Anyone ridden both ?

Would you care to discuss their relative merits ?

The 456 got the 10/10.
Is the Ragley equally deserving ?

I'm often asked this. Not that you asked me, but…

The Ragley *didn't* get 10/10/10 when it was tested by What MTB.

I think it got a 9, or an 8.

It was BadlyWiredDog who best described the Ragley geometry for me –

"What's it like? A steamroller downhill making implacable progress with a funny mix of roll-over lateral stiffness and roll-round flexibility. Slack and solid and muscular. And a steamroller uphill, tolerating appalling line choices to clean the bulk of Middle Moor in reverse – no, I didn't get up the steps, but I will – and beguilingly accurate as in 'I'll just ride this narrow rut ridge because I can' sort of way.
And on the flat, a stroppy, surly, uninterested teenager moping along with its hands in its pockets and whining quietly to anyone who'll listen."

http://badlywiredblog.blogspot.com/2010/06/bike-building.html

Not sure you'll find many who have ridden both in Ti form. I have the Ti 456 and tested an mmmBop back-to-back with the 456. I was actually considering swapping to the Ragley, but ended up keeping the 456.

Why? Well as all the reviews say, the 456 is a stunning bike, esp in Ti form. Quick, agile, holds a line v well downhill, and the short front end means you get a load of weight over the front to carve into turns. Even with 150mm it climbs well too. It's a bike you can jump onto and immediately feel at home.
In comparison, the Ragley felt decidely "odd" to begin with, and whilst I suspect you'd get used to it over time, I didn't feel at home on it in the same way. I'd hoped the Ragley would have a bit more of a hooligan element to it than the 456, and whilst it did, I felt I lost some of the things I liked about the 456.
I've now got an Evil Sovereign alongside the 456 Ti – that does the hooligan thing to the nth degree, so now have both bases covered! Now if only someone would do one of them in Ti…..

cheers HeiHei,

Did the mmmbop feel longer to you ?

I am off to car park test ride a Ragley Ti this afternoon.
Will see if I can acquire it for the w/e as I reckon the car park may not quite do it justice.

Then there is the fact that CR are doing the mmmbop at £219.00 – a very attractive price.

Not necessarily longer – just "different". Difficult to describe, and as I say, I suspect you'd get used to it, but it felt odd when you first slung a leg over it.

“Point and Squirt” is how I would describe the Ragley Ti.
Lovely frame that just goes up mountain and down dale with minimum fuss.

😯

As an update to this, I have now ridden both back-to-back, as I still have my 456 and mates (Geetee1972 and JPCapel on here) have now bought Ti Ragleys.
I would say that the main difference are as you would expect, namely the steeper seat anlge on the Ragley means it climbs better, but the 456 feels more relaxed when riding seated. The Ragley feels a tiny bit stiffer too.
Both great bikes – if I were to buy from scratch I’d prob get the Ragley, but it’s not a big enough improvement to sell the 456 for one.