Ridley Oval

Seen a ridley oval for sale for £350 in london, just wondered if it's worth buying as i can't find much info on the forum, thanks.

complete bike or frame?

They are very nice in my opinion.

it's a complete bike and appears to be in very good condition, the guy selling it has only used it at the velodrome but i would like it for street use.

For £350 then I would say yes.

When I used to race there were a few around and as I said, very nice. From memory the fork isn't drilled if that is an issue to you. I'm pretty sure that the frame alone retailed for considerably more than that though and I'd say it was a bit of a bargain at that price.

Thanks Lee.

not sure if the Oval frame went downmarket though?

I remember the frameset costing £400+ but when googling can see a complete Oval for £599 so they may have cheapened the frameset recently?

Yeah, i saw that,it is for sale on ebay. Seems like the guy thats selling the one i saw is reluctant to sell it for road use,he said it would be suicidal to ride it on the road. Is he exagerating or not?

I think there is a sense of the drama queen in saying it is suicidal. It is just not best suited to road use in the same way any proper track bike isn't.
Some feel more suited than others and the only way to find out is to ride them. I had a Colnago Dream Plus Pista a couple of years back and it was the worst track bike I have ridden on the road, it just didn't feel good at all (nervous and skippy feeling). Where as others have felt fine.

Lots of track bikes are ridden on the road. If its too severe (HTFU) then slip a flip-lop hub and then you've at least got options.
Oh, and you'll need brakes if a freewheel cog is used; but I know you knew that.

Thanks guys, i know i would need brakes if using a flip-flop but i would like to try using it fixed. I think i would still like to fit a front brake just to be on the safe side but i think i will leave this one and go for something else,maybe a track comp(i can't help it,i just think track bikes look great)

I am interested in the bike but cannot find any discussions of the frame. There is only a short review and a talk about geometry-issues on the internet.

Folks, help me. Is this frame worth buying? How does it handle compared to other track frames? And how is the building quality considering some street abuse?

used by track riders, cheap, tight, stiff and currently for sale on crc

Cheap considering its build quality/look?

does it come with a drilled fork?

forks are not drilled and cheap regarding the price (350€ for f/f)

How about its durability? Will it stand some street abuse or is it meant to be on a track?

i ride one on the streets..no problems with it yet.

what makes you think street riding is going be any more demanding than track racing / crashing / storage shed?!

I remember reading alumining denting faster and not been as forgiving as steel when jumping curbs etc.

i didn't had problems with steel, alu or carbon

Does anyone know what the difference is between the ridley oval 907c / 7d4 / 7d6.1? Is is just the colour ways or are there different geos because i've seen some that look more slack than others

i asked myself the same question last week but couldn't find any info. as the geometry table seems the same i thought it's only the color. maybe someone should send an email to crc and ask them

Just colour x

helped a mate build this up on saturday, seems like a nice frameset. (yes its abit big for him)