PSA - Ragley frames for £170

Almost tempted to try a Marley at those prices!

Someone buy all the medium frames quickly please.

I'd still need brakes, rear wheel, cassette and shifter, headset, bars and grips. That'll soon add up and not seem quite the bargain.

Ah fgs, been tempted by the Marley 290 at £270 for the last week, especially as I had some CRC vouchers for my birthday last weekend. Used them up this avo on some other bits on offer instead, without realising those frames had dropped further to crazy ridiculous prices! 😩

@breadcrumb

Someone buy all the medium frames quickly please.

Can’t help with that, but I have removed one large Marley 290 frame…

Great PSA @lucashmucas

I looked at a Marley frame in June when they were released ,  im now thinking bothball the full sus over winter and just grab one and build up for the winter slop season

I looked at a Marley frame in June when they were released , im now thinking bothball the full sus over winter and just grab one and build up for the winter slop season

That’s exactly my thoughts. Even though this winter isn’t going to be much wetter than summer has been. 🤣

another large Marley

@lucashmucas cheers

Big al here. I spotted the price drop yesterday and it became a no brainer

Cheap headset too

https://www.chainreactioncycles.com/p/nukeproof-neutron-zs44-zs56-headset

And BB

https://www.chainreactioncycles.com/p/shimano-bb52-68-73mm-bottom-bracket

Hmm. I've a 6 year old BigWig that I'm running SS. Great bike, but could be lighter, and it's pretty tatty now ... how does the Big Al feel to ride?

@breadcrumb the complete bikes are 51% off as well!

@hardtailonly I can't comment on the new Big Al as I have the previous model which is basically the new Marley, although that can take a longer dropper I believe. What I can tell you is that it's a brilliant frame. It's lots and lots of fun and almost as compliant as a Bird Forge (made from 853 steel). There is only a tiny difference between the two of them and I think I may just prefer the Big Al because the head angle is slightly steeper so feels a little more direct and involving most of the time. I think the angles on the Marley would be closer to your Big Wig than the Big Al.

If you haven't already seen it I strongly recommend watching hardtail party's review of the Big Al on YouTube.

I've been considering swapping my bigwig out for a Marley before when it was £270, but resisted.

I couldn't resist for £170+postage though. Should be around 1.5lbs lighter.

I am slightly concerned that this is a sign that Marley are in trouble though?

@squirrelking shhhhh

There's big discounts on everything at the moment on CRC/wiggle. I think they've likely overstocked and struggling to shift it as people aren't spending money like they used to. I also wonder if wiggle/crc is also struggling to shift stock as a lot of people have been put off by their new website and moved elsewhere.

Does anyone know if there's a way to fit the headset if I don't have a headset press?

Does anyone know if there’s a way to fit the headset if I don’t have a headset press?

A block of wood and a hammer, gently tap in making sure it's straight

I used to use a vice to press cups in, that was external cups though never tried it with internal/ZS types.

The temptation is building. The headset linked above might seal it.

Might just be a drawn out build, but I've a set of Pike Ultimates sitting there and they'd go nicely on a Big Al...

This thread is bothering me.

Bothering my wallet I mean.

Three times today ive clicked out with a full basket and walked away from the browser .  My 2021 big al was brilliant ... i need a pc free weekend and hope they sell out .

@stevedoc

Three times today ive clicked out with a full basket and walked away from the browser . My 2021 big al was brilliant … i need a pc free weekend and hope they sell out

Why fight it?

It’s a really good deal.

Im not a fan of the Marley colours   the al in blue would be ace but with i ran my old al with 160mm forks  so 64 o headangle  . The new Al would be  62 0 and thats way to headtube snappingly slack

Rated for 140-160 so I'd imagine it'll be fine. My Pikes are currently 160mm, I do have a 150mm airshaft kicking about.

