Opinions please...
I already have a Summer Season. Will I notice any difference (and what) if I 'upgrade' the frame to a Ragley blue pig or mmmBop. They seem like a progression of the design concept to me...?
you'll be back in fashion...
That's what I'm worried about!!!!
😆
By my own admission, the Summer Season was a really quick (knock 2degs off the head angle and make it in PG tubing) revision of the 456. The 456 is a six year old design. However, it all works really well.
The Blue Pig/mmmbop mmmbop geometry was a clean sheet design created from ideas I'd picked up and not had chance to bring to production before. Influences as varied as HarryTheSpider's chainsuck problem, following Ton up the hill to Jack Bridge, my really old Inbred 853, a Pace I had ages ago, my old Bonty Racelite, my Fat Chance Yo Eddy, mmmbop steps, Ed Oxley...
The 2011 Ragley's evolve the original geometry and construction even further because of the new manufacturing partners and volume we've been able to achieve and partner with... letting us spec our own tubing and stuff.
That said, I'm still very fond of my memories of my old Summer Season and Summer Season Ti frame I made (with Van Nicholas!). on-one still offer amazing value with their cost-to-retail business model which Ragley's never sought to copy - I wanted to do something through dealers cos I kept getting glared at in bike shops 🙂
Slight thread hijack...sorry. I'm also thinking about swapping my kinesis pha5e frame for an mmmmBop. Not sure if there would be much difference ride-wise between them. The kinesis is generally great, but doesn't feel especially sprightly on the climbs. Anyone got any experience to share?
Just back from a 3-hour ride on my mmmBop - lots of up and downs, singletrack through woods etc. and it's great, climbs and descends especially well and pretty much does everything as claimed.
Put it like this I haven't yet felt the need to ride the Heckler since this was built up by the guys at the Bike Tree, and the frame was astounding value. Definitely not a HT fanboy, but been pleasantly surprised - last HT was a 1996 DeKerf Team, so the more radical and fun geometry a bit of a change.