I find myself not riding my Ragley Bluepig that often despite it being a sick bike. It unfortunately just feels very slow compared to all my other bikes, but I keep under-biking my gravel bike pretty hard and would love to have something more capable. I was wondering if anyone has any thoughts / experiences around upgrading an aggressive hardtail with better components and faster tires and maybe lower the bars a bit to get a “faster” bike or pull the trigger on one of my dream bikes of a Fairlight Holt 2.0 XC mountain bike. Looking at it on bike insights the geometries really aren’t that different but I realize some fast 29 xc tires and high end components will probably put it closer to a gravel bike. It feels wrong to kinda make the Ragley a xc bike with its slack HT angle, but building up the Holt will likely be 4k and while I probably have the money I’m trying to ride more than spend more. Am I just putting lipstick on a (blue)pig or should I just make some upgrades?
by Mindless_experiment
13 Comments
Tires will be the defining factor. Do that first and reevaluate.
The clock doesn’t lie though…my aggressive hardtail is faster up and down than my Enduro bike, it just gets sketchy sooner ;). I’d like to keep riding so the hardtail is a XC bike. Tera ail Eh line semi slicks are my TOC for that one
It is way faster downhill monstercross is fun in a rock garden but the same trail on a real MTB, hard tail or no, is a whole different ride.
Geometry means you can send it without dying.
I went from under biking my gravel bike to over biking a full sus. Heavier and slower on flats and uphill but I’m constantly amazed what it does going downhill flowy or giant rocks bike just goes. Makes me feel weak and scared LOL.
I have a Santa Cruz Tallboy (carbon fiber, high-end suspension at 140mm/128mm) and a brand-new Surly Sorceress (steel, high-end 150mm fork). I’m setting new PRs everywhere on the Surly.
Question: Are you riding trails that merit an aggressive hardtail?
Tires first, then decide if it’s actually the bike or just the setup holding you back, but honestly if you’re constantly reaching for the gravel bike instead you probably already know the answer.
I guess “fast where?” Is my question. In the road, sure a gravel bike is going to be faster. If you’re doing some more nasty trails and riding over dirt and looser soil, this is probably going to be the solid choice. Just having suspension up front is going to make it more capable over rougher terrain than any gravel bike.
Even a XC hardtail with race geometry, like an Orbea Alma, will be 2-3 km/h slower than a gravel bike on flat terrain due to aerodynamics: 740mm vs. 400mm handlebars and a very similar cockpit height and weight. It’s a fast machine over gravel terrain…not so good on real trails.
However, an enduro hardtail like the Bluepig is 3-4 kg heavier than both, has wider handlebars, a much more relaxed riding position (this is the key), and wider tires. The difference in speed on flat terrain will perhaps be another 4-5 km/h with the Alma! It will definitely feel slower than a gravel bike, regardless of the component upgrades you make, it’s a matter of aerodynamics!
A Holt, love that bike, has a riding position and weight in the middle point between your Bluepig and a race XC bike as the Alma. 2-3Km/h faster maybe?
Tyres have no so much effect on speed once you are out of the asphalt. The key is how much air resistance you are creating with your body once you are over 25Km/h / 15mph.
Where I live there’s no bike parks, proper trails or long gravel paths, we ride on natural trails in the mountains, and all you see are XCs (HTs but mainly carbon FS) with riders in full spandex kits. No gravel bikes off roads and simple paths along the river. And man, most of those guys ride fast as hell!
Maybe an Epic HT, the Procaliber or and Alma will be closer to what you are looking for.
Hardcore hardtails are really only going to ever feel fast on downhills in my opinion
When you said fast, I thought you meant fast down a rock garden or Enduro dh line. It took me a bit and realized that you meant fast one smooth terrain. I thought you were comparing it to a super Enduro bike going down hill at first.
Try tires first. It not, sell the bike. Your typical is obviously not what this bike is intended for if you actually care about speed on the road.
Send it down some steep and gnarly mountain trails, it will be plenty fast, much faster than a gravel bike.
That thing was not built for flat riding.
I’m on a ragley big al 1.0, it handles everything I’m capable of throwing it, it blasts through black and red trails, i absolutely love it.
I have the same issue with my bike. I ride a Dartmoor Hornet with a mullet built – 27,5 at the back and 29 at the front. Some rough tyres. I wanted an enduro bike because they’re more robust than xc and feel better with the low head angle. Problem is it turns out I ride more on flat asphalt and my bike feels slow and heavy compared to my friends’ lower class xc bikes. Good thing is that makes it a good endurance workout. Bad thing is I don’t feel like riding long distances even though I often think about that. Maybe soon I’ll change the tyres to xc style ones and hope for the best.
Point bike downhill and try as hard as you can to not touch the brakes
If that’s not your thing you should sell and buy an xc bike
It’s all about the use case. I’ve got the same bike as you, sat on 160mm pike. Riding tame single-track would generally always be faster on a gravel bike or a more xc-geo hard tail. But as soon as you introduce jumps and steeper terrain it’s flipped and those bikes become ‘slow’. There’s no such thing as a single bike that will be fastest in every category or scenario, which is why I have seven….
https://preview.redd.it/an5eee2vvt3h1.jpeg?width=4000&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=d623f61a4aa50d7f79c002027d4cc42eb49af43d