Take a first glance at Ribble's Endurance 725 'Base' model, and straight away something looks different. Eventually, it becomes obvious – this is a rim brake bike, no discs. That's not to say this isn't a good looking machine though – it certainly is, sharing plenty of attributes with its disc-brake equivalent, which made our list of the best steel bikes.
It's part of a four-bike Endurance 725 range, all featuring Reynolds steel tubing and yes, all featuring rim brakes. With a 10-speed Tiagra, the Base is the lowest rung bike, with the top-specced machine, the Pro, featuring Ultegra Di2 and carbon wheels.