That's kind of put a kybosh om me selling my barely used Ragley Trig frame ! .. I want more than that second hand with only 100 miles on it ! .. great value though

how does the Big Al feel to ride

I built one up a few weeks ago and I'm enjoying it. I'm only running it with 130mm Bomber Z2's so it's a bit steeper and the bottom bracket feels a bit too low using some spare 175mm cranks. It's still slack enough to be confidence inspiring on steep stuff and seems to climb better than expected on techy stuff. There's no noticeable flex at all and my bum was feeling it after 10 miles on a canal tow path. My other current mtb is a Bird Aether 9 in ML and this in large is noticeably longer in wheel base.

Does anyone know if there’s a way to fit the headset if I don’t have a headset press?

Few swift whacks with a wooden mallet, that's how I fitted mine 🙂 works fine.

I don’t have a 29” hardtail.

Technically I don’t ‘need’ one

I wonder if I’ll be able to get this one past the committee seeing as I don’t actually physically have room for any more bikes

Hmmmmmmmmm…

@binners, can you get one that’s the same colour as one of your other ones?

Any Trig owners? Thoughts?

Not just the frames - 40-50% off full bikes too: https://www.chainreactioncycles.com/b/ragley?categoryNames=Bikes&sortBy=priceAsc

Trying to talk myself out of buying a couple of Marleys reduced from £1400 to £700 to stash away for my kid's next bikes. Small size range 160-170cm and they're currently 153cm and 148cm and growing fast...

That's like BOGOF really.

I do have a 29” hardtail. And technically I don’t ‘need’ another. But I’ve ordered a Big Al anyway.

When did crc bring in 20 quid postage for bulky items?

I think it was when they launched the new website. Still very cheap overall though for the ragley frames

That’s kind of put a kybosh om me selling my barely used Ragley Trig frame ! .. I want more than that second hand with only 100 miles on it ! .. great value though

Thanking the stars I managed to sell my full bike as I was about to split it due to low offers!

Any Trig owners? Thoughts?

They are really good fun and very well built/finished. Seemed quite low at the front but that could just have been me not getting on with drops, hence the sale. Much more down the MTB route than a roadie. There's a decent thread on here about them if you search.

Can the Trig take a double chainset and front mech? It's not clear on the Ragley site but I'm suspecting now (I have emailed Ragley).

Nice PSA, thanks. Slipped and bought a Marley.

Can the Trig take a double chainset and front mech? It’s not clear on the Ragley site but I’m suspecting now (I have emailed Ragley).

Can't remember tbh but it has routing for a dropper so I'm sure you could make it work?

Just a word of caution when upgrading frames, I've just noticed the large Marley has a head tube 30mm longer than the large bigwig. A bit hit and miss whether my steerer will be long enough (I haven't cut it), so will have to wait and see...

Years since I posted on here but I bought myself a Big Al frame with a heavily reduced Revelation fork so really keen to see how folks build these up and what they think of them. The Hardtail Party review was enough to convince me it was time to see what modern geo is all about. Will be transferring bits from my 2016 salsa El mariachi.

I built a Piglet during the corona times after my Explosif got stolen and it's probably the best bike I've ever had. I've currently got two different frames in my basket that I can't quite justify, but they're so cheap I also can't not.

The idea of building a steel 29er appeals greatly. Like my Scandal, but more Pigletty?

large Marley has a head tube 30mm longer than the large bigwig. A bit hit and miss whether my steerer will be long enough (I haven’t cut it), so will have to wait and see…

The Marley is internal headset cups whereas the big wig is external. The real world difference will be 10mm at most, probably less.

The Marley is internal headset cups whereas the big wig is external. The real world difference will be 10mm at most, probably less.

Thanks, yeah I checked the cups and the lower one on the bigwig is external so should have about about 10-15mm to play with. Should be fine, but thought I'd make others aware in case they have short steerers!

There's some serious discounts in the HT market!

CRC Ragley Vs Whyte 8/900 series.