Eurobike: Ragley, Books, Bombers and the return of X-Lite

September 13, 2010
32 Comments

Yep, we’re still going through the Eurobike  coverage. It’ll last us until Chipps heads off to Interbike to see even more new stuff…

First up, some SDG saddles for downhill racing in super wet conditions. Based on its light an strong I-Beam platform, these saddles are inspired by seeing racers ziptieing bits of tyres onto their saddles for grip. Not recommended for extended XC rides though…

Yep, just like you've just glued a bit of tyre to your saddle...
Inspired by the Atari logo perhaps?

Bombers! Don’t worry. They’re Italian, so they’re allowed to get away with the sort of colour clashes the rest of us wouldn’t be able to carry off.

Triple Eight forks with 'Wow' stanchions

And moving across to a different sort of ‘wow’ fork. Here’s a glimpse at some of the catchily named XF11 carbon rigid fork from X-Lite.

In an 'about time' move, here's a 15mm bolt-thru carbon rigid fork. The XF 11 will come in Short 440mm, Long 455mm and 29er 470mm lengths.
We're assuming that X-Lite will have the Fox/Shimano system or some similar 15mm axle retention in there. These forks were fresh out of the paint shop and prototypes, so don't expect any on the shelves next week.
Unicrown and in colours to match your eyes.
X-Lite bars in wide and wide flat.
Seatposts in three sizes and many colours
Nukeproof is another company offering to solve the new many-headset-sizes turmoil of people.
44mm tapered? 1.125in DH? And more.
Ragley bars with a surface layer of Kevlar to ward off all that non-impact damage that isn't good for carbon bars.
Need a freak bar for your next bike? It's probably here. Wide flat, wide dropped and wide moustache.
It's a bog-standard winter road bike - though all the decals are reflective (and it's named after our local monster road climb)
The Ragley QED. As in... 'A white, steel, singlespeed, with Brant's reputation?' Meant for 100-120mm forks.
If you don't immediately love the decals, then it's possible that you didn't grow up in the UK on a diet of sweets and crisps.
The Ragley Bagger 288. A 160mm forked hardtail that you can probably run a 180mm fork on if you're that keen.
Giro's doing it. Now Fizik are making shoes. Road only (at the moment) made in Italy from kangeroo hide for supple strength. And very, very expensive.
If you didn't fancy the Brooks 'leather biscuit' grips, how about these with a gentle wrap of Brooks' leather bar tape over an aluminium core?
High fashion leather saddles from those Brooks people.
Now this Vans/Brooks collaboration is one of the smartest we've seen. We like!
Mr. Chipps Chippendale

Singletrackworld's ex-Editor At Large

With 25 years as Editor of Singletrack World Magazine, Chipps holds the record for the longest-running mountain bike magazine editor in the world. He started in the bike trade in 1990 and became a full time mountain bike journalist at the start of 1994. Chipps stepped down as Editor in April 2026 after 25 years at the helm. He's now wondering what to do next, while riding his bike in the French Pyrenees, where he also runs some gites.

More posts from Mr. Chipps

32 thoughts on “Eurobike: Ragley, Books, Bombers and the return of X-Lite”

  2. and do we have a date on the forks yet 😉

    can i pre-order or are they further away than that – the black n white pair are growing on me ….

    i might put a black brooks on and have me a nice pink set 😀

  3. Cragg Vale is where we all have our Summer dachas and we retreat there to the cool of the hills to escape the relentless heat of the valley…

  12. “Any idea (roughly) on price for the ragley SS? Similar to blue pig?”

    I realised the other day that we don’t actually need the 3 Finger Bridge thing on the QED, so if we drop that, and it all works fine, then we can drop the price a bit. CNC’d dropouts and disc brake make it a bit more than the Blue Pig currently, but I hope to get it in close to £300 frame only.

  17. x-lite were always on my bikes 10 years ago nice to have some upto date kit ..lovely

    i venture upto studley for my cool downs .always cool up there

  21. Damn you Brant, I’d just started designing a “Paul Smith”/”BMW art car” stripey-style sticker and now I’ve seen your Refresher’s design! Looks good. Liking the look of the new Ragley stuff.

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