# Ridley vs. Trek



## Ghost234 (Jun 1, 2010)

Ive been looking into potentially getting a cyclocross bike for a while now and have had the chance to try out both Trek ion CX (Pro) and the Ridley Xbow. Both bikes fit very comfortably and had similar components, but the Ridley was about $100 more (slightly better wheels in my opinion though). 


I'm leaning a little more towards the Ridley, any suggestions on what else I should look at? Any opinions on the Ridley/Trek? 

My plan is to use it as a back-up roadie, something for bad weather, crits and potentially race CX next fall.


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## davidka (Dec 12, 2001)

As a pair of race bikes I'd give the usual "go with the fit/spec" advice but since you mentioned back up roadie, check to see that the Ridley has fender mounts. The Trek has nice removable fender mounts which make it a really nice rain/winter bike.


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## ohiorick (May 29, 2010)

I have a Ridley and love it. One thing about the Ridley, the underside of the top tube is flat, makes it really easy and comfy to carry in a CX race. I don't think the Trek has that. Other than that, go for the one that fits you the best. They are both nice bikes.


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## MMinSC (Nov 19, 2011)

Ridley, simply because it's not a Trek...


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## bartman601 (Nov 1, 2005)

Ridley builds the real deal and different geo. Make sure you check the frame size, Ridley's are usually a size smaller than what you'd ride on a road frame. I'm 5-8 and ride a 52.


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## PedalDriven (Dec 4, 2011)

MMinSC said:


> Ridley, simply because it's not a Trek...



This. 

-Cheers.


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## ZoomBoy (Jan 28, 2004)

MMinSC said:


> Ridley, simply because it's not a Trek...


Even though I'm not a big fan of Trek the fact that you may want to use fenders excludes the Ridley. Any other options available?


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## PlatyPius (Feb 1, 2009)

MMinSC said:


> Ridley, simply because it's not a Trek...



This! ^


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## J-K (Nov 5, 2006)

PedalDriven said:


> This.
> 
> -Cheers.


It's quite funny how this works. You guys are in the U.S, right?

Well... I am in the Netherlands and out here Ridley is just a Belgian company that got really good at painting and putting stickers on frames from the far east. Was it the limitless admiration of euro cyclocross or the big-bad-bike company hatred that got to you guys? 

Really, you should judge these bikes on what their ride characteristics are. Nothing else.


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## Kram (Jan 28, 2004)

BMW vs Chevy. Next.


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## simonaway427 (Jul 12, 2010)

Kram said:


> BMW vs Chevy. Next.


Would you drive a BMW or Chevy off road?


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## ohiorick (May 29, 2010)

ZoomBoy said:


> Even though I'm not a big fan of Trek the fact that you may want to use fenders excludes the Ridley. Any other options available?


My Xbow has places for fender mounts. I rode the Trek and the Ridley, I bought the one I liked better, but I paid more for the Ridley. As always, you get what you pay for.


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## ZoomBoy (Jan 28, 2004)

ohiorick said:


> My Xbow has places for fender mounts. I rode the Trek and the Ridley, I bought the one I liked better, but I paid more for the Ridley. As always, you get what you pay for.


oops.....I was thinking about the X-Ride .... Ignore my post. Ride what fits your body and budget!


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## MMinSC (Nov 19, 2011)

J-K said:


> It's quite funny how this works. You guys are in the U.S, right?
> 
> Well... I am in the Netherlands and out here Ridley is just a Belgian company that got really good at painting and putting stickers on frames from the far east. Was it the limitless admiration of euro cyclocross or the big-bad-bike company hatred that got to you guys?
> 
> Really, you should judge these bikes on what their ride characteristics are. Nothing else.


That's pretty much all Trek does, but they don't even bother to try to innovate. They just rip others designs, work them into their frames, and let the marketing machine go wild.

And the fenders comment is moot, unless you require braze-ons. There are several setups that will work on Ridley, or any other, frames that don't have eyelets....


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## Beltway_Bonked (Nov 5, 2004)

I would check out the trail between the two. Ridley's tend to be a little shorter for trail, which makes them turn more quickly in a race (which I love and I'm hardly daring). Also, the shorter trail is more like a road bike than a lot of cross bikes.

I would go for longer trail if I a) had no intention of racing and b) simply wanted to ride around in comfort. And lest you think I'm bagging on that, I have a steel Bianchi touring road bike for doing just that.


