99.9% certain they’re all open mold models.
It’s finding which is what exactly.
Exocet 3- biggest problem is the lack of adjustability at the front end. No one seems to find longer stems if needed and spare are also a problem, as even here in Planet X land, they weren’t a good seller.
Aerodynamics by plug and guess I think.

Pdq v8 is among other things a stevens, a vitus, and I’ve also seen it as an Exocet team or something. Probably the most readily available under other names. Google avenger and I think this is what it is. Seems to be okay and Ryan Mullen rode one at the worlds a few years ago.

Ribble- not sure what’s under its paint.

Brakes are normally a very weak point on any of the open mold stuff with poor routing and performance. Replacement seat posts seem to be rather hard to find for all of them.

Having had an Exocet 2, ride quality is “boardlike” compared to the bigger brand stuff

I explored some of these options while helping a friend build up a tt bike. ...we ended up going with an older Cervelo P3 frame (for far cheaper than any of these frames) and I think that was a good call.

The PDQ 'V8' is an open mould of the FM-TT01 frame. The brakes on this frame (the mini v-brake) are problematic and finicky (just ask anyone with a giant propel).

The Exocet 3 was some version of an open mould frame, but I think Planet X bought some exclusive rights to the frame and haven't seen an open mould of it in years. ***IIRC*** it had tight chainstay/tire clearance and was designed around a max 23mm tire (I could be mistaken on this).

I haven't paid too much attention to the Ribble TTR. While its got some neat features (the aero brakes, integrated storage), I can't get over the look of the bike.

Kinda what I was getting at is the open mold part.

The Ribble TTR is what the British TT champion used. It's out of stock currently.

I know each of those has been piloted to some impressive results in Britain. I just don't know if their frequent good results is more of a "cheap, more often bought" and by chance being decent enough in a strong rider's garage that it can win...........or......not.

I pretty much already run an "Exocet" or "PDQ" cockpit from the previous generation on my TT bike. The open mold base bar and risers with Aerocoach extensions and carbon pads on it.

Just kicking tires and curious. Also before everyone goes disc brake crazy for good maybe change out framesets with something I can use for a handful of years.

I suspect your view of performances and results is skewed quite a bit compared to what is happening on the ground.

Weldtite/ Ribble are probably the biggest domestic pro team here, and having a world pro level rider in John Archibald, and at a “lower” domestic level Si Wilson makes it look like they Hoover everything up, in a mostly amateur field.

They’re also spent a lot of time in the wind tunnel and bikes optimised by Dan Bigham , the bikes are possibly as good as they get for what they are, but it’s not the vehicle that’s doing the winning.
Look at the more domestic level winners and it’s a glut of p3c’s and p4s with a few trinity and plasmas thrown in there.
Rest of the pack can and is anything.

Don’t know anyone who’s won anything other than a club 10 on an e3

The ribble is also rebranded open mould, marketed by "Edge" mainly.

I have nothing against open moulds, they can be good and let's face it they are often made in same factories as big brands. What I do take issue with is when the companies rebranding them make claims they have designed them with CFD etc., rather than looked through a wholesale catalogue.

Yes, that's what I was figuring. So wanted to ask. Thanks for the response.

I'm getting down to some picky details now in my TT setup. A lot of the easier gains have been "hoovered up" already. My last real venture is I have 3 different skinsuits in hand to pair up with my helmet that won out in my little tests. After that.........we're into the more expensive stuff like a frameset or silly derailleur pulleys for $250 and the such.

I mean, I've even custom DIY drilled my own Giro SLX for the last few mm of stack on my Speedplays.

I left the frameset to last because I'm attached to it, and not convinced it is a major gain of any kind given the possible pain to swap everything over and get it riding close to the same.

But, at my power outputs.......2w out of 300w output is still meaningful.

Open mold frames get zero consideration from me...

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Eric Reid AeroFit | Instagram Portfolio
Aerodynamic Retul Bike Fitting

“You are experiencing the criminal coverup of a foreign backed fascist hostile takeover of a mafia shakedown of an authoritarian religious slow motion coup. Persuade people to vote for Democracy.”

Sounds like a blind spot honestly

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Yes, that's why I posted.

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Eric Reid AeroFit | Instagram Portfolio
Aerodynamic Retul Bike Fitting

“You are experiencing the criminal coverup of a foreign backed fascist hostile takeover of a mafia shakedown of an authoritarian religious slow motion coup. Persuade people to vote for Democracy.”

I'm not in a position to be able to be snooty about my choices. From a cost perspective.

So could care less if it is "open mold" or not.

I understand that the point of developing something is to optimize it. At the same time, what if we miss something simply because we've overlooked it because it wasn't developed like a Bolide or most recent P-frame or something else?

So, while I understand the origin of the sentiment.........it is definitely a blind spot.

While I get that a ton of British TT racers use those due to cost...........that also should mean there is a lot of experiences with them and also subsequently floating around somewhere............data.

