Though UK-based Ragley Bikes is better known for its high-scoring hardtail mountain bikes, the brand says its Trig gravel bike has been a “firm favourite for a massively diverse group of riders” since it was first introduced in 2019.
Alongside the rest of the Ragley range, the Trig has been updated for 2021 and takes pride of place as this week’s Bike of the Week.
What is Bike of the Week?
Every week, we bring you a detailed first look at one of the latest bikes (or framesets) to arrive at BikeRadar HQ – from road to commuting, gravel to enduro, and anything in between.
This is our chance to introduce the bike and everything that makes it unique before hitting the road or trails.
Head to our Bike of the Week hub for previous editions.
The mountain bike influence can be clearly seen throughout the Trig.
To start, the bike’s low-slung 4130 Chromoly steel frameset rolls on 650b wheels, which are fitted with – in the context of gravel bikes – seriously chunky 47mm-wide WTB Sendero tyres.
These are the most aggressive gravel tyres in the brand’s range, giving the bike a very mountain bike-like silhouette.
If that isn’t quite enough for you, the bike will also accommodate tyres up to 2.1in wide (~54mm) on 650b wheels or 40mm wide on 700c wheels.
As well as generous tyre clearance, the Trig also features routing for a dropper post, with the cable entering at the base of the seat tube.
The 27.2mm diameter seat tube will limit choice a little, but the number of short-travel gravel/XC dropper posts in this size is increasing.
The bike is available in one complete build. This is based around a Shimano GRX 600 groupset set up in a 1× configuration. This sees a 42t chainring paired with an 11-42t cassette, giving ample climb-friendly range.
The bike uses bolt-on cable guides, which run along the underside of the down tube. Providing you aren’t using a dropper post, we reckon it would be possible to fit a 2× drivetrain with full-length housing should you wish.
The finishing kit comes from Ragley. The build as pictured will set you back £1,699.99.
| Frame size (cm) | 50 | 52 | 55 | 58 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Seat tube (mm) | 440 | 470 | 500 | 530 |
| Top tube, effective (mm) | 543 | 555 | 570 | 590 |
| Reach (mm) | 389 | 395 | 402 | 417 |
| Stack (mm) | 538 | 559 | 587 | 604 |
| Chainstay (mm) | 425 | 425 | 425 | 425 |
| Head tube (mm) | 105 | 125 | 155 | 173 |
| Head tube angle (degrees) | 69.5 | 70 | 70 | 70 |
| Seat tube angle (degrees) | 74 | 74 | 74 | 74 |
| Bottom bracket drop (mm) | 66 | 66 | 66 | 66 |
| Wheelbase (mm) | 1026 | 1035 | 1052 | 1073 |
Looking at the geometry, the headline figure is the slack 70-degree head angle across all sizes, except the smallest, which slackens out to 69.5 degrees (presumably to increase front-centre, and thus reduce the risk of toe overlap).
As we’ve remarked many times before, a 70-degree head angle wouldn’t have been unusual on a XC mountain bike a few short years ago. This is matched with a 74-degree seat angle.
On our size 58cm test bike, the reach is stretched out to 401mm.
The logic of extending reach on a mountain bike carries over to a shred-ready gravel bike – by increasing the reach while shortening the stem, your weight is more biased to the rear of the bike. This improves handling in steep terrain, where you are less pitched over the front wheel.
The 401mm figure isn’t the longest out there – for example, the size-large (56cm) Focus Atlas we tested a few weeks ago stretches things out to 410mm – but the Trig definitely sits in the progressive end of the gravel geometry spectrum.
Though it’s primarily designed as a trail-biased gravel bike, the Trig also has mounts for mudguards, as well as a rear pannier rack. There are also triple-boss cage mounts on the fork legs.
In the words of Ragley, the brand has “seen them fully loaded for multi-day adventures, shod with slicks as an urban commuter, or just ridden stock for local lockdown sanity missions”. With a few choice swaps, you could turn the Trig to most tasks.
With that in mind, if you prefer the idea of building up your own bike, the Trig – as with all of Ragley’s bikes – is available as a bare frameset for £649.99.
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