MTB for a roadie vol 2: Help Choose The Next Bike!

MTB for a roadie vol 2: Help Choose The Next Bike!

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Discussion

defblade

Original Poster:

7,395 posts

212 months

Friday 17th June 2022
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take-good-care-of-the-forest-dewey said:
Not remotely acceptable.
Fairy muff... I've sent a pleasantly worded email wink
Although it's from a discount/end-of-line retailer (StartFitness), this was full RRP so I only feel slightly picky complaining.
I do want to keep this bike tidy; I've got a Dyedbro kit waiting to fit to it before anything else.

Suspect I'll end up with a small credit note or a discount code given their usual business model.
And if nothing, I'll just forget about it :shrug:

GravelBen

15,655 posts

229 months

Friday 17th June 2022
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woohoo

New bike day, looks great!

W00DY

15,467 posts

225 months

Friday 17th June 2022
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Wouldn't bother me, as marks go that'll soon be beaten, but an email can't hurt. Should be easy to find a matching nail varnish for touch ups. A great looking bike.

missing the VR6

2,320 posts

188 months

Friday 17th June 2022
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I'd want some form of compensation. Get it wrapped ASAP, I'm not overly familiar with painted bikes as I mostly have powder coated ones, but my Ragley's paint doesn't take much to mark. Awesome bikes, though.

BaronVonVaderham

2,316 posts

146 months

Friday 17th June 2022
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I’d get out and ride it, you’ll end up with far worse after a few inevitable offs!

Don’t understand the obsession now with paint protection on MTB frames. I like to look after things but it just seems overkill.

Enjoy the new bike!! Looking forward to hearing how it compares to the old school geometry.

GCH

3,984 posts

201 months

Friday 17th June 2022
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Finally!
I can tell you first hand that all current ragley frames will have some sort of paint defect somewhere as standard hehe in fact, mine had a mark in pretty much the same place as yours when it arrived - it's still there



But, an email certainly won't hurt for some freebies as a gesture of goodwill. It should also have come with some factory touch up paint - check the box.

Looking forward to seeing how it rides for you. My Big Al is one of the best bikes I've ever ridden. I love it.


Edited by GCH on Friday 17th June 17:44

defblade

Original Poster:

7,395 posts

212 months

Friday 17th June 2022
quotequote all
GCH said:
Finally!
I can tell you first hand that all current ragley frames will have some sort of paint defect somewhere as standard hehe in fact, mine had a mark in pretty much the same place as yours when it arrived - it's still there

But, an email certainly won't hurt for some freebies as a gesture of goodwill. It should also have come with some factory touch up paint - check the box.

Looking forward to seeing how it rides for you. My Big Al is one of the best bikes I've ever ridden. I love it.
No touch up paint in the box frown (It wasn't in the original box)
But I have emailed Ragley to ask if any is available.

And fair play to Start Fitness, they've come straight back and offered a £30 gift card to make up for my terrible suffering, which is quite generous for what it is IMO smile I would/will be spending more than that with them over time anyway wink


Lots of work on in the week and a busy weekend (wife's 50th birthday) means sadly I probably won't have a chance to get out riding as such this weekend, or even next week... I think I'll be lucky to squeeze in getting it set-up properly...

BaronVonVaderham said:
Don’t understand the obsession now with paint protection on MTB frames. I like to look after things but it just seems overkill.
I'm not sure I understand myself... if hadn't have noticed a half price kit, I might not have bothered! wink
And not only will an mtb pick up more damage regardless, this one is ally, so it's not like it's steel that'll rust if the paint goes through.
And I haven't worried about my old steel tourer - I just Krust the chips - or my year-old ally road bike. I think it's mainly seeing how nice the Trek was when it came to me that has made me think about keeping the new one tidy... And I get to spend money on bike stuff hehe

take-good-care-of-the-forest-dewey

5,071 posts

54 months

Saturday 18th June 2022
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Great result...

defblade

Original Poster:

7,395 posts

212 months

Monday 20th June 2022
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defblade said:
[
BaronVonVaderham said:
Don’t understand the obsession now with paint protection on MTB frames. I like to look after things but it just seems overkill.
I'm not sure I understand myself... if hadn't have noticed a half price kit, I might not have bothered! wink
And I started fitting it (DyedBro kit)at the weekend... gave up fairly quickly. Got a half-reasonable finish with the crank protectors and the transparent bit that covers under the downtube, but the patterned stuff just massively dulled off the paintwork as it was so thick and matt. No point having pretty paint you can't see!

defblade

Original Poster:

7,395 posts

212 months

Monday 27th June 2022
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GCH said:
Looking forward to seeing how it rides for you. My Big Al is one of the best bikes I've ever ridden. I love it.
BaronVonVaderham said:
Enjoy the new bike!! Looking forward to hearing how it compares to the old school geometry.
Finally had the time (and weather) to get out into the woods today.

