1) I didn't pay for this bike. As explained in my previous blog, Ragley have been kind enough to sponsor me this year. However, they've put me under no pressure to say anything nice about their products or even say anything at all so there is genuinely no bias in this review. I'd hate for people to make a purchasing decision assisted by my opinion only to find out it was totally skewed and luckily, unlike the magazines I don't have to worry about losing advertising revenue by offending anyone.
2) I've been riding mountain bikes for thirty years and am extremely fussy about kit. I haven't bought an off the peg bike since the nineties because I just end up swapping out all the components. Like an arse of a boyfriend I'll be comparing the Bigwig to my exes. Just bear in mind that those exes are a who's who of the best bikes and components of their time and so the Ragley has a very stiff job if it wants to impress.
Let's start with the important bit...
The Ride
I'm a definite advocate of the hardtail. I love the required precision that forces the rider to actually pinpoint lines, reading terrain rather than hitting, hoping and hanging on. I also adore the easy cleaning, low weight, lack of set-up time and visual simplicity of rigid back ends. As a coach I firmly believe that everyone should spend at least a couple of years on one to develop fundamental skills before opting for a full bouncer. In the past this decision has obviously been to the detriment of speed on the downs and in the tech but those days are over. In the hands of a decent rider a well put together hardtail can compete on most trails and the Bigwig is definitely one of those bikes. Drop any preconceptions you may have about 29" wheels because when combined with a super slack 65 degree head angle they make for a confidence inspiring combination. Gaps between rocks and roots are drifted over rather than the bike stuttering and dropping into the holes and I became a convert within a matter of minutes. The more technical a trail becomes, the more the Bigwig excels, well demonstrated when I turn around at the bottom of steep, extremely rocky trails punctuated by big drops to see my 160mm travel, 27.5" wheeled mates off and carrying. The big wheels allow me to roll down drops that would hook up anything smaller and on this kind of trials type descending where the speed required to launch the drops is impossible to come by they are definitely the best option.
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| The Bigwig is a total downhill weapon! |
I've found that the Ragley rewards a really aggressive, front heavy riding style and because of this the 130mm Rockshox Yari forks have taken a consistent battering. So far I've been delighted by their performance and noticed no discernible difference from the Pikes I was previously running. They sit high in the travel, particularly important on a hardtail where the head angle steepens as the forks compress, and they track adequately with minimal twist or flex.
So it's great on the downs, confident at speed and brilliant in the tech.
But what about the cornering?
This is an area where I thought the long wheelbase 29'er would really suffer, how wrong could I be! It seemed to take no adjustment in riding style with the big wheels and it carves with confidence. Once back on familiar rubber I was happy to push really hard and as expected the breakaway points are the same regardless of wheel size. Two wheel drift in our continually sloppy conditions is predictable and great fun and I've never been highsided and thrown out the wrong way when the traction kicks in. The (slightly too) low bottom bracket makes for great cornering stability although I did have issues getting my feet positioned right whilst getting used to the bike, not entirely sure why but it felt a bit more difficult to do rapid foot swaps than on my other bikes.
Can it climb?
Yes it can! I often read about slack head angles making front ends a bit light and drifty on technical ascents but personally I think that proper weight distribution technique can overcome this every time. I've not noticed any detrimental effects of the slacked out frame, it climbs well in the tech and as ever I find that a 30/36 low gear combo can get me up anything. The length of the bike does mean that it suffers when on really tight switchbacks but this is countered by its general ease in the rough sections. Big wheels excel at getting up steps with a quick wheelie, the back end following happily and the 72 degree seat angle puts my weight nicely centred to shift around for traction and control. The low bottom bracket has definitely been a pain at times with plenty of jarring pedal strikes. Having previously owned a Commencal Meta 5 and a Santa Cruz Nomad CC I'm well used to adjusting my riding style to counteract this but on a hardtail there is no cushioning to the blows and so the bike stalls frustratingly with every hit.
On the fire roads it trundles along nicely and maintains speed with the big wheels smoothing out any bumps and ripples and allowing a good cadence to be spun. Having said all this it is pretty weighty compared to my usual bikes and so won't be winning any XC races. The 31lb stock weight has been greatly reduced by my expensive upgrades (more on that shortly) but a near 6lb frame is disappointing and definitely noticeable in comparison to my Ibis Tranny which weighs half that. Having said that the Bigwig complete costs 50 quid less than the Tranny frame so the value for money and overall performance of the Bigwig makes it a better choice for all but the most discerning riders.
