An unashamedly specific design, the TD-1 is a “rigid only” 29er. Meaning you can’t run suspension forks on it.

Well, I suppose you could, but it would handle awfully. It’s designed around a 440mm fork – which is a common size for 26in wheeled bikes – but a 29in wheel fits in there just fine. Typically 29in bikes run 470-490mm forks, and so by running the shorter fork, we can lower the handlebars by 30-50mm. Which means a more racey position. What’s that? You don’t like a low racey position? You want a suspension fork? Well hey, I guess this isn’t the frame for you.

But, if you’re fed up with bars-in-the-air, bouncy forks, and just want something pure and rigid and fast, then here’s something for you. Race proven too – our races Dave and Jase got 2nd and 3rd at the ludicrously tough Strathpuffer race earlier in the year, riding their pre-production prototypes.

And as we mentioned Mark Lynskey up at the top, and though we do have plans for a steel version (and it will be a high end steel version, as this is a race bike, not a plodder), and might even throw some 7046 at an alloy version, it’s obvious that this first model (as we seem to often do around here) is a titanium model made by Lynskey Performance in the USA. It features their sliding dropouts, a horizontally ovalised top tube, a curved seat tube (better tyre clearance in short stay mode, and better front mech positioning too. We even got two bottle cages on the small frame, and so though mtb-forum-grumps reckon the “Seat tube mounted bottle looks like it will rub the frame.“, we don’t think it will.

Over on mtbr, we’ve been having a “bit of a chat” about it too. Though after doing the conversion to US dollars (as most posters there are American), someone from the UK got a bit upset about us selling it “cheaper in the states than it is here”. The sum is simple:-

UK Price = around £1200
Without VAT – divide by 117.5 and multiply by 100 = £1021
Into Dollars  multiply by 1.49 = $1526

Actually, it’s just occurred to me that depending on when Hotlines paid for them, we might have to hike the price up a bit, as we pay for them in dollars, so if the pound falls, then it’ll cost us more. But I think we’re not too far off there… And the example of “how stuff costs 17.5% less” for folks outside the EU is still true.

Right – all that before 7:15am in the morning, and I’m just drinking Taiwan Oolong Tea – no coffee. So excuse any missthakes. Cheers!

Oh yes, that’s a point – sizing…

3 sizes – 16, 18, 20. 18in has a 24in top tube, 4in head tube, 72 head, 73.deg seat. 16in is half an inch shorter, 20in half an inch longer (and has a half inch longer head tube). Usual sizing rules apply (5′10″ to 6′1″, you want an 18in – bigger or smaller than this, and you want to go up or down a size). BB drop is 2.5in, and chainstays sit around 17.3in fully forward with a half inch backward movement possible for bigger tyres/chain tensioning purposes.

Heres the Blue Pig reviews – we were sorry a few slightly ropey welded frames got out in the first batch, but from feedback we’ve got that nailed now – if anyone’s unhappy, get in touch.

And here’s the mmmbop reviews – all sounding positive.

If you’ve got a Ragley product and want to give feedback, then please add it to one of the Ragley products on this page (wherever you bought it from!).

Posted via email from My Ragley

Interview with Brant

Blue Pig review

This is something a bit new for Twenty Nine Inches, but many of you know that I have been reviewing some non-specific 29′er product here and most of that being the “alt bars” that I feel a lot of 29″er riders gravitate towards. Not only that, but I do use a lot of gear that is not 29″er specific. To that end, I thought I would give props to my favorite non-29″er specific product of 2009. No surprise here, it is a handle bar. The nod goes to Ragley Bikes “Carnegie’s Bar”

Ragley Bikes is the brain child of Brant Richards, who was also the designer of some well known “alt bars” for On One. Brant tweaked out a previous design and made something new that really hits the nail on the head for technical riders that want more sweep than a standard riser bar offers. I took to these bars straight away and never looked back. The added comfort, control, and stiffness in technical situations was noticeable for me. The sweep design was perfectly drawn out so that you don’t need an excessively long stem, nor do you cause undo stress on the stem faceplate with excess leverage due to a ton of back sweep. No, this bar really strikes a great balance between a riser and an “alt bar” that no other bar really hits.

Ragley Bikes “Carnegie’s Bar” will also be coming out in a couple new versions, and also a carbon version is being tested here now as well. So look for more on that coming soon.

Nial on the Ragley Ti from Ed Oxley on Vimeo.

Here’s Nial on the Ragley Ti sending it at Storthes Hall downhill tracks. The snow was down and the ground was frozen hard. Nial is 12.

Download now or preview on posterous

NP_Reactor_extreme_Cplus_01_10.pdf (86 KB)

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NP_WarheadPost_MBUK_01_10.pdf (72 KB)

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ragley_gripsand saddle_MBUK_01_10.pdf (184 KB)

Posted via email from shedfire’s dumping ground

This is the very first production weight bar out of the new carbon Carnegie bar mold – we’re working with an innovative layup procedure using different cloth type to most other bar manufacturers, to give a proper mountain-durable bar, rather than something that’s just good for testing in the lab. We’re interested in how it performs in lab tests, but we want it to be durable so we can replicate those tests after a year of riding and still get a pass.

Production is still some way off, surface finish detailing is next on our agenda. Ugly? Well – they always were anyhow.

Additionally, 18 Bikes and Chain Reaction Cycles (both Ragley dealers) and Ed Oxley (who is one of our development riders) won their categories. So we can kind of say we sort of won overall. Probably.

Thanks to everyone that voted for us!