Ever since Ragley first launched back in 2008, the small British brand has done a damn fine job of capturing the wants and needs of UK based mountain bikers. With an emphasis on durability and simplicity, Ragley’s hardtails offer heaps of mud clearance, slack angles, compatibility with short stems, and outstanding value for money.
In amongst the crowd of expensive carbon superbikes at the Cycle Show in Birmingham, Ragley’s clean hardtails stuck out like a sore thumb, and particularly that fluoro yellow Bluepig. We took a look at the 2017 models to see what’s changed on Ragley’s four key models.
The Bigwig is a 29in hardtail that is built around a 120-140mm travel fork. We first got a ride on the Bigwig last year, where its slack and low geometry impressed us. The new Bigwig retains the same geometry as the outgoing model, but goes BOOST on the rear dropouts to allow for added tyre clearance. As such, the new Bigwig is now dual-wheelsize compatible. You can fit in up to 29×2.4in wide rubber, or 27.5×3.0in plus tyres.
The bike that started it all for Ragley; the Bluepig. Not so blue in fluoro yellow though. This is the complete bike, but Ragley also offers a Bluepig frame on its own if you’d prefer a more understated colourway. On that note, every Ragley model is available in both a complete bike option and as a standalone frame too.
The Bluepig is built around 27.5in wheels and is designed to be run with a 150mm travel fork. Its got beefier tubing to cope with the heftier loads being applied, and as such it weighs in at a decent 6.6lbs (3kg) for the frame on its own.
The new Bluepig updates to a 142x12mm thru-axle on the back. No BOOST here like the Bigwig, presumably because it wasn’t required. Even without the BOOST spacing, Ragley has been able to open up tyre clearance to 2.8in when running the Bluepig with 27.5+ wheels.
The Piglet is the baby brother to the Bluepig, and is offered as more of a trail bike than a super-slack Enduro hardtail. It’s designed for you to fit a 120-140mm travel fork on the front, though features a 65.5-degree head angle when fitted with a 130mm travel fork. Like the new Bluepig and the Bigwig, the 2017 Piglet frame is now plus compatible.
Like the Bluepig and Bigwig, the Piglet features triple butted 4130 chromoly tubing for durability. It’s marginally lighter than the Bluepig, coming in at a claimed 6.4lbs (2.9kg) for the frame.
In addition to Ragley’s steel hardtails, the brand also offers two alloy frames as well. The MmmBop is essentially the alloy version of the Bluepig. Like the Bluepig, the MmmBop is built around 27.5in wheels, is compatible with 140-160mm travel forks, and features a 64-degree head angle when paired to a 150mm travel fork.
Beefy alloy tubing offers up a different ride characteristic to the steel Bluepig. It also drops significant weight: the alloy MmmBop weighs in at 4.59lbs (2kgs) for the medium frame.
And last, but not least, is the Ragley Marley. The Marley is essentially the alloy version of the Piglet, so it’s a beefy alloy trail bike that’ll fit a 120-140mm travel fork on the front. Frame tubing is oversized like the MmmBop, with enormous junctions at the head tube and bottom bracket to maximise stiffness.