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| Very happy with the current set-up |
So, I've mentioned that I always build bikes from scratch. Much of the joy and anticipation of a build for me is in painstakingly hand selecting componentry to make the ultimate combinations. Bar widths, stem lengths, tyre choices, the list is endless and research exhaustive. Like many experienced riders I've got my firm favourites when it comes to contact points and strong opinions on all other parts so riding a stock bike was always going to be a major compromise. I did intend to ride it as received, but ingrained instincts die hard and my puritanical stance lasted all of two minutes!
I'm 1x all the way and was really surprised that a 'hardcore hardtail' frameset with ISCG mounts was specced with a 2x set up. The front mech is a dead and archaic addition to me, robbing bar space and adding unnecessary weight. Allen keys out, front shifter, mech and chainset removed and an XTR/Blackspire single ring set up thrown in. I hope that Ragley will be following my lead soon and with Shimano finally offering monster gear ranges on their cassettes and joining the 21st century with narrow/wide rings I'd imagine that the 2017 offerings will lose the granny rings.
The Ragley grips supplied were actually very good, not least because they're very similar (patent anyone?) to the all-time greatest ODI Ruffian. Unfortunately they're just a couple of mm larger in circumference than the ODI's and so had to go. I told you I'm fussy!
I've ridden on the WTB Vigilante/Trail Boss combo before and think they're alright performance wise but fundamentally flawed in mould quality. Unfortunately, whoever built my bike decided to stick the Vigilante on the back and the Trail Boss on the front necessitating a three man fight to the death swapping them round. I've been there before, thumbs aching, tyre levers snapping and forty combined years of spannering experience sweating, swearing and shaking our heads. We got there in the end but as with my last Vigilante the fight took its toll in terms of a warped bead that made my wheel look like it was Pringled from the start. Take note WTB, there is NO NEED to make your beads so tight and this was being fitted to one of your own rims. I'm just glad we were fitting them close to my kettle and beer supply and not on a frozen Irish trailside. Once out in the slop they performed OK but I find the Vigilante drifts wide whenever pushed hard into the types of mud that have epitomised this Irish year. They're predictable but not precise enough for my liking and so I'm back to the Maxxis. High Roller 2's instantly improved the Bigwig no end.
The Nukeproof dropper post also didn't get far before the chop. I love droppers but am scathing of their dismal longevity. I've tried most of the common brands and am constantly amazed that a 300 quid office chair shaft can never last more than a year, even with correct servicing. The Nukeproof decided to get stuck in the down position half way through an early ride resulting in a chastening quad workout. Close inspection revealed that the bottom screw had actually fallen out of the post and ten seconds with an allen key had it back to fully functional. The thing that signed its death warrant was actually the fact that the post return could've been measured on a calendar and the plasticky lever is so un-ergonomic that I actually stopped using the drop at all. In came a KS Lev with the Southpaw lever, an incredibly smooth and easily functional combo that is also showing almost immediate flaws with a continually loosening collar. Give me strength...
The 180mm/160mm rotors supplied would generally slow a hardtail more than adequately in combination with the SLX hydraulics. As you've read, this is no ordinary hardtail when gravity kicks in and even with my skinny ass eleven stone body I had to swap in a 203mm/180mm combo to get the required stopping power.
The Ragley Wiser bars are a good shape and really comfortable feel but they sent me some carbon Wiser bars to test so obviously they went in instead for the weight saving and improved trail dampening characteristics.
I had a couple of spins on the supplied wheels which are a combo of WTB STI23 TCS rims, laced to bolt thru-axle Novatec hubs. They were OK but I definitely felt the weight dragging me back like a mini anchor. I've witnessed quite a lot of 29'er wheels dismantle themselves over the last few years, the larger diameter rims and longer spokes seemingly more vulnerable to damage. I'm glad that Ragley have opted for strength above weight saving in their choice but even so, with minimal use and no big hits the back wheel was getting out of shape. One well-known downfall of 29'ers is their sluggish acceleration and I felt that this inherent flaw combined with heavy wheels would make the bike non-competitive. I wanted to be hitting the top step of the podium this year and so made a quick call to the lovely people at 2Pure distribution and a set of the incredible Ibis 941 wide carbon wheels arrived. Needless to say, a set of 1300 quid carbon wheels has improved the ride exponentially as they would improve any bike. They are incredibly laterally stiff, light and strong. Acceleration is no longer an issue.