First off, having said it just about fits on my roof rack, the wheel straps on the chocks wouldn't go around the tyres until I'd let most of the pressure out! New straps ordered...
Oh, and the portable stand I've got for setting up/washing doesn't reach the back axle on this one. Just about works on my road bike with 32mm/700c tyres, but this it just too tall for it. So I'll getting something else for that.

I grabbed the front mud guard off the old bike for now, even so it flicked a lot more stuff up into my face. Happily, for the first bit, I was doing the final descent to the car park, so I grabbed my clear riding glasses on the way past. I also stopped to move the controls inwards a good inch.

Modern geo... this bike is not quite as slack and lazy as the 2 FS bikes I've had very short goes on, but that may be down to being a hardtail anyway?
It's far less twitchy at the front end than the Trek; it feels like it takes longer to go off line, and easier to pull back on when it does... like it's working with you to stay calm where the Trek is a bit hyper as you correct the correction. I like.

Although talking of hyper, the back end on this thing is exactly that - which I don't mind. It's more noticeable at medium speeds; as the pace goes up, it seems to settle down a bit more. I think the chainstays are similar in the length to the Trek's - I wonder if the CF Trek is a bit more compliant than the ally Ragley? It's there on climbs, too.

The biggest confidence boost was when I came to steeper bit on the blue descent. I didn't like it on the Trek, and still pulled to a halt at the lip on the Ragley. The difference is, it was easy to then continue on down it on the new bike - the front wheel is still ahead of me, whereas the Trek on the same bit felt like I was already over the bars/front axle. On the Trek, I had to back up a bit and screw some nerves up to get in position/back before reaching it; on the Ragley I just restarted and rolled. In fact, I noticed several times that it was far easier to re-start when pointing downhill on the new bike, it feels like there's time and stability to get on the pedals and into position... that alone makes it worth it.

By the time I was 8-10 miles in, I was using far less brakes and even pumping occasionally! It felt far easier/safer to carry some speed.


Incidental to the bike, the pedals I got for this bike (£40 HT plastic ones) suit me far better than same-price NukeProof ones on the Trek - I had no foot bounce at all, but was still able to re-position with ease. I found the NPs stopped me moving without totally taking my foot off and putting it back on again, but still spat me off from time to time. (Maybe the tail of the Trek isn't more compliant after all???)

Not at all sure about the tyres. Although it seems to be widely considered meta for bike parks and big DH stuff, the Minion DHF/DHR2 combo in 3C EXO+ feels like total overkill for my riding, so may be swapped out in favour of something a bit lighter and more roll-y.


Finally - maybe a weird question, as I've never seen anyone else do this - but is there any reason not to put a second set of grips, or maybe some bar tape at least, inboard of the controls each side? I'm narrow in the shoulders despite being XL (I changed down to 40cm bars on my road bike) and found it was much nicer holding the bars inboard either side of the stem when climbing... but not very comfortable on my hands!

GCH

3,984 posts

201 months

Tuesday 28th June 2022
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Glad to hear you like it...Did you set up the suspension properly for your weight/riding style yet?.
It is a superb bike, and wait until you do some bike park stuff - it will fly and you be amazed at what it can do with ease. I still find it amusing at the lift line when people are like 'z0mg it's a hardtail' in wonderment and are confused following me down double blacks and jump lines.
The bike wants you to go fast, and handles better and better the more it does.


defblade said:
Not at all sure about the tyres. Although it seems to be widely considered meta for bike parks and big DH stuff, the Minion DHF/DHR2 combo in 3C EXO+ feels like total overkill for my riding, so may be swapped out in favour of something a bit lighter and more roll-y.
Honestly...personally, I think they suck, whether at the bike park or not. There was a few comments about this in the 'bike bits' post a few weeks back. They roll soooo slowly which is what you have immediately noticed, and that is the least of their problems. I cannot understand why those things are pretty much the industry standard.
I fitted onza porcupines and it is like night and day. Magic Mary would be another one to check out.

