Today, Ridley has launched not one but two mountain bikes… Or perhaps even three depending on how you look at it. Now introduced into the brand’s range are the Probe RS and Raft bikes, the former taking the role as the cross country hardtail and the latter being a full suspension bike aimed towards techy trail and fast-paced cross country riding. Here are all of the details.
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Kicking things off with the Raft, it’s Ridley’s new full-suspension mountain bike that’s said to climb as efficiently as it descends. It’s designed to straddle the fine line between cross country and trail, making it capable of rough terrain while retaining its speed and reactive but stable handling.
Ridley says the Raft is ready to race, thanks to its advanced geometry, but is similarly at home on longer bikepacking excursions, too. The brand even claims that it’s the Swiss army knife of modern cross country biking.
The Raft uses what’s dubbed Advanced Position Geometry (or APG for short) which means that Ridley has adapted the geometry toward the bike’s intended use. As such, the Raft is shaped especially for steep and chunky terrain. It has a 66.6-degree head tube angle in its TR specification and that’s paired with a 75-degree seat tube angle. There’s a 435mm chainstay and a large frame gets a 459mm reach.
Upping the Raft’s versatility is that it also comes in an XC version that runs 100mm of suspension front and rear (whereas the TR offers 120mm). The XC model gets slightly steeper angles with a 67.5-degree head tube angle and 76-degree seat tube angle. The reach then lengthens to 468.5mm on a large frame.
Something that’s very handy with the TR and XC models of the Raft is that both use the very same frame. To achieve two travel options, Ridley has specced two different shock sizes. The XC uses a shock with a 40mm stroke and the TR employs a shock with a 45mm stroke. Of course, it’s then just a matter of swapping forks. This means that you can have one bike that’ll please those who relish a rip through the local but also like to roll up to the start line of a cross country event.
Ridley furthers the Raft’s racing and long ride direction thanks to its array of mounting points, with a total of nine dotted around the frame. The bike also gets internal cable routing, a Universal Derailleur Hanger and the Raft can be customised thanks to Ridley’s online configurator. This lets potential customers choose the colour and componentry to their own tastes.
But we shouldn’t forget about the Probe RS. This bike is a super lightweight cross country hardtail with an EU-produced carbon fibre frame, aimed toward the hardtail purists.
Like the Raft, the Probe RS features Ridley’s AGP geometry concept with a shape that’s designed to tackle steep and technical climbs combined with planted handling at speed. With a 100mm travel fork (although it can happily accommodate a 120mm fork) the Probe RS gets a 68.5-degree head tube angle, a 76-degree seat tube on a large, along with a 455mm reach. The chainstay is 430mm.
Much like the new Cervelo cross country bike launched earlier today, Ridley claims that the Probe RS’s weight is class-leading. An unpainted, size medium frame tips the scales at 760 grams, says the brand.
The Probe RS comes with a handful of features such as accommodation for up to three bottle cages and compatability for a droper post. Just like the Raft, the Probe RS can be configured to customise it to the buyer’s liking.
Prices for the new Ridley Probe RS start at £4,000 and go up to £4,400 while prices for the Raft start at £3,900 and top out at £4,600.
