Testberichte
BIKETEST: 4 BIKES - TRAIL-SMASHING HARDTAILS – MBUK 09/2020
28.09.2020
RADON‘s direct-to-consumer sales model means the CRAGGER boasts a full house of branded parts that you‘d expect to see on a bike costing a grand more, but is its geometry equally impressive?
THE FRAME
Unless you inspected the CRAGGER‘s sleek aluminium tubes and found the smooth welds, you‘d think it was carbon fibre. Cables can be routed externally or internally, and you get a press-fit BB shell, front mech mount and two sets of bottle bosses (one more than the other bikes here). The large size sports a 464mm reach, 1,218mm wheelbase and short 433mm chainstays. At 326mm the BB is fairly high, while the 646mm top tube and 461mm seat tube are pretty long. The head angle sits at 65 degrees, while the seat angle is 74 degrees. Overall, the geometry is quite progressive, but the long seat tube seems a bit at odds with the rest of the figures. WHEELSET BRAKES HANDLEBAR STEM CRANK SEATPOST PRICE
THE KIT
For the price , the CRAGGER‘s spec isn‘t far off perfect. The DVO Sapphire fork is a boutique offering with 130mm of travel and plenty of adjustment (high- and low-speed compression damping, rebound and OTT negative- spring preload). SRAM‘s mid-range 12-speed GX Eagle drivetrain is a notable step up in quality from the NX Eagle kit on the Ragley and Saracen, and you get a Race Face bar and stem, and SDG Tellis dropper feels premium, with a really smooth action. Excellent DT Swiss M 1700 Spline wheels are wrapped in a Maxxis Minion DHF/DHR ll combo, both in a 3C MaxxTerra compound with EXO+ casings. These came set up tubeless on our test bike, so there was slightly less heft to get rolling. The Magura MT Trail Custom brakes mix a four-piston calliper on the front with a two-pot one on the rear. Our front brake‘s piston seals failed on the first descent, evacuating its oil onto rotor. RADON say that if this were to happen to a customer, they‘d have three options, all at no cost - get it fixed by one of RADON‘s service partners, have a new brake fitted at the bike shop of their choice or send the whole bike back to RADON to be mended. It‘s likely this was a one-off issue, as the rear brake performed impressively for the duration of the test.
THE RIDE
Those long top and seat tubes force a stretched-out climbing position that‘s great for putting the power down but puts more relaxed ascending off the cards. This is amplified by the 800mm bar. On paper, the large size‘s 464mm reach sits at the shorter end of our tester‘s comfort zone, but on the trail the bike felt big. Its geometry seems a little confused, mixing elements from the XC race bikes and hardcore trail bikes. However, the aggressive position and low weight enable sprightly progress with little perceptible power loss. The RADON feels taut rather than clattery over uneven ground, and the 29in wheels improve rollover, but going fast over harsh terrain isn‘t the most comfortable experience. On the descents, the CRAGGER is a real bruiser. While not the smoothest bike on test, it‘s a capable and confident descender that‘s fairly easy to control, despite giving our testers a bit of a beating at high speeds. That control is helped by the fantastic DVO fork, with its host of easy-to-tune adjustments. The OTT feature lets you tune in and improve front-end grip without compromising bottomout resistance and support, reducing weight transfer and loading onto the fork when braking in steep sections. Unfortunately, the long seat tube meant we struggled to get the seatpost low enough to stop it brushing our backsides on the descents. Because the tube ist straight, we see no reason why it couldn‘t be shortened. The CRAGGER is a hard-charging hardtail with a spec that‘d be at home on a bike costing 1000 pound more and fairly progressive geometry. But it‘s not without its faults, and if you‘ve got short legs or prefer cruising the climbs, it may not fit the bill.“
VERDICT:
„SPEED-FOCUSED HARDTAIL WITH GOOD HANDLING AND A GREAT SPEC THAT‘S BEST FOR HARDER-CHARGING RIDERS“
