I enjoy walking in the countryside and for a while I've liked the idea of an MTB to allow me to traverse such routes that my Genesis CdF can't.
Unfortunately however, it seems that my penchent for steel couldn't be indulged without considerable outlay; so the idea was shelved.
Some time later I found myself browsing the Chain Reaction website at the beginning of their "oh noes, administration" sale and happened across the Big Wig. I'd previously encountered this bike before; placing it firmly in the "nice but nope" category on account of its price; however now it was being touted at 50% off RRP.
On the advice of a mate I filled my basket on the website with this item until it told me I couldn't have any more. I kept checking back, adjusting the amount as stock fell and after a few weeks I threw in an order when there were only three left; and another ton had been knocked off the asking.
The bike was purchased on a 0% credit card to offer some security should anything untoward happen given the uncertain state of the company, and it arrived a little over two weeks later. There it sat in its box for another few days until my flu-riddled corpse felt able to complete the minimal amount of necessary assembly, before sitting idle for another month or two through apathy / crap weather / fear of getting it mucky before I'd applied any protection anywhere.
I'd like to include a special mention to the staff of CRC here - with the odd little exception the bike was very well put together and PDI'd, which I imagine isn't the easiest task to embrace when you know you're job's potentially about to be ejected into space. I've not bought a bike from this group before (and truth be told have tried to avoid them as I don't like the all-consuming corporate model) however it was a positive experience and I particularly appreciated the little welcome pack which even included a pair of tubeless valves and some rudimentary tools to get me going (no Haribo though!).
The Bike
Ragley are an ostensibly British brand although they're owned by the same corporate multinational Sigma Sports United (SSU) as the CRC/Wiggle group; which is probably why they could afford to discount the bike so heavily. The marque are best-known for their "hardcore hardtails" (which apparently are as British as late-nigh-kebab-shop fights and shouting in "English" at foreigners in their own country because "they're too thick to understand").
SSU also own Nukeproof and seem to use these two brands to cover the whole MTB market - Ragley doing the low-mid end with aluminium and steel hardtails, while Nukeproof do the mid-high end with aluminium and placcy hardtails and full-sus offerings. This shared ownership explains why an amount of the parts on Ragley bikes are Nukeproof branded.
The Big Wig is Ragley's steel 29er and embodies the typical conventional approach to MTB geometry of "long and slack"; which the brand were apparently instrumental in introducing. I chose this model over the similar 27.5"-wheeled Blue Pig as it seems that the larger wheels are better over rough terrain if less agile; which should better-suit my plodding cross-country aspirations.
Earlier today I popped out to get some photos of the bike for this thread - unfortunately thanks to the bright sun and limited opportunities they're mostly shite, athough it was a beautiful day to be out. I'll try to get some better photos in time..
While CRC were offing a range of frames (including the 2023 Big Wig which is even longer and slacker) I went for the built 2022 model as it was a ready-made solution, while the less-slack, shorter reach geometry better suits my less-hardcore, more balanced application and T-rex arms.
This came with the added bonus of a fairly (atypical it seems) understated "Moss" colour scheme. This played well to my reserved tastes as a) it seems that I can now only purchase bikes in green, and b) I have a new-found love for the earthy goodness of moss..
According to Ragley's website the groupset should be a mixture of Shimano Deore XT and SLX; however in practice due to "supply issues" the components are very much mix-and-match. I'm not a huge fan of SRAM and the OCD monster would prefer a matched set of components, however nowt seems inferior to what was originally specced.
Brakes are SRAM DB8 which so far seem responsive, easy to modulate and as powerful as I've come to expect from hydro disks. While a somewhat apples-to-oranges comparison, they certainly give nothing away to the 105 R7000 hydro disks on my Genesis.
The drivetrain is 1x12 and a mixture of a Raceface 30T narrow-wide chainset and Deore chain, 10-52 (I think) dinnerplate of a cassette and SLX RD.
Finishing kit and less-headline components are all Ragley or Nukeproof branded, and seem to be decent quality.
