FIRST LOOK: RIDLEY’S NEW RAFT TR AND PROBE RS XC BIKES

Ridley is broadening their horizons by adding two new mountain bikes to their lineup. These new mountain bikes; the Probe RS, and the Raft TR enter them into waters they have yet to explore. Ridley’s previous mountain bike selection has been a no nonsense XC race approach with steep headangles, remote lockouts, and no dropper post. With this new selection you’ll find two bikes with a little bit more relaxed and modern geometry.

 

RIDLEY RAFT TR

 

The Raft TR is Ridley’s answer to the modern, 120mm travel XC bikes that have become so popular in recent years. This bike is equipped with an abundance of mounting points on the frame for any number bags or bottles you’ll need for whatever ride you’re conquering.

The Raft RL isn’t strictly a 120mm travel bike. You can make it a Raft XC  and bring it down to 100mm of travel by using a shock with a shorter stroke and a 100mm travel fork. The Raft RL has a headtube angle of 66.6 degrees and the Raft XC a headangle of 67.5 degrees. The have a seattube angle of 75.1 degrees and 76 degrees respectively.

Internal cable routing is used for all cables including the dropper post cable keeping the frame looking clean and orderly. A universal derailleur hanger or UDH is utilized on the Raft to keep replacing the normally hard to fine part easy to track down.

You will be able to completely customize your Raft using Ridley’s online configurator where you can choose between colors, group sets, and other components and accessories. It will be live on the online configurator in January of 2023. It will be available in sizes small to extra large.

 

RIDLEY PROBE RS

 

Ridley’s Probe is designed be be a modern XC bike that can be used to tackle gnarly climbs and fast descents alike. It’s steep seattube angle is designed to be efficient on any climb. The frame is designed to be as light as possible claiming to be only 760 grams in size medium.

The Probe is sold with a 100mm travel fork but is designed to be able to take up to a 120mm fork. This bike also comes with a dropper post for those moments where the trail gets rowdy. The Probe RS is equipped with 3 bottle cage positions with 2 on the inside and one on the downtube in front of the bottom bracket.

Ridley has designed this hardtail to be able to take on the steepest and most technical terrain and have given it a headtube angle of 68.5 degrees which is a degree and a half slacker than its predecessor. Like the Raft, this frame also uses a UDH to keep things simple. One interesting feature is the use of a flat-mount brake in the rear like a gravel bike as opposed to a post mount like a typical mountain bike.

 

CONTACT: www.ridley-bikes.com