riding a TT bike on UK roads either!

Seems at least worth setting the Ribble up with some nice rolling 30-32 road tyres and seeing how you like it before selling what seems like a good all rounder bike to replace it with another all rounder bike.

8

that’s a good take certainly.

I think you’re right. I think what i’m going to do is sell the Roubaix, it’s old, needs a bit of a refresh but is still a decent bike and worth a few hundred quid to someone. I’ll put the cube on the turbo. I love that bike, if it never sees the road i’ll still love it. But it’ll likely get some road use over summer, it weighs nothing so will just be a fun toy as and when.

Then, keep the ribble. Swap out the gravel tyres, still something smoother rolling on and see how it goes you’re right it’s a good bike, little point getting something else for the actual difference it would make, and being honest I think I only want a change because I don’t like the colour of the damned thing. Be cheaper for me to just get it resprayed i’m sure.

9

I have a Ribble CGR and it a super flexible bike. It has been my winter bike, a touring bike, a full gravel race bike with 45mm tyres, and now back to a winter road bike (32mm tyres, mudguards). Keep it and use it as a flexible do-everything option - you won’t get enough back from a sale.

10

Let me zoom out for: the way I read your post is “I bought a Ribble CGR SL, and I don’t like it.” A few years back, I got a steal on a Cube Attain GTC SL. The bike was great — on paper, great condition, an 105/Ultegra drivetrain, a carbon frame, all for less than $1,500. But I just didn’t like the geometry, my body preferred something more aggressive.

Moreover, in my experience, when it is cold, you want to go slow. The faster you go, the faster your body cools from the wind, the colder you get. Plus, when you something goes wrong, the consequences are more serious. A mountain bike has wider tires, ergo more grip, and if you fall, you will hurt less as you will be going more slowly.

So I’d sell the Ribble and pocket the money. Whether you replace your road bike depends on your financial situation and the state of your Cube Litening: is it worn out yet? Are you unhappy with it? If not, I’d just keep it.