Mods: OnOne carbon fork, Hope Crest wheels, tubless 2.35 Racing Ralph & 2.2 Ikon, 55mm stem, 780mm bars, SLX 10 speed shifter, brakes, clutch mech, OneUp 42t with 16t on SLX cassette with Radr cage, RS Reverb, Bonty carbon railed saddle of some type or other, Answer flats, ESI grips. Think that’s it. 😉
A quick snapshot of my 2014 Pinnacle Ramin One in blue. Current add ons include XT chain, cassette, shifter and derailleur, Syncross saddle, bar and stem and Ergon grips.
It’s about to be fitted with a Fox Float and an Easton tubeless wheelset, so here is a shot for posterity.
First time poster, but this thread convinced me to get the ramin one, and I felt I had to pass on some appreciation!
Great bike, I love the simplicity of 1×9, i’ve not missed the granny gear at all. I miss the big gear about 2% of the time when blasting down a hill on tarmac – a fair trade imo. Not having to worry about cross-chaining or deciding which is the best way to get to a ratio means you can concentrate on having fun, don’t think i’ll ever go back to 2x or 3x setups unless I start “proper” mountain biking and seem to need it to get up the steep bits.
Rigid works great for me, although I don’t generally tackle really rough stuff. The tyres are suspension enough for me and compared to the ramin 4 (which i also test rode) there just seems to be a more direct feel to the bike on the ramin one, even when you lock out the fork on the 4. The tyres roll surprisingly well on tarmac at higher pressures, which probably compromises them on a wet trail, but for me they are the perfect compromise as I do 50% of my riding on tarmac/hard surfaces.
Altus gears shift smoothly, maybe this ‘low end’ stuff wouldn’t shift so well on a 2x or 3x setup (i don’t know) but i’ve no complaints at all. Brakes stop very well, again, maybe I would be blown away by XT brakes (never tried them), but i’m very happy with the stopping power.
Only “mods” i’ve done to this bike are ripping all the reflectors off and putting on a gel seat cover (pansy). A lot of you guys are saying this bike is a great base for upgrades, but for my uses, it’s staying stock! I paid £450 for this bike and with pruhealth insurance I get half of that back too, so for £225 i’m absolutely delighted with it. Thanks to the thread contributors for convincing me.
Thank you lazyrider – I have pru life insurance, and did not realise the cashback offers at Evans. I was just lining up cycle to work – but that is much better and simpler. I just saved £300 it looks like. 8)
Hmmm. Always liked the look of these. Look great in those shots, lazyrider.
I’ve been thinking about putting rigid forks on my Inbred for some time, but am wondering if I’d be better just selling it and buying one of these in it’s place.
Thanks guys for the compliments on the photos! I’m sort of a photo geek. This was taken with a Fuji X-E1 with the 60mm f2.4 lens – DSLR quality in a smaller size, albeit with a ‘point and shoot’ slower focusing system.
Yes Matt, the pru health is pretty good for discounts on a few things, it’s worth going through the site to see what you can actually get. In the case of Evans you get 50% of the first £500 of a bike if you are new or “bronze” on their site, and then up to 50% on bikes up to £1000 if you are “platinum” – looks pretty hard work to get to platinum though! Be sure you are entitled to the discount first, but you will get at least £250 back if you are. You get the cashback in 4 instalments over 12 months though, just to make sure you don’t cut and run!
I’d recommend to anyone to at least test ride a ramin one if it looks like something you might like, to say i’m chuffed with it is an understatement!
I’m a middle aged born-again mountain biker who now rides a Ramin 1. My initial impression of riding a 29er was that you feel perched up high in comparison to a my old 26″ wheeled bike. Once you get used to this riding position it’s great. Feels like riding a high speed steam roller. I love it !
Will be keeping this do it all bike for along time.
Just got my Ramin One back from the shop. The tubeless wheelset and big 2.4 tyres make this an absolute tractor. Nimble and fast, but still a tractor. I absolutely love it!
Riding rigid was fun, but my fiends, who are much better riders, were leaving me in the dust. I’m hoping the fork will save me some energy.
Let us know how the upgrades work out! How much of a difference did you notice when you upgraded the drive train stuff to XT by the way? Still running standard brakes?
Will you be selling any of these as frames only? Had some six months back for stupid price. See you have the red and black but it frame and forks im after really.
Then its a toss up for this or wait for the 650b+ you showed last week!
Coomber, the frames we have now are the warranty back-up frames. We end up selling them off cheap which I think is a good sign. The Ramin 1 SS / 29 / B+ will be available as a frame and fork option but not sure when it’ll arrive – not too far out but it’s not in production just yet.
Clink – none left sorry, all gone online and I guess there will be a minimal cover for warranty stock until new frames arrive.
2 months late, but was there a reason for the reduction? Looking at one of these now, and the only thing stopping me from pulling the trigger is the fact it was £75 cheaper recently, and may well drop again with the 2016 bikes coming out 😐
Hmmm…if the 2016 model isn’t going to shove the price down anytime soon. Will hold steady and see if any other random discounts will appear, like they did in July.
avdave2, it is SS-able via an EBB, would need to check the dropout compatibility with a hoff adapter though.
cokie, it’s due early in the new yr, will confirm soon. Looking promising on VFM vs the rest. Proper WTB rims and tyres, all Shimano, etc.
You tease! I’m still pumped from a fantastic session at Cannock at the weekend on my Triggers Broom of a Ramin 4 (Reba RL, SLXed etc) and the bike you describe sounds right up my street….
The Ramin is a fantastic bike but employing the N+1 philosophy, I’m obliged to get yet another wheel size to complicate things…..