Ridley X-Night Disc Rival 1 (video)

Promotional feature with Ridley bikes

Belgium is the cockpit of cyclocross, with professional races both midweek and at the weekend during the season attracting loud and ebullient support from its cross-mad population. And there’s no cyclocross brand more Belgian than Ridley.

With four different cross bike ranges in its line-up, there’s a huge selection of machines to choose from, all bearing Ridley’s “Done in 60 Minutes” motto.

Ridley backs up its racing credentials by supplying its cyclocross bikes to the Belgian Marlux-Napoleon Games men’s pro team, its under-23 feeder team and the Dutch WM3 women’s pro team.

The carbon framed X-Night range is made from a mix of high-modulus and high-resistance 24-tonne unidirectional fibres for a stiff but compliant ride. It’s a classic cross frame with a horizontal top tube for easy carrying and shares its features with the even lighter pro-level X-Night SL.

The geometry is designed to suit competent racers, with quite a short wheelbase and steep head tube for aggressive, edgy handling, while the short bottom bracket drop gives plenty of clearance in loose or muddy conditions.

Like most modern cyclocross bikes, the X-Night range is predominantly equipped with disc brakes. But Ridley still offers two rim braked X-Night models for those who like the ‘excitement’ provided by the traditional cantilever brakes.

The single-ring X-Night Disc Rival 1 is top of the X-Night range and an exception too, as the other X-Night bikes have the 46/36 double chainrings traditionally used for cross. With its 42-tooth chainring and 11-32 cassette, the Rival 1 bike is geared to excel on fast, technical courses.

Ridley specs other quality components, like the Fulcrum Racing Sport wheelset shod with mixed-condition Clement MXP 33mm tubeless tyres – an update on the classic Grifo tread profile. Saddle, carbon seatpost, bar and stem come from Ridley’s in-house 4ZA brand.