While a fairly understated tone, the paintwork has a good quantity of metal flake that really pops in bright sunshine. Ragley appear to have chosen a very similar font for the Big Wig logo as iconic '90s grunge pioneers Nirvana chose for their branding. The cynic might argue that this was intentional to draw in punters of a certain age; and probably helped soften me up a little to be fair. I like the relatively subtle use of black script on the darkish paintwork..
The frame originates from Taiwan (as most do nowadays) and is simply "4130 Chro-Mo" but is apparently triple-butted so probably a decent spec. The top tube doesn't emit a pleasing ring to announce its hardness as does the heat-treated Reynolds 725 tube on my Genesis; however the attached cabling on the Ragley probably serves to damp this down somewhat.
Upon unpacking I was very pleasantly surprised by both the quality of paint finish and welds on the frame - which both seemed superior to the promo images on the Ragley website.
All brake and gear cabling / hoses are sensibly externally routed with seemingly few (at least straight-line) rub spots; and attached mostly with sturdy-looking propriatory clips screwed into the frame.
The saddle is another Ragley-branded item - I suspect sourced from saddle giant Velo, however it's noticeably wider and flatter than the standard form found on most other OEM saddles and the Charge Spoon etc.
Evidently when this bike was built they'd run out of seatposts so apparently butchered a chair in the office for its height-adjustable gas-strut mechanism. This instantaneous collapsing action is actuated by a dummy front-mech shifter on the LH handlebar; seemingly as a means of brutally driving home to those of us new to 1x drivetrains just how much the world now hates front derailleurs / its contempt for their disciples..
The front shock is a Rock Shox Revelation which seems to get pretty decent reviews; and on RRP is not far off what I paid for the whole bike. The SRAM DB8 brakes are swanky four-pot affairs; gripping 200mm diameter disks on the front. The Nukeproof Neuron rims are retained by a 15mm through-axle:
At the rear we have the same decent-looking DB8 calipers, 180mm SRAM disks and 12mm "boost" through-axle.
...
Unfortunately however, it seems that my penchent for steel couldn't be indulged without considerable outlay; so the idea was shelved.
Some time later I found myself browsing the Chain Reaction website at the beginning of their "oh noes, administration" sale and happened across the Big Wig. I'd previously encountered this bike before; placing it firmly in the "nice but nope" category on account of its price; however now it was being touted at 50% off RRP.
On the advice of a mate I filled my basket on the website with this item until it told me I couldn't have any more. I kept checking back, adjusting the amount as stock fell and after a few weeks I threw in an order when there were only three left; and another ton had been knocked off the asking.
The bike was purchased on a 0% credit card to offer some security should anything untoward happen given the uncertain state of the company, and it arrived a little over two weeks later. There it sat in its box for another few days until my flu-riddled corpse felt able to complete the minimal amount of necessary assembly, before sitting idle for another month or two through apathy / crap weather / fear of getting it mucky before I'd applied any protection anywhere.
I'd like to include a special mention to the staff of CRC here - with the odd little exception the bike was very well put together and PDI'd, which I imagine isn't the easiest task to embrace when you know you're job's potentially about to be ejected into space. I've not bought a bike from this group before (and truth be told have tried to avoid them as I don't like the all-consuming corporate model) however it was a positive experience and I particularly appreciated the little welcome pack which even included a pair of tubeless valves and some rudimentary tools to get me going (no Haribo though!).
The Bike
Ragley are an ostensibly British brand although they're owned by the same corporate multinational Sigma Sports United (SSU) as the CRC/Wiggle group; which is probably why they could afford to discount the bike so heavily. The marque are best-known for their "hardcore hardtails" (which apparently are as British as late-nigh-kebab-shop fights and shouting in "English" at foreigners in their own country because "they're too thick to understand").
SSU also own Nukeproof and seem to use these two brands to cover the whole MTB market - Ragley doing the low-mid end with aluminium and steel hardtails, while Nukeproof do the mid-high end with aluminium and placcy hardtails and full-sus offerings. This shared ownership explains why an amount of the parts on Ragley bikes are Nukeproof branded.
