Ribble has added a titanium model to its latest Allroad range of aero endurance bikes, which the British brand is calling “the future of titanium bikes”. A prototype was teased at Rouleur Live last year, and now the final production version is here.
The Allroad Ti features a 3D-printed head tube and seat tube cluster joined seamlessly to 3AL-2.5V tubing to create a clean, aerodynamic structure with full internal cable routing. With its sleek profile combined with titanium’s legendary durability and ride quality, Ribble says the Allroad Ti combines timeless elegance with rugged practicality and is designed to maximise and enhance the unique ride qualities of titanium with an endurance-focused geometry.
“The Allroad Ti project has been an opportunity to push the boundaries of what is possible with titanium beyond basic round tube profiles,” says Ribble’s head of product, Jamie Burrow. “The additive manufacturing process has allowed us to take aerodynamic features from our Ultra range and apply them to this bike to create a high-performance titanium road bike with distinctive ride properties. From the initial prototype showcased at a leading industry show last year to the launch today, the bike has been through thousands of miles of testing and multiple iterations to hone the design, ride, and performance.”
Thanks to the 3D-printing process, the Allroad Ti includes many of the features and dimensions of the carbon Allroad bikes, including the D-shaped seatpost with integrated seat clamp, and it is compatible with Ribble’s UB-2 bar with its direct lever mounts and wake generators. The Allroad Ti also uses the same wider profile carbon fork, has clearance for 35mm tyres and concealed mudguard mounts for year-round use. There’s also an oversized threaded T47 bottom bracket.
Burrow explains that titanium has been a big part of Ribble’s business since the brand relaunched in 2018: “Every week they sell in really good numbers – riders love what we do with titanium. It’s nearly always someone who knows what they want, who has Ti in their sights, and they choose it over carbon.”
However, Burrow explains, giving the titanium Allroad as many features from the carbon Allroad SLR has huge advantages for the titanium aficionado: “There are considerable pressing and forming difficulties with titanium because it’s such a hard material and that’s why in the past titanium frames have had that angular look, but we’ve tried to keep as much of the technology from the Allroad as possible. The main difference is the 3D-printed head tube. 3D-printing has many different benefits – you can make any shape, aero shapes but you also have the ability to tune the wall thickness. With traditional extraction, there’s only so much you can do with the internal dimensions, whereas when you’re 3D printing you can change the structure so that it performs in the way you want it to and you can also take the weight down."
Burrow continues: “This is the first time we’ve made a titanium frame with fully internal cable routing. Carbon is fairly easy, but when we’ve worked with alloy, steel and titanium in the past, you’ve effectively got to drill holes in the back of the head tube that line up with the down tube, big enough for the cables to go through but not so big that you’re creating a weakness. Whereas this 3D-printed piece is hollow all the way through and has so much room for cables – it’s the first time we’ve been able to add full integration with our UB-2 bar to titanium.”
Burrow explains that Ribble wanted the titanium Allroad to share parts and specs for more practical reasons, too: “It has the same D-shaped seatpost and seat clamp as in the SLR and SLRe, which is good for us and good for the customer. When you get to the point further down the line when you need spares, having more parts that are useable across a bunch of models and easily available is a big help.”
As for the aesthetics, Burrow is clearly pleased with the results. “If you see the 3D parts straight off the print bed, they have a very rough finish, so there’s a lot of polishing needed – but it adds character to each bike. You can still see subtle imperfections on the surface giving it a handmade look. Each frame is very slightly different from the next. The little details such as the engraved head badge is part of the 3D-printing process, whereas before we used to stick it on.”
The geometry is exactly the same as that of the carbon Allroad bikes, and the Allroad Ti is available with the same specs. The top ‘hero’ Shimano Dura-Ace stock build with Zipp 303 Firecrest wheels is priced at £7,999 and at the entry-level end, the Shimano 105 build with Mavic Aksium wheels is £3,499 – though all Ribble’s bikes are made to order and configurable.
“A Dura-Ace titanium bike with 3D-printed parts for under £8,000 is pretty competitive,” says Burrow. “We’re not the first to use additive manufacturing elements, but the few that are out there are more niche hand-builders who are charging what they need to charge. Because of the 3D-printing, which is not cheap, and the labour involved in the finishing, it’s got a significant cost over a traditional tubed construction, but the price is not far above the carbon bikes.”
Check out Ribble’s website for more information and see the bike at Rouleur Live from November 14-16.
