£4,400 What goes up (well) must come down (badly) Weight 8.12kg (M) Frame Helium Disc, 24-30T HM UD Carbon Fork Helium Disc, 24-30T HM UD Carbon Gears SRAM Rival eTap AXS 12-speed (48/35t, 10-36t) Brakes SRAM Rival eTap AXS Wheels Forze Norte db Finishing kit Dead Superbox stem, Deda Zero 2 handlebar, Forza Cirrus seatpost, Selle Italia XR saddle
THE HELIUM FALLS UNDER THE
‘Essential Series’ moniker, which Ridley claims has the same stiffness and ride quality characteristics as the top-flight SLX but constructed from a more cost-effective grade of carbon fibre. Ridley’s bike sizes run large, so you might want to go one higher than normal, and rather than offering women-specific bikes, Ridley offers custom bike fitting and builds for women. It’s great going up, less so going down, and design and spec choices are a little outdated.
Old-school geometry
The oval tubes aim to balance stiffness, comfort and weight, and comprise 24-30T high-modulus unidirectional Toray carbon (825g frame) compared to the lighter 50-60T for the SLX (780g). The fork’s a claimed 355g.
The carbon fork features the brand’s F-steerer, which is actually D-shaped so cables and hoses can run in front of it, while there’s clearance for up to 28mm tyres, which is narrow by current standards. Pleasingly, it uses a 27.2mm seatpost with a traditional clamp, meaning you don’t have to fiddle around with an internal wedge clamp.
The Helium’s geometry is old-school racer, the frame featuring a 73.5-degree head-tube and 73-degree seat-tube angle. The reach on a size medium is 390mm, with the stack higher than its competitors at 565mm, while the chainstays are notably short at 405mm.
Ridley’s own-brand Forza covers handlebar and stem duties, which hides the hydraulic hoses and uses round headset spacers. This means you can’t adjust the handlebar height or run a different stem length without undoing the hydraulic hoses. Fortunately, unlike our test bike, production models instead use Deda’s Superbox system, which uses split headset spacers – a simpler system if you want to make an adjustment. It’s built with SRAM Rival eTap AXS, while Ridley specs Forza Norte alu rims on Forza Beaufort DB hubs that feature a 20mm internal rim width, 23mm depth and weigh 1,664g (front 785g and rear 879g). They’re paired with Vittoria Rubino Pro G2.0 tyres in a 25mm width.
Firm but not harsh
Despite the less exotic carbon lay-up, it feels taut and efficient; in fact, while not harsh, it’s certainly on the firmer side. It’s not the quickest to accelerate but holds its momentum reasonably once up to speed.