The Big Wig is Ragley's steel 29er and embodies the typical conventional approach to MTB geometry of "long and slack"; which the brand were apparently instrumental in introducing. I chose this model over the similar 27.5"-wheeled Blue Pig as it seems that the larger wheels are better over rough terrain if less agile; which should better-suit my plodding cross-country aspirations.
Earlier today I popped out to get some photos of the bike for this thread - unfortunately thanks to the bright sun and limited opportunities they're mostly shite, athough it was a beautiful day to be out. I'll try to get some better photos in time..
While CRC were offing a range of frames (including the 2023 Big Wig which is even longer and slacker) I went for the built 2022 model as it was a ready-made solution, while the less-slack, shorter reach geometry better suits my less-hardcore, more balanced application and T-rex arms.
This came with the added bonus of a fairly (atypical it seems) understated "Moss" colour scheme. This played well to my reserved tastes as a) it seems that I can now only purchase bikes in green, and b) I have a new-found love for the earthy goodness of moss..
According to Ragley's website the groupset should be a mixture of Shimano Deore XT and SLX; however in practice due to "supply issues" the components are very much mix-and-match. I'm not a huge fan of SRAM and the OCD monster would prefer a matched set of components, however nowt seems inferior to what was originally specced.
Brakes are SRAM DB8 which so far seem responsive, easy to modulate and as powerful as I've come to expect from hydro disks. While a somewhat apples-to-oranges comparison, they certainly give nothing away to the 105 R7000 hydro disks on my Genesis.
The drivetrain is 1x12 and a mixture of a Raceface 30T narrow-wide chainset and Deore chain, 10-52 (I think) dinnerplate of a cassette and SLX RD.
Finishing kit and less-headline components are all Ragley or Nukeproof branded, and seem to be decent quality.
While a fairly understated tone, the paintwork has a good quantity of metal flake that really pops in bright sunshine. Ragley appear to have chosen a very similar font for the Big Wig logo as iconic '90s grunge pioneers Nirvana chose for their branding. The cynic might argue that this was intentional to draw in punters of a certain age; and probably helped soften me up a little to be fair. I like the relatively subtle use of black script on the darkish paintwork..
The frame originates from Taiwan (as most do nowadays) and is simply "4130 Chro-Mo" but is apparently triple-butted so probably a decent spec. The top tube doesn't emit a pleasing ring to announce its hardness as does the heat-treated Reynolds 725 tube on my Genesis; however the attached cabling on the Ragley probably serves to damp this down somewhat.
Upon unpacking I was very pleasantly surprised by both the quality of paint finish and welds on the frame - which both seemed superior to the promo images on the Ragley website.
All brake and gear cabling / hoses are sensibly externally routed with seemingly few (at least straight-line) rub spots; and attached mostly with sturdy-looking propriatory clips screwed into the frame.
The saddle is another Ragley-branded item - I suspect sourced from saddle giant Velo, however it's noticeably wider and flatter than the standard form found on most other OEM saddles and the Charge Spoon etc.
Evidently when this bike was built they'd run out of seatposts so apparently butchered a chair in the office for its height-adjustable gas-strut mechanism. This instantaneous collapsing action is actuated by a dummy front-mech shifter on the LH handlebar; seemingly as a means of brutally driving home to those of us new to 1x drivetrains just how much the world now hates front derailleurs / its contempt for their disciples..
The front shock is a Rock Shox Revelation which seems to get pretty decent reviews; and on RRP is not far off what I paid for the whole bike. The SRAM DB8 brakes are swanky four-pot affairs; gripping 200mm diameter disks on the front. The Nukeproof Neuron rims are retained by a 15mm through-axle:
At the rear we have the same decent-looking DB8 calipers, 180mm SRAM disks and 12mm "boost" through-axle.
...
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I'd fit mudguards if I were you, on the basis that there'll be less muck to clean off yourself at the end of a ride. Riding on mud-slicked fen roads during the sugar beet harvest has taught me that much at least!