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| I've swapped out the 2x and fitted a narrow/wide with a chain guide. I hope Ragley will do this themselves in future |
So obviously I ditched a fair few of them but I've been largely impressed with the stuff that remained. The SLX shifters and XT Shadow+ rear mech have been faultless. I don't like the shifters and brake levers being joined on the clamp as it robs you of the chance to make micro position adjustments but this is a minor gripe. The SLX brakes have also performed very well with predictable power and modulation. The levers themselves are slightly more rounded than my preferred XTR's and lack the grippy dimples. This has actually resulted in less grip in really muddy conditions. I like to feel a good edge on the lever as I rest my finger on it so I know it's there when I need it, again a minor issue but these are the subtle differences that make me happy to spend top dollar for the range topping kit. The Ragley Wiser carbon bars are superb with the rise, shape and 750mm width feeling perfect for the bike and the 50mm stem is a solid and stylish unit. The Ragley saddle was a comfortable shape and I was happy to keep it until I bent the rails and had to bin it. In its defence that was really a facet of me having to position it beyond the recommended limits so no blame attached. I've actually finally got round to re-fitting the original SLX cranks with the Blackspire Narrow/Wide chainring. They are a good looking and stiff crankset but the speccing of a 175mm length seems a bit bizarre on a bike with such a low bottom bracket and more pedal strikes are an inevitability. This would be a really easy fix for Ragley and hopefully they'll switch to 170mm in future. Cable routing is neat and tidy and although I'm not sure about the aesthetics of the industrial looking bolt on cable guides, they keep the cables firmly in place though so no doubts on their function. The Stealth dropper port on the back of the seat tube comes with a neat cover for if you're not using it but I'd be concerned about water and dirt getting in if I was running an internally routed dropper.
Sizing
At just shy of 6ft tall I often find I'm stuck between manufacturers frame sizes, usually opting for the nippier characteristics of a smaller frame over the gate like feel of XL offerings. The Ragley was no different and I went for the 18" Medium frame rather than the 20" Large. With a 50mm stem this has left me a tiny bit cramped by the 420mm reach and 605mm effective top tube length. The upshot of this is that I'm running my seat a centimetre back beyond the recommended limit which resulted in me bending the rails on the Ragley saddle despite me hardly being a big unit. I'd like to run a shorter stem and so maybe the Large would've suited better but I was put off by the length of the seat tube and have been burned in the past by buying frames that just felt too big to suit our tight and twisty trails.
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| Top step of the podium. The Bigwig is definitely fast. |
So far I'm really impressed! The Bigwig has re-framed my preconceptions about what a 29'er can do with the all important frame angles making it a bike with an emphasis firmly on fun. That's not to say that it can't be fast and Enduro race outings this year have seen me hitting the top step of the hardtail category whilst placing in the top 20% overall, putting hundreds of fully suspended riders put to the sword! Technical problems with a jammed and then dropped chain in my second race have since seen me fit a chain device, something I'd definitely recommend since the ISCG tabs are in place and I'm really excited to keep pushing the bike to the limits that only competition can bring out.
It climbs well enough and really rips on the downs, corners with confidence and feels well balanced on the ground and in the air. I really think it's a bike that questions the need for full suspension, particularly at its price point. At £1550 for the complete bike it's a total bargain but I'd definitely be more tempted by the £450 frame only option given my love of hand picking all componentry. If I had less than two grand to buy a bike then I'd choose a custom specced Bigwig over any company's mid-range suspension bikes every time.
I'll report back with an end of season write up when I'll have an idea on the longevity of the parts and will have smashed it through a few more races. Some planned trips away will also allow me to test it on some different trail types. Until then if you see me around then feel free to ask for a test ride on my bike and if you want more info then check www.ragleybikes.com
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