The Meinl HCS 20-inch Ride is the brass option here, aimed at drummers who want a real dedicated ride without spending B20 money.
Best Ride Cymbals: Stick Definition, Bell and Size Compared
The ride that came in your first cymbal pack usually pulls double duty. It’s the crash when you hit it wide open, and it’s the ride when you settle into a time pattern. The problem is that both jobs lose something in the middle. Play steady eighth notes on a pack ride and the ping can disappear under a wash that builds faster than you want, especially in a small room. A dedicated ride cymbal exists to keep each stroke distinct, with a bell you can actually use for accents.
If you’re replacing that first ride or adding a real one to your kit, 20 inches is the common starting size. But the weight and the bell matter as much as the metal. Two 20-inch rides can sound completely different: one dry and crisp, the other washy and dark, depending on how they’re hammered, lathed, and finished.
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The four rides at a glance
Listen for the ping.
Then pick the ride.
Four rides across the alloy ladder. Weight and bell change a ride as much as the metal does.
The Paiste PST 7 20-inch Ride moves up to CuSn8 bronze, the same alloy family Paiste uses in its 2002 line and often called B8 bronze.
The Zildjian A Custom 20-inch Medium Ride is the bright, cutting choice.
The Sabian AAX 21-inch Raw Bell Dry Ride is the outlier in a few useful ways.
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| Ride | Alloy | Size | Weight | Bell | Finish | Maker’s sound words |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Meinl HCS 20-inch Ride | MS63 brass | 20” | Medium | Standard | Traditional | “Clean, warm sound, with a defined ping and nice bell” |
| Paiste PST 7 20-inch Ride | CuSn8 bronze (B8) | 20” | Medium | Standard | Traditional lathed | “Defined, slightly silvery ping over a clean wash” |
| Zildjian A Custom 20-inch Medium Ride | A Custom alloy | 20” | Medium | Standard | Brilliant | “Bright, glassy-sounding ride with clear and crisp stick definition” |
| Sabian AAX 21-inch Raw Bell Dry Ride | B20 bronze | 21” | Medium-heavy | Raw (unlathed) | Natural | “Bright, crystal clear sticking at all volumes” |
Meinl HCS 20-inch Ride: a brass first ride
The Meinl HCS 20-inch Ride is the brass option here, aimed at drummers who want a real dedicated ride without spending B20 money. The alloy is MS63 brass, which sits at the entry level of cymbal metals. Meinl describes the line as medium weight with a mid-bright sound and medium-to-low volume, and this 20-inch model gets a clean, warm sound with a defined ping and a nice bell.
What you’re getting at the lower price is a ride that behaves predictably. The medium weight and traditional finish keep it in the middle of the road. The tradeoff is the material tier: brass is where makers place their entry lines, below the bronze rides here. Meinl’s product page calls it good for all situations, which is a fair way to say it’s versatile rather than specialized.
Pick this one if the pack cymbal you’re replacing is thin and washy, or if you’re building a home practice and recording setup where too much wash is the problem. It’s the most affordable ride in this comparison.
Paiste PST 7 20-inch Ride: B8 with a clear bell
The Paiste PST 7 20-inch Ride moves up to CuSn8 bronze, the same alloy family Paiste uses in its 2002 line and often called B8 bronze. The Swiss-lathed surface gives it a consistent, finished feel. Paiste describes the sound in terms that matter for a ride: a defined, slightly silvery ping over a clean wash, with an even and well-controllable feel. The bell, Paiste says, is clear and strong.
The step up from the brass Meinl is the bronze alloy and Paiste’s description of a defined ping over a clean wash. The bell is the strong point here: clear and strong means you can cut through a band without laying into the cymbal. The medium weight keeps it from getting too washy.
Paiste calls it a very versatile ride for multiple applications, and it’s the middle tier here: bronze, without the cost of the two premium rides.
Zildjian A Custom 20-inch Medium Ride: bright and cutting
The Zildjian A Custom 20-inch Medium Ride is the bright, cutting choice. It carries a brilliant finish, polished to a mirror shine, which adds high-end shimmer. Zildjian describes it as a bright, glassy-sounding ride with clear and crisp stick definition and a clear bell. The product page also describes the weight as medium-thin, which Zildjian says allows for some wash.
That combination of a medium profile, a brilliant finish and some give at the edge lets this ride do two jobs at once. The stick ping stays crisp, but you can dig in and get a supportive wash when the song calls for it. The tradeoff is control: a brighter, more open ride can get away from you in a small, reflective room if you play with heavy sticks and lots of edge contact.
This is the pick when you need projection over distorted guitars but still want the stick pattern to speak. It sits at the top of this group on price, alongside the Sabian.
Sabian AAX 21-inch Raw Bell Dry Ride: an unlathed bell
The Sabian AAX 21-inch Raw Bell Dry Ride is the outlier in a few useful ways. It’s the only 21-inch cymbal here, the only medium-heavy ride, and the only one with a raw, unlathed bell. That bell detail matters more than it looks. A raw bell is left unlathed, so it keeps its unpolished surface. Sabian describes the AAX as bright with crystal clear sticking at all volumes, low to loud, and a solid bright punch when played on the raw bell.
