The first-ever Ridley bicycles with Campagnolo parts have landed in the warehouse of American distributor Quality Bicycle Products (QBP), the dominant parts & accessories wholesaler in the US. A limited edition of 50 Campagnolo Record Ridley Fenix models with a suggested price of $5,295 will be at shops July 1.
The bikes are “close” to ProTour team spec, said Ridley US manager Todd Schmidt, with a Deda 35 cockpit, a San Marco Concor and a full Campagnolo Record group. Instead of high-dollar Campy wheels, however, QBP has chosen to spec Fulcrum Racing 5 wheels.
Campy and Ridley, together for the first time in the US
A 56cm Ridley Fenix with the above wheels tops the scales at 16.6lbs.
The frameset alone is $1,795
“There is no other frame that we know of that is anywhere near close to this price that is raced at the ProTour-level,” Schmidt said.
Only 50 of these bikes will be sold in the US. A 56cm bike weight 16.6lb
Ridley Cyclocross goes all in on discs
For 2014, QBP will only sell disc-brake ’cross bikes in the US. While canti framesets will still be available, every bike from the $1,695 X-Bow on up with come with disc brakes.
BikeRadar already reported on the new Ridley X-Night with SRAM Red 22 hydraulic brakes, but QBP recently showed off the US frame color. The hydro bike gets a black and gold treatment while the Shimano Ultegra mechanical bike is black, white and blue.
Not red, white and blue, but... this is one of two color schemes for the US X-Night
As noted in our earlier reporting, Ridley tweaked the geometry for the X-Night with a lower bottom bracket, a lower head tube and a more aggressive position.
“We’re seeing more manicured, less psychotic World Cup courses than in years past,” Schmidt said. “Now that the American public can view courses through YouTube or Steephill.tv or whatever, they are getting a real sense for the incredibly fast type of racing that is done at the elite level — which is what these bikes are built for.”
Also as previously noted on BikeRadar, the new X-Night is a whopping 500g lighter than the old model.
Ridley is all in with disc brakes for cyclocross this season
“The original is based on the [Ridley] Damocles, with a threaded alloy BB, tube-to-tube construction and an integrated seatmast,” Schmidt said. “For 2014, gone are all of those things. Now we have a monocqoue chassis with a 27.2 seatpost and a design that’s based off of our Helium SL.”
The X-Night starts at $4,695.
In a refreshing change for cyclocross-bike availability, the full Ridley line will be available July 1.
