Jumper Obsessed Rider On Why The Ht Ti Is The Dream Bike

'Every time I pull the Ribble HT Ti out I know it’s my time to play.'

Jamie, so far we know you are an adventure seeker on the bike and love a good jump. Tell us a bit more about you.

I’m 28 years young just about. Loving father to one & currently added a new edition, Buddy the pup. I’m currently supplying the region with food and I’ve done this role for about 4 years for food logistics with the Co-Op. I love my role as it connects me with riding due to fitness. I am always on the move which I love and will do what I can where I can if possible. No rest in this chap that is for sure.

**
How long you have you been riding bikes?
**I have been riding on 2 wheels for as long as I can remember, it all began mainly in my early teens and my love for BMX. As I got older, I got a lot taller. It became apparent that I was needing to move up. I finally found myself riding DJ (dirt jump) bikes at my local skatepark & the odd dirt jump.

In more recent years, I wanted to move on to MTB. That is where we are at now, riding with the passion of a rigid back end & still being able to do a lot of things I still love doing. JUMPING.

Can you tell us a bit about you and your riding style? I had been riding BMX for a good 4 years then moved onto DJ bikes which I absolutely loved due to my height. I used to love a good jump & still do but definitely need to work on my skills as I gave up riding with me moving on to motorbikes. But I thought I would try something new and went for a hardtail. It was an amazing choice; over the past year I have learned so much more about MTBs than I even thought and I'm still learning more each day. Now I’m at my end goal bike on the Ribble HT Ti.

Any plans for rides later this year? I had a lot of plans this year and a few have fallen through due to Covid-19. I wish everyone well in these times. From April I had planned to go to Leeds Bike Park to meet a buddy I’ve connected with through riding a previous bike. A couple of local lads wanted to plan a weekend away for my birthday this month to Innerleithen at the Scottish borders. So, plans have been cancelled for the time being. I will get out, but for now, we’re playing it low key until everything is safe to do so.

Where is your favourite place to ride I live in the UK, Newcastle/Gateshead. The weather isn’t always the best but I love riding my local which would be Chopwell Woods. It has a range of things such as jumps, smooth, sharp berms to challenging tech. I love this place for the simple fact I have learned a lot more of my abilities on the MTB than I have on the BMX. Being able to ride all these things in such a small area is amazing. 

As a jumper-obsessed rider, where is your dream place to ride? My dream place to ride, it has to be Whistler Bike Park. Seeing Blake Samson send that place on a hardtail just makes it happen for me. 

Why Ribble? Where do I even start on this one? I followed the Ribble HT line from launch and I instantly fell in love with the whole design. I wasn't able to fund the build due to already owning another MTB. So,, I decided to wait it out for another year and a good waiting choice it was. I just saw the Ribble HT Ti and it just ticked every box for me. It was time to purchase.

That elegant flow from the top tube all the way back to the chainstay is amazing. With a lovely curved end to the through-axle mount, you do not see that on many bikes. You cannot forget their own little artwork, the rear-mounted R & the nice Ribble logo across the back of the chainring.

It's the perfect straight flow that makes the bike for me. 90% of bike brands have to make their chainstays slightly off which for me makes me look twice to think, do I like this bike? Not with the Ribble Ti HT, I find myself just smugly smirking every time I see it because it’s simply perfect. 

I bought the HT Ti not only for its amazing product price/quality & options to upgrade within their own menus – (not many websites have these selections if any). But for the fact, I want to make this my long-term bike. Having a goosed hand due to a motorbike crash meant going Ti for the weight & strength made a lot of sense to me. I bought the HT Ti – Enthusiast, which comes with the GX Eagle spec & RaceFace finishing kit. I had begun upgrading the bike before it was even in my possession. 
Upgrades I will add are as follows:
Hope AM 35
Spank Vibrocore 35
RevGrip grips
Magura MT7 Pro 203mm/180mm + New Loïc Bruni levers
X01 32T chainring
XX1 Rainbow SRAM Chain
Reverb AXS Dropper post
X01 AXS shifting upgrade kit

As you can see I have already put a lot of my money into this bike because I know it's well worth it. One thing I would consider is brakes, although they allow for a 180mm rear the PM is inside the chainstay which doesn’t allow a lot of room for some bigger beefy calipers that the market is producing. To finish the bike off I will be upgrading the cranks to some Cane Creek EE Wings.

So this really is going to be a dream build for you. What has it meant being able to ride this bike and build it up yourself? The pleasure of being able to get in a position to buying and owning your dream hardtail is amazing. Being able to ride a bike that you’re used to from older geo bikes, the short chainstay still makes the hardtail a very playful bike. Getting your smiles for £££ every time without fail. Every time I pull the Ribble out I know it’s my time to play. The Ti frame allows most of what I am able to do a lot easier with a plusher ride than ever before. It truly does take the sting out of a lot of bumps that I would normally clench my hands to the bars for.

**What opportunities has having a bike like this opened up for you?
**The Ribble Ti has opened up the opportunity to be able to ride to the max potential I used to be able to. Along with the bars & grip combination, my hand can do a lot more throughout a long day instead of a couple hours. I have never been this happy with a bike since finding my end goal BMX, which again was MANY years ago. To be back into that happy period is the best feeling ever between humans & bikes.

Follow Jamie's adventures on Instagram at @jamiebonemtb.

What is Shimano GRX and what does it offer. Read our in-depth guide here.