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## haikalah (Oct 5, 2004)

J-K said:


> It's quite funny how this works. You guys are in the U.S, right?


It is funny. We even think Stella is a cool, specialty beer here. But the funniest thing I've ever heard is that folks in Europe would order Budweiser in a bar.


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## Guymk (Mar 27, 2009)

MMinSC said:


> That's pretty much all Trek does, but they don't even bother to try to innovate. They just rip others designs, work them into their frames, and let the marketing machine go wild.
> 
> And the fenders comment is moot, unless you require braze-ons. There are several setups that will work on Ridley, or any other, frames that don't have eyelets....


While most of what trek sells is from the far east, i wouldn't say they just rip other people's designs. The ion cx frame has the best mud clearance i have seen of cyclocross bikes. 

Check this link and scroll down:
GamJams Tech: Premes, Picks, Promos p/b November Bicycles

You will also see that it has a flattened top tube and tapered head tube. And as far as handling goes, it has the same exact geo as their carbon cross bike, the cronus, which bikeradar reviewed and had only positive things to say about the handling. 

Trek Cronus CX Review - BikeRadar

Now before you go bashing a bike simply because it's a trek look into it first. The "don't buy it because it is a trek" attitude is, simply put, lame.


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## adam_mac84 (Sep 22, 2010)

Ridley fits me like a glove, so that was the choice for me. I did not size down. But i never had any problems with standover (85cm saddle height).

The BB was only 6mm higher than my previous bike 61mm vs 67, so not a huge difference... were talking <1cm here. With the tall head tubes it may more than offset that, but it lets me run a stem without spacers... TT's are shorter, so be careful with the 'size down' recommendations. my 60 is C-C, and 64C-T, 585 TT.

I rode both trek and ridley and can get the same position on both, but the ridley was much snappier (maybe because of shorter chain stay).


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## davidka (Dec 12, 2001)

MMinSC said:


> That's pretty much all Trek does, but they don't even bother to try to innovate. They just rip others designs, work them into their frames, and let the marketing machine go wild.
> 
> .


Wow. You haven't been paying attention the last 10-15 years if that's really your opinion.


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## MMinSC (Nov 19, 2011)

Guymk said:


> While most of what trek sells is from the far east, i wouldn't say they just rip other people's designs. The ion cx frame has the best mud clearance i have seen of cyclocross bikes.
> 
> Check this link and scroll down:
> GamJams Tech: Premes, Picks, Promos p/b November Bicycles
> ...


So the Madone, with all of it's ripped technology, isn't lame. Oh, and they ride really poorly as well...

As for the Cronus, the flattened top tubes have been around for YEARS, as have the tapered headtubes. And matching geos? Yeah, most companies do that now in an effort to make the bikes ride more like road bikes than CX bikes of yore. AND they can use some of the same molds in production...
You see, old style geometry cross bike handled like dumptrucks.

And mud clearance? How big of a tire can you put on a Cronus? When you wedge a 40c in their, like I can on my 5 year old Salsa Las Cruces, get back to me.

Buy a bike, any bike, because it fits, not because the marketing copy, and reviews that the company itself pays for appeal to you.


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## MMinSC (Nov 19, 2011)

davidka said:


> Wow. You haven't been paying attention the last 10-15 years if that's really your opinion.


You must ride a Madone...

Name me ONE technology that Trek uses in the Madone that they pioneered. Pretty much everything their ad copy touts was brought to market by another manufacturer. 

Their frames are nothing more than 'borrowed' tech and superflash paint meant to dazzle with BS.
I'm waiting to see how they work some sort of Zertz insert into their new 'Roubaix' style frame that you're gonna see in late-Winter/Early Spring...
So yes, I have been paying attention...:thumbsup:


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## davidka (Dec 12, 2001)

MMinSC said:


> You must ride a Madone...
> 
> Name me ONE technology that Trek uses in the Madone that they pioneered. Pretty much everything their ad copy touts was brought to market by another manufacturer.
> 
> ...


Yes, I do.

High pressure molded carbon fiber (that they call OCLV)? 

Net molded, cupless bb and headset bearing seats, ovalized fork steerer with no crown race (again, bearing directly on carbon) no-cut seat mast, BB90 configuration that allowes wider chain stay spacing and a wider down tube interface. That's 4 more. These all came out in 07' on the 2008 Madone. Who did they borrow these things from?