......which (if I recall correctly) was what Ribble claimed.

https://www.ribblecycles.co.uk/ribble-ultra-tt-research-development/

The key being, they may have validated its ability, they certainly didn't design it. That's no surprise though as they pulled the same stunt with the Exocet:

https://www.planetx.co.uk/news/products/q/date/2016/06/27/exo3-the-rules-of-engagement-have-changed


Their 'head of design' professional training background was not in product design, nor in engineering so I'd be very hesitant about swallowing this kind of window dressing.

If I would not have purchased the Premier Tactical 2.0 I would have went with the Ribble TTR. Open mold is perfectly acceptable.

I look at TT bike design in much the same way I look at F1 car design. You have a team/company that develops something amazing then all of the other teams/companies take a look at what they are doing and try to catch up using similar ideas. I will use Mercedes and Racing Point (Pink Mercedes as we call them) for an example. Racing Point was a back of the middle of the pack team in 2019. For 2020, they undertook a redesign that basically made it very close to the 2019 Mercedes F1 car (which has been the world champion car for the last 7 years.). Racing Point is now a top 3 team and even won the last race in Sakhir! They just used the influence of the deep pocket teams to redesign their vehicle.

Additionally, like many bike brands, they use the same engine/drivetrain as Mercedes. I equate this to using the same bottom bracket/shimano group set/etc. The frame from a company like Ribble simply works with the other parts that the higher priced, bigger name, bikes use.

Additionally, the Ribble is a great looking bike and you are able to customize the paint a decals.

Buy what you want with confidence. Thousands of others have.

Having owned a few open mold frames in the past, (and all the ones you listed are more... gray mold as they're not just purchases off alibaba/etc but from actual companies) the question is really of development (are they fast?) and reliability (are they going to implode under you, i joke... or more realistically are the holes drilled correctly, everything lined up, etc)

Specific data on any of them is sparse, of the three you listed, the safest bet is no doubt the Ribble in one of it's forms/names. The biggest "win" for it imo is that Archibald used it at Yorkshire. Yes, sponsored bike, but worlds is the kind of place if it was a dog and they knew it that he'd have shown up on an unbranded bike.

Realistically, if the superbike shootout a few years ago taught us anything, it's that, most likely, the frames are just "good" but probably not the absolutely bleeding end of the spear.

As for reliability, as all of them are from "real" companies you have some realistic recourse if something isn't correct. (You also do from the big stores on alibaba/express as well... Those big stores on those sites live/die off of feedback, and customer service is a part of that. Now... you might have to ship a part back to mainland China, which can make it unfeasible from a cost perspective, but in general it's only the times people try to buy the absolute cheapest deal from a 10 feedback seller that you run a real gamble... much like ebay) ime at least.

ymmv of course

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Oddly enough, in the performance car market you get some of this sentiment to. So, I'm not really offended.

I'd just rather not turn the topic into a piss and moan about "napkin math and make it in China". I could rebut that with "name brands throwing golf ball dimples on stuff".

I could care less if someone would rather me buy a brand new Cervelo at a local bike shop or something they recommend...........as that ain't happening on my budget.

Basically, if something has a few inches of less exposed cable.......less exposed brake........can fit a slightly bigger front ring without rubbing my chainstay or screwing with my chainline......has a little more modern tube shape that's good at low and modest yaw................that's all.

Also, I'm starting to run into replacement part issues. I'd be left trying to make a seatpost clamp if this one goes. Which would make me royally pissed.

1) I'd argue such claims were borderline fraudulent, not marketing.

2) I have no problem with open mould parts. I've owned and raced more than a few of these frames but I recommend sticking to certain factories/companies and would say you need to check what you get carefully as tolerances can occasionally wander.

3) That happened to me to one frame I used as a training TT bike (a seatpost thread insert let go). Mind you, it was ridiculously cheap and I got 4 happy years out of it training in all weathers so I wasn't that unhappy about it. It was good value.

I've got a Ribble Ultra Tri (same as the TTR, except the front fork is different and it has integrated draft box, top tube box and front hydration). The Ultra Tri fork is supposedly more aero (I watched a Dan Bigham video about how he uses that fork for CTT events as it doesn't need to be UCI legal).

George Goodwin rode one (as well as Adam Bowden) at Daytona this weekend.

I bought mine at the end of last year, as a frameset, and I've built it up. Reason I bought it is the price and the adjustability. The stock pads aren't hugely supporting but theres lots of fore/aft and side to side adjustment. It comes with a huge stack of spacers for lots of up and down adjustability.

Not had a chance to race on it yet but I've done a couple of sessions round the velodrome, but mostly turbo use.

I've swapped the stock poles and cups for a USE/Wattshop combo (same as the Ribble team a couple of years ago). Pic attached is half way through my fitting :)

As I understand it, the frame is open mould and most of their CFD work went into the forks. Being open mould doesn't bother me, getting a comfortable aero position is much more important imo (that's not to say I won't treat myself to a nice Canyon at some point in the future ;) )

Let me know if you have any questions and I'll do my best to answer

George Goodwin the 3rd place male at Daytona was on the Ribble. Lat year he won 70.3 races on a Planet X. On both position and equipment is dialed in.

The Ribble as has already been said winning medal across all Brit National TT champs. So it's not slow as all the big guns in this events are dialed in and fast as ...

If it is an open mold as suggested, then it show that position and equipment on the bike are maybe more important than the frame.

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