wot mingsta said. slackish head angle with adjustable forks is perfect for steep stuff. sure i miss out on a bit of coil plushness with the talas rather than a vanilla on my ti456, but with the fork down at 100mm the bike climbs up walls, and at 140 bombs happily down steep stuff. 120 is perfect for singletrack. so using an air fork might be a slight compromise in outright suspension performance but it makes the ride as a whole more versatile on steep up and downy terrain. which is good as i ride the infamous quantocks / exmoor northern hills 😉
that said, i don’t like the 456 at 100mm for anything other than steep ups- it gets twitchy and nervy (I’m using 70mm stem and 710mm bars). however, i’d happily xc race it with 120 forks and lighter tyres. and will.
like the OP and others, i’m interested in the ragley, but in no way am thinking of trading the 456. great bike.