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## PlatyPius (Feb 1, 2009)

davidka said:


> Yes, I do.
> 
> High pressure molded carbon fiber (that they call OCLV)?
> 
> Net molded, cupless bb and headset bearing seats, ovalized fork steerer with no crown race (again, bearing directly on carbon) no-cut seat mast, BB90 configuration that allowes wider chain stay spacing and a wider down tube interface. That's 4 more. These all came out in 07' on the 2008 Madone. Who did they borrow these things from?


Realistically, OCLV is the only halfway decent thing Trek has invented in the last 2 decades. And only halfway, based on the number of issues.

cupless BBs - multiple issues with being oversize, weak, breaking
seat mast - multiple reports of breakage, crappy seat clamp
BB90 - whoop. Another BB standard. Yay. Like anyone can really notice a difference.

"Innovations" only count if they are better than what already existed. And nothing Trek does is better than anything else on the market. Some of it is worse.


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## davidka (Dec 12, 2001)

I have not had any of those problems with mine in 2.5 seasons and none of the other owners that I know have had anything like that either. Not saying that they don't exist, just that an internet forum is not an accurate indication of what happens in the overall population. The bikes sell very well (notice the "how long will it take" threads in the Trek section), would they continue to sell this well if they were so problematic?

BB90 is not a BB standard in the same way as the other "standards", it uses readily available cranks that are not proprietary. I listed the benefits in short but I'll re-hash. Wider chain stay placement/more room means that the drive side chain stay doesn't need to be blade-thin and there is plenty of clearance for 25-28c tires if you want to run anything that large. 

I was asked to cite innovations that were Trek made. I hadn't seen any of these on any other bike prior.

Anyway, not helping the OP make a choice. Get the one that fits/works, don't worry about what it says in the downtube.


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## MMinSC (Nov 19, 2011)

davidka said:


> Yes, I do.
> 
> High pressure molded carbon fiber (that they call OCLV)?
> 
> Net molded, cupless bb and headset bearing seats, ovalized fork steerer with no crown race (again, bearing directly on carbon) no-cut seat mast, BB90 configuration that allowes wider chain stay spacing and a wider down tube interface. That's 4 more. These all came out in 07' on the 2008 Madone. Who did they borrow these things from?


The Madone BB shells were mis-molded by the wags at Trek. Warranty issue. Several here in town went back. A couple were 'fixed' by putting in bearing with a larger O.D., which is a cheap, BS fix, at best.
Cupless headset? So the bearings are held in by God's own hand? The crown race is built into the fork, thus there's a crown race. Nothing more than an attempt at weight savings. If the headset has some slop in it, and a lot of people ride with loose headsets w/o knowing it, the bearing will EAT the fork. Yeah...saw it on a Madone 6.9 I was tuning up...fork was ruined. The idea of oversized lower bearings came from Ridley.
BB90? BFD. Trek just wanted their own version of BB30. The junction of the downtube and BB cluster is the same size on a Madone 6.9 and a Ridley Helium. Yeah, I measured. BB90 idea co-opted from the BB30, developed by Cannondale.
And wider chainstay spacing? A 27c tire rubs a Madone...so you know. And you can only get the BB and stays do wide, or the cranksets will not work, and your heels won't clear. Get a measuring tape and see for yourself...
No cut seat mast? Yeah...EVERY person in town who bought an 08 Madone got at least one new one because of frame failure. It was, and continues to be, poorly engineered. Nothing like creating a load/pivot point at a tube junction...
Again, Ridley, and several other manufacturers, did seatmast bikes before Trek thought about it.

With all of their 'innovations', they've tried to re-invented the mousetrap. It's worked out about as well...

OCLV _was_ innovative...in 1993, when it was developed. They did push other manufacturers to develop carbon bikes, but have fallen woefully behind by continuing to ride the OCLV horse. And ALL carbon is built with compaction to prevent voids. 

:thumbsup:


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## davidka (Dec 12, 2001)

face-palm...

28's fit on my Madone just fine and the expensive mousetraps seem to be selling very well.

Trek did oversized lower headset bearings in 2001, which they borrowed from an even earlier Klein design (which Trek owned/developed). Ridley was founded in 1997.


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