currently ride a small cotic soul with u turn maxle lite revs, and a cube ams 4 inch full susser. tempted to change the soul to something a little slacker and better able to handle the 140mm forks as i ride the soul mainly around 110-120. like the look of the blue pig but no the weight so just wondering if anyone has ridden the mmbop and how comfortable it is

As far as I'm aware the first one only arrived last week so I reckon no-one wil have ridden it except Brant and Guy Kesteven. The Blue pig rocks though. HTH

I have been riding the pre production prototype for the last couple of months. It has taken a temporary slot from where my DMR ex(alt) sits, alongside my Orange Patriot

I really like it, much lighter my DMR and feels really nimble. Im used to riding heavy bikes and it’s a pleasant change to have something lighter. I have thrown it down everything that my DMR has been down (including the steep steps it gets its name from) and it has inspired confidence. The steeper seat angle and the lower weight definitely help my legs climb for longer and faster whilst keeping the front end on the trail. Regarding comfort, that’s a hard one for me to judge, its pretty stiff at the back but I would say the ride is no harsher than the (steel) DMR, but as you would expect from an alli frame there isn’t much give.

I hadnt realised how much I enjoyed having the frame until Brant told me he may need it back for the headset last weekend, I had a sudden feeling of impending loss. The frame I have been riding is a pre production (for visual approval only) prototype, the rear dropouts are machined wrong so the wheel alignment is way out. This obviously wont be a feature of the production model ? and I only mention it because I really think that for me and the type of riding I do that the mmmbop would really benefit from some 2.5 tyres. So with the fact that Brant could want this back at anytime and that I really want to try it with some bigger tyres I have pretty much decided to sell the DMR and save my pocket money for my own mmmbop. Out of the 3 Ragleys I think it offers great value… weight of the Ti…Price of the Blue pig. It could end up being the volume seller IMHO.

I hope that helps but if you want to know anything else let me know and I will try and answer.

Jim

hat forks did you run on it. In terms of comfrot what length of rides did yo do on it in terms of hours? could you see it as a full sat 5 or 6 hour bike, for the lakes?

cheers for all the info so far

that was going to my question too….

how comfy on long rides is it? do you feel beat up?

i'm thinking of a blue pig but put off by the weight of the frame. i'd like to stick a well built (heavier) wheel on the back to allow for big hits.

is the geometry the same as the blue pig?

Geometry is all the same i think. The Blue Pig is surely not too heavy for a steel frame, 5.5lbs or something? About right if you want to give it some stick.

The main thing that puts me off is the stupidly slack head angle, but i guess thats the whole point of them.

Im writing this on my phone so i apologise for any typo's in advance.
Initially i took everything from my dmr to build the bike, so it had some 05 66's set to 150mm a slightly ridiculous fork option for most riding i admit, but i ride for the downs its just what i like, particularly the steep, rocky, stepy, tight switch backed rides around hebden bridge. My other bike is a patriot so having a hardtail for me i guess is a lighter, different handling option for riding the stuff i love.
The longest I have rode it for would be about 4 hours. And half of that with my arse touching the back tyre, so i dont really feel qualified to comment on how comfy a 6 hour ride in the saddle would be. All i can say is on the longer rides that i have done it hasn't left me feeling any different to how my dmr does.

I dont quite get the stupidly slack head angle comment. Stupidly slack compared to what? To me its the selling point. Im fairly convinced that head angle is the single most important factor in a bike design that will help a rider descend steep trails with confidence, coupled with correctly spec'd and set up forks. What brant has done with these bikes is design a frame that excels at this but is still more than capable of riding happily up hill. My dmr is a pig going up. The weight and the battle of keeping the front end down on steep climbs is a killer and it is here where the biggest difference to the dmr lies. Both awsome going down and having a hoot on, but the ragley climbs better.

Having rode the bike for a while and admitting to myself that the weight saving helps, i have decided to try some much lighter forks. Some 140 rev's they have totally transformed the bike, its now the lightest thing i have rode in a few years, climbing is a joy, and i can imagine long epic days are going to be more likely with this set up. However some of the sure footed confidence from having a really long big fork has gone, i know the bike is capable but at the moment my brain sometimes says no.
I think if i had the money the perfect set up for the riding i do would be with either fox 36's or lyric's
But it all depends what and where you ride. The 140 fork set up feels positively xc to me but to any xc rider its going to feel like a mini downhill bike. All in all it shows the mmmbop to be a pretty versatile option dependent on the set up.

The main thing that puts me off is the stupidly slack head angle, but i guess thats the whole point of them.

i already have an Alpine. the head angle on the Pig is even slacker! think both frames weighs in the same; the Alpine is built up to 14.4kg (sturdy wheels, fat tyres & lyrik.) i can cope with the weight but wouldn't mind it being a bit lighter…..

want a longer top tube for techy riding, not so jumpy.

In regards to the head angle, stupidly steep compared to other hardtail bikes I'd consider buying.

My Alpine is slack but its not as slack as that by any means. It looks rediculous in the pics

is the head angle differant to the blue pig.
it was not a problem ona long ride yesterday.
ace on the climbs and downs.
now who has them in stock, cos i think i am gonna try one.

Just thought I probably should of mentioned that the 140 rev's are the qr versions. So in addition to the shorter fork, less travel, air instead of coil, they will be also be flexing more. I do need to play with the set up a bit, i think they could do being a bit stiffer, as i seem to be getting through all the travel a bit too quick. . . . Im a bit of a chuffer 🙂

Feedback in relation to the slack head angle if anyone's interested, am running a ti ragley but geometry's the same.

I was also concerned that the head angle may be too slack, was a really close call between the that and a 456 but am so glad i chose the Ragley. 10 weeks in now and i really can't rave enough about it, easily by a distance the best bike i've ever ridden. I'm running pikes and it is absolutely awesome both up and down hill, i'm clearing stuff both ways that i've never had the confidence for before, the bike just makes it so easy. Really don't be put off by the head angle as the length of the top tube and steepness of the seattube mean that the front is completely planted when you're in the saddle and when you're out of the saddle the slackness means that you can get over the front for grip without it feeling scary. I've listed my previous bikes before but will again because i think that bike history shows what a bit of context to what type of rider you are and i can honestly say that none of these other bikes comes anywhere near to the Ragley, either up hill or down (except for the sx but that was purely down)

Specialized sx 2003
Orange sub 5 2002
specialized stumpjumper 2006
Azonic samurai 2005
Commencal Meta5 2008
Trex fuel EX8 2009
Inbred
Scandal
Inbred ti 29er

One last thing, the blue pig does feel heavy to me, the two i've picked up with sensible bits were comfortably over 30lb i reckon. Think the weight difference could sway to a mmbop out of the two.

Stupidly steep or stupidly slack? Your loosing me. Look it all depends what and where you ride. But as other people are already saying on this thread there is no denying that a slack head angle helps when going down the steep stuff.
What is certainly totally un important is how it looks in a picture.

Ton. . . Your like a one man support to the bike industry, wish i had the funds to get through bikes like you can 🙂 wheels are still going strong btw, infact they currenty feature on the mmmbop 🙂

Pritcsa i meant to ask what forks you are running on the Ti? Glad your enjoying it, if money was no object it would be my prefered choice.

jimleach

just had a visit from a man bearing gifts……..
a nice blue one…….buildtime this weekend……… 8)

Whats the build going to be ton?