defblade said:
Finally - maybe a weird question, as I've never seen anyone else do this - but is there any reason not to put a second set of grips, or maybe some bar tape at least, inboard of the controls each side? I'm narrow in the shoulders despite being XL (I changed down to 40cm bars on my road bike) and found it was much nicer holding the bars inboard either side of the stem when climbing... but not very comfortable on my hands!
Sounds like you want some aero bars in the middle. Once a roadie...always a roadie hehe
I mean, it comes with 800mm bars, which is pretty wide, and feels really odd at first. I don't mind it personally (I run a L which also comes with 800), stuck with it and now prefer it, as the slight uphill trade off is more than worth it for the handling downhill and at speed.
Why not get some replacement lock on grips and then move them and the controls inwards incrementally to try out riding with a narrower bar, and then cut them down if you prefer it? The markings are on the bar already under the grips for cutting so it is pretty easy to do so and the standard grips aren't that great anyway.. or you could as you say fit two pairs of grips (which with lock ons will be easy to do).



GravelBen

15,655 posts

229 months

Tuesday 28th June 2022
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defblade said:
Finally had the time (and weather) to get out into the woods today.

...
thumbup

Glad to hear its going well so far!

Re the bouncy back end, what tyre pressure are you running? Higher volume 29ers can (and should) run much lower pressure than skinny 26ers. Personal preference/feel but I usually run around 21psi front / 25-26psi rear. I'm 105kg and know plenty of lighter people who use lower pressures than that.

Agreed that the Minions are quite slow and draggy feeling, better suited for downhill/enduro style riding. I like the grip but mine are hanging in the garage after I swapped them out for faster rolling alternatives.

I've seen XC racers with their hands inboard on road sections, I guess you could try it.

If its an 800mm bar that is pretty wide and you may well decide to cut it down a bit - I prefer 780mm myself, but its all down to what you are comfortable with - I would say give it a few rides to get accustomed to it first though. When I first went from a 26" to 29" MTB it was a change from 640mm bar (2007 old-school) to 720mm (narrow by modern standards). 720mm felt really wide for the first ride or two, but after a couple more rides it felt too narrow and I changed to 760mm, then later 780mm. I tried 800 briefly on a new bike, but went back to 780.


Edited by GravelBen on Tuesday 28th June 02:21

defblade

Original Poster:

7,395 posts

212 months

Tuesday 28th June 2022
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I don't even think about the bars when I'm going downhill, it's only dragging up the climbs. I think I'll bodge something on there (I've got some thin pipe lagging foam that would probably do the job) for now and see how it goes.
I could try moving the grips and controls inwards instead, but then I'd run out of room for my hands in the middle and just end up with a more compromised position for both jobs...

I'm certainly going to look at swapping the tyres out; as the Minions are very popular, hopefully I can end up cost-neutral on that one smile
(Or I might tell myself I'll sell them on, but actually hang them on a hook with all the others... "just in case" wink )

defblade

Original Poster:

7,395 posts

212 months

Sunday 3rd July 2022
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defblade said:
I'm certainly going to look at swapping the tyres out;
Just ordered a pair of Vittoria Barzo tyres.
They seem to get decent reviews for general trail use, and at the price Merlin have them (£25 each, down from £60-odd, if you don't want to click the link above), I decided they were well worth a punt. Going to run them tubeless, the bike came with the valves and apparently has the right tape fitted from the factory, so that's two experiments in one smile

defblade

Original Poster:

7,395 posts

212 months

Monday 11th July 2022
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New tyres are great! Much nicer climbing, and keep me rolling over all the little lumps that needed a pedal stroke or two with the Maxxis.
Although I'm generally nowhere near the grip limit in speed terms, the new ones do seem to have a fair bit more available under braking, especially at the rear. Might be partially going tubeless though? But I certainly wasn't pushing the bottom limit of pressures today - I need to get a puncture kit first, at least!


Speed has definitely picked up overall - I had 14 achievements across 16 segments on today's ride around Brechfa smile
I even actually cornered on a berm instead of wobbling around the bottom of it slowly/upright biggrin

Damn hot out today though, one lap was enough.

Now, while these tyres are just £25, do I order another pair? scratchchin

GravelBen

15,655 posts

229 months

Tuesday 12th July 2022
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MTB tyres are normally expensive, so it might be worth grabbing some more while ones you like are on sale! Even if you probably won't need them any time soon.

You could either keep the minions spare in case you want them for steeper looser riding down the track (see what I did there wink ), or they are popular enough that you could probably get a reasonable price selling them second hand as barely used.