We’re big fans of Ragley here at Wideopen. They produce top quality, hard hitting frames – they’re UK born and bred – and they ride great. With that in mind, I downed tools at 5:30 last night and shot over to the Hotlines show which was rather conveniently taking place in Bristol.
The show was a showcase of 2011 kit from Ragley, IXS, Lappierre, NukeProof, Straitline and a few more – followed by a showing of the Freecaster 2010 World Cup video and a few beers.
Here’s a few choice cuts from the 2011 Ragley range, presented to us by designer Brant Richards…
The 2011 Blue Pig is an overhaul of the bike we’ve been ragging in the mag for the past year. Different tubes, slightly different angles, different look out back … but still a hard hitting, go anywhere whip.
- .5° steeper seat tube
- Tapered head tube
- New tapered ‘Fathead’ tubing replaces gussets. All tubes are now nice and thick at either end where they join and are thinner in the middle. That means strong joins whilst keeping the weight down
- Externally butted seat stays
- Now comes in 14″/16″/17″/18″/20″
- Revised back end looks different, but is actually pretty similar. The bend gives a bit of extra clearance for the disc calliper
- New slimmed down, neater drop outs
- The ’3 finger’ brace at the stays is now a cast piece
- Mysterious hand not included
This beauty (above) is the Blue Pig X – a posher version of the standard Pig. This version comes in US made ‘True Temper OX platinum steel’ and is specced with 2 drop out options – standard or with DMR Swap Outs.
Modelled here by some northern fella with a very bright teeshirt is the all new prototype Piglet – aimed at kids that want to run 120mmish forks. The head angle is 1° steeper than a blue pig at 68.5° and she’s specced with sliding drop outs to let you run gears, single speed, Nexus, whatever. The proto here is a super posh Titanium version!
Last but not least is the Bagger 288 – a hard hitting set up that’s aimed at riders running 160 – 180mm forks. This one comes with DMR swapouts, can fit 2.5″ tyres and (like the Pig) comes with ‘Fathead’ tapered tubes. Are you lot really riding bikes with 180mm travel forks?!
Cheers to Brant for the guided tour of the 2011 bikes – Check out the Ragley site here.
Whilst you’re here – check out our interview with Brant back in issue 11:
Ragley 2011 Catalogue – Final Low Res
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I want that belt buckle! oh and a Titanium Piglet too please :)
I like the idea of the Piglet… I dunno… I don’t really feel the need to run any more than 125mm forks on my HT. If it’s needing more than that I reckon I should probably jump on a full bouncer!
Bagger 288, havent heared that in a while…
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=azEvfD4C6ow
Jamie you might be right – I used to say 130mm and a QR was fine on a hardtail until I tried 140mm with a Maxle… I’d certainly not consider running a long travel hardtail personally – the idea of that much geometry change and the impact on handling (when you need the change the least!) sounds like more trouble than it’s worth. Mind I like to keep my hardtail quite light despite being hard hitting, I tend to pick smoother lines and float more than my mates… I remember back in Issue 9 when we had the Genesis Alpitude against my Chameleon and Jon’s SubZero, I was astounded at what a heavy build he was running, it was like a tank – I couldn’t get the thing off the ground. When I got back on the Chameleon I was getting a foot of air off anything in the trail!
That video is awesome! METAL BLADES COVERED IN GORE!
Got a Pig X on order in Green, 16th Dec I’m told, and I am soooooo excited!! But why oh why Brant is not available in Orange?