The medium-heavy weight and B20 bronze make this the dryest, most controlled ride in the comparison. Dry means less wash: the sustain dies down quickly, so each stroke speaks and then gets out of the way. The raw bell produces a brighter, more aggressive accent than a lathed bell, which tends to blend more with the bow. The tradeoff is crashability. Heavy, dry rides don’t open up on the edge the way thinner rides do, so this is a cymbal for time-keeping and accents, not for riding the edge into a wall of wash.
Choose this one if you play fast, intricate patterns or loud music where definition is the priority. If your current ride turns to a roar during sixteenth notes, the extra weight and dry design are the features to look at.
Stick definition, wash and bell
Every ride is judged by two things at the same time: how clearly the stick tip speaks, and how much wash sits underneath it. Stick definition is the ping or tick you hear when the tip hits the bow, the main flat playing surface. Wash is the sustained shimmer that blooms after the stroke and hangs in the air.
A dry ride has strong stick definition and less wash; the strokes stay separate. A washy ride lets the strokes blur together, which sounds great for slow, open patterns but turns fast playing into an indistinct wall. In this group, the Sabian AAX sits at the dry end, while the Zildjian A Custom and Paiste PST 7 sit in the middle with some wash available when you want it.
The bell is the raised cup in the center. You ride on the bow for time patterns and move to the bell for accents and section changes. A lathed bell has a smoother surface and blends with the bow; a raw, unlathed bell like the one on the Sabian AAX keeps its hammered texture and cuts with a brighter, punchier accent. If you’ve never used the bell deliberately, the lathed bells on the Meinl, Paiste, and Zildjian here are easier to control. The raw bell rewards a player who wants that aggressive, separated accent.
Size and weight
20 inches is a common ride size and a sensible starting point for most kits. Moving up to 21 or 22 inches lowers the pitch and adds wash, which can sound fantastic for slow, open music but makes fast patterns harder to keep distinct. The Sabian AAX here is 21 inches, but its medium-heavy weight keeps it from getting washy.
Weight changes the character too. Heavier rides generally hold stick definition better and wash less. Lighter rides open up and wash faster, and they’re easier to crash. The three 20-inch rides in this comparison are all listed at medium weight, putting them in the versatile middle. The Sabian is medium-heavy, which tightens the sustain.
That’s also the answer to the crash question. You can crash any ride, but a heavy ride needs a hard edge hit to open up, and repeatedly hammering it that way is hard on the cymbal. A lighter, thinner ride crashes more readily. If you want one cymbal that does both jobs, look for a ride the maker describes as crashable, or pair a dedicated ride with a proper crash. The pack ride you’re replacing may be thin enough to crash, which is also why it can wash out when you ride on it.
Setting up and caring for a ride
The biggest setup mistake with a ride is angling it too steeply or too flat. Too steep, and the stick tip glances off instead of getting a clean ping. Too flat, and the bell is a stretch away. Aim for a slight tilt so your stick lands on the bow naturally and the bell is one small movement from there. A stable stand with a felt base and a wing nut that doesn’t walk loose holds that angle through a full set; see the best cymbal stands guide for options that stay put.
Your stick tip changes the ride sound almost as much as the alloy. Nylon tips produce a brighter, more prominent ping; wood tips sound rounder and warmer. If you want more presence from the Meinl HCS or another rounder-sounding ride, switching to nylon tips costs almost nothing. The drumstick guide covers tip material and size options.
Cleaning depends on the finish. A brilliant finish like the Zildjian A Custom shows fingerprints and oils quickly, so wipe it down more often with a cleaner rated for that surface. Traditional and natural finishes are more forgiving, though they still pick up stick dust. The cymbal cleaner guide explains what to use without damaging the finish.
When you transport a ride, a bag is cheap insurance against keyholing the mounting hole or bending the edge. The cymbal bag guide helps you size a bag for 20- and 21-inch rides. And if the real problem is volume rather than wash, a metal ride isn’t the fix. Low-volume cymbals give you a similar playing surface at much lower volume for practice.
Building the cymbal setup
A dedicated ride works best as part of a small setup, not a replacement for everything else. Pair it with a crash that opens quickly for accents; the crash cymbal guide is the companion to this one. Hats sit on the other side, so if that’s your next upgrade, see the hi-hat guide. If you’re still running a full starter pack and adding this ride, upgrading the whole pack may be the cleaner move; the budget cymbal pack guide walks through the sensible path.
How we chose
We compared four ride cymbals across the four metal tiers most drummers actually encounter: brass, B8 bronze, a bright mid-tier alloy, and B20 bronze. For each model, we checked the maker’s current product page for alloy, size, stated weight, bell type, finish, and the maker’s own sound description, noted bell details where the maker publishes them, then matched each product to its current Amazon listing to confirm the exact variant. We did this in November 2026.
This is not a hands-on listening review. We did not test these rides, so every sound description is attributed to the maker, not to our own playing session. We left prices out deliberately because they change faster than sound characteristics do, and they’re easy to check on the maker or listing pages when you’re ready to buy.