Ribble Endurance SL

This is a tricky review to write as my experience may not reflect what happens normally at Ribble when they are unaffected by Covid 19. Ribble didnt manage to build it in the 21 days they were quoting when I ordered, it turned up a few days late, I think this was mostly down to parts not being available, I wish they'd contacted me and given me options to change the build rather than just sit on the order and wait for parts to become available, communication on this would have been very much appreciated. As it was I seemed to feel I had to chase things up. It said on the website that you would be given updates and a build date, this never happened hence my reason for contacting them a couple of times, it might be better if this information was removed from the website. The one message I did get from the workshop was not very helpful and looked like a bit of a cut and paste sent to all customers.
When the bike turned up it was missing parts I'd ordered, again no communication, had to chase it up. The bike build itself was mostly OK, the bar tape was pretty poor quality, and the cables hadnt been seated into the grooves under the bars, but the gears were spot on and the rest of the bike finish was good. One of the standard Mavic wheels that came with the bike was out of true, not by much but enough to be annoying. I did find customer service helpful, I think only one message needed a follow up to prompt a reply and I appreciate they are probably dealing with a lot of queries at the moment.
As for how the bike rides I guess my expectations were too high. I'd been borrowing my sons bike after mine was stolen, so I'd been riding a bottom of the range BTWIN all aluminium bike (although I had upgraded the wheelset). I hoped the difference would be night and day given the price difference. Dont get me wrong, the Ribble is better, but its much more marginal than I'd hoped. It feels good to ride, planted and confidence inspiring, its certainly more race than endurance geometry, but then a lot of reviews do mention that so it wasnt a surprise to me, if you're used to a more upright position and thats what you're after then this bike isnt for you. Finally would I buy another bike from Ribble? At the moment I'm undecided, I guess ultimately I was left a little underwhelmed by both the bike and the build and didnt get that sense of excitement with a new bike that makes me want to go out on it. I like it but I dont love it.

I wish i had bought a ribble years ago, i love the endurance sl. Its so smooth and the power you can put down it fantastic. The colour schemes is amazing and I keep finding little parts that I love that I didnt see before, the biggest issue is now I will not put it in the shed so it stays in the down stairs bathroom! Beautiful dream bike!