Surprised myself yesterday when my 2021 Big Al spun tire while crossing a busy street. Didn’t know they could do that! The bike is peppy to say the least. Climbs like goat.
Just bought my first Ragley frame, a Big Al. Matching it to a Marzocchi Bomber Z1. I'm super excited! This will be my first complete assembly of a bike.
Based on comparing geo charts the Marley 290 is what the Big Al was previously, but with a degree slacker HTA and a degree steeper STA, as well as a shorter seat tube.
I've just built up a large aqua big al. It looks pretty cool in the flesh! Only had a couple of rides on it so far, so still getting used to it. The reach isn't too bad and the head angle doesn't really wander much when climbing. I have a 140mm 51mm offset fork on with a 50mm stem. It turns ok, but I feel you have to actively shift your weight around the bike a little more to get it to bite on the front wheel and turn aggressively. I'm running a 2.6 in front and rear with plenty of clearance. The lower bottom bracket hasn't caused too many pedal strikes and it is still playful and gets the front up ok. I'm currently running my old 150mm dropper, but feel that I need to go lower on steep descents, so will look to put on a 170mm or a pnw adjustable dropper at around 195mm ish. The frame is quite comfortable for alloy, but I would say its not as compliant as my previous titanium titus fireline and ragley piglet steel. The bike climbs really well and is good both seated and standing up. Tight downhill turns are a little more difficult due to the longer reach, but once you learn to throw it around and turn with the body/feet its not too bad. It is quite stable on jumps and drops and very steep sections. The high stack is also forgiving for the neck and back. The aqua colour looks really nice in the light and goes well with black components. The bike looks very aggressive! Overal I'm very pleased with it and with continue to do the usual upgrades as rime goes by. I opted for this over the new nukeproof scout and very pleased I did. Hope that helps anyone 🙂
Dang! Glad I built a Piglet last year! I get that the "hardcore" hardtail is all the rage these days, but shorter travel steel hardtails with conservative geometry will always have a place. I hate when companies give in to market trends, but it's the nature of the business.
Prefer the previous Big Al which is very similar to the new Marley. These hardtails make epic and super capable trail bikes but 160mm Enduro? I think they may be too compromised and if you need 160mm travel for your trails I'd imagine a dual suspension would make more sense. I've got a '22 Big Al that I use for 90% of riding and TBH even if it was slacker and more forked I wouldn't like to try the bigger hits without dual suspension. A big case on a hardtail absolutely destroys rear wheels and ankles whereas on a dual sus enduro bike it soaks most of the impact up.
I've just started riding HTs again and have a Cotic Bfe Max 29er. I sort of get the 'steel is real' bit but I was aching all over after a 12 mile ride round the Grizedale North Face trail in the UK last week. My rear wheel survived!
Just ordered a 2023 Ragley mmbop based on this video plus others….currently in the UK are on sale for £169 so a bargain…I have spare 150mm forks, Zee brakes, XT 11s gears so only need a wheelset and bearings to complete the build…..looking forward to riding this on the trails👍
Nice! I think you're going to love the Mmmbop. Once you build and get a couple of rides in let me know how you like it! Welcome to the Ragley family :)
The new frames look ok, but i see they kept the interupted seat tube meaning its hard to run a longer dropper, and the longer reaches are getting to long, i run a 170mm dropper on my large 2022 big al, but if i couldve got away with 200mm dropper then i would for sure👍
From my knowledge, almost all the Ragley complete builds in the past couple of years come with 50mm stems. I currently run a 50mm stem on my mullet Mmmbop and I have no complaints. I personally like the 50mm because the front of the bike stays compliant when you're going high speed on a downhill and the bike is still really flickable. I think it really depends on the trails you ride and your riding style. If you want the bike more stable at high speed then I'd go with the 50mm, but if you ride trails with a lot of tight turns, then I'd go with the 40mm.
Good work man nice vid, I’m riding a 2020 blue pig with a lyric ultimate fork and love that rig. I was thinking about getting the revised geo mmbop and swapping components but now you have me thinking mullet action. I would need a 29er fork and wheel .
The mullet is insane and in my opinion is more capable. If you have any buddies that have a 29" fork and wheel that you can borrow I recommend trying it out. Thanks for the comment!
