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Raft

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Are you ready to shred? Ridley is! Meet the Raft, Ridley’s new full suspension mountain bike.

The Raft climbs confidently, descends aggressively, flies through flowy singletracks and absolutely shreds on rough and rowdy trails. The Raft is the perfect trail shredder and is ready to accompany you on all your off- road escapades.

With the Raft it’s time to start shredding trails and pushing your limits. This all-round full suspension mountain bike is carefully designed for a mix between cross country and down country. It is made for performance and designed to conquer rough terrain: it’s fast, agile and reactive, yet it’s well balanced and stable.

The Raft is a very versatile mountain bike that combines cross country with trail riding. Due to its advanced geometry it rides fast with well-balanced handling. It’s ready to race, but can also be used on long rides and is even suitable for off-road bikepacking. With the large number of mounting points and a second bottle cage mount on the seat tube, the Raft can be adapted to suit your next ride. This bike is engineered to be the Swiss army knife of modern day cross country mountain biking.

History

The mountain bike market is ever changing. Today a cross country full suspension mountain bike can tackle much rougher terrain than the bikes that came on the market a couple of years ago. The reason for this is mainly the modified geometry of these bikes and technological advances in components (like a dropper post, better dampers and suspension forks).

The Raft is Ridley’s answer to those changes. It’s got all features of modern full suspension cross country mountain bikes: it’s aggressive yet outstandingly capable and controlled in a lightweight and efficient package.

Ridley is releasing two versions of the Raft, leaving no trail unridden. The Raft XC is equipped with 100mm travel suspension, which makes it a performance focused mountain bike. It’s light and agile and therefore very suitable for flowy single tracks. It also covers ground extremely fast and is great for climbing, but still lets you charge down descents. For riders that love to send it on more technical trails, the Raft TR is a match made in heaven. With 120mm travel suspension this bike is the perfect companion for more rocky and rougher terrain.

Geometry

The geometry is incredibly versatile and it makes the Raft the perfect partner in crime for all your races and offroad escapades. The Raft features our Advanced Position Geometry (APG), which means that the geometry is fully adapted to the intended use of the bicycle and the terrain. The geometry of the Raft is specifically developed for steep and rugged terrain. You can race, tour or go bikepacking with it.

With a head tube angle of 66.6 for the Raft TR (120mm spec), you’re sure to have full control over the bike while riding fast, steep, technical trails. While the 67.5 degree head tube angle on the Raft XC (100mm spec) sharpens up the handling for fast paced aggressive cross country riding. The Raft XC has got a seat tube angle of 76 degrees on the Raft TR the seat angle is 75 degrees. This steeper seat angle allows you to keep your body position further forward for tackling steep climbs.

Wheel travel options

The rear wheel travel can be modified by varying the rear shock stroke length. A 40mm stroke RockShox SIDluxe damper will result in 100mm of rear wheel travel, while a 45mm stroke RockShox Deluxe damper is used for 120mm of travel.

Out front the rear wheel travel is matched with either a 100mm travel SID SL fork or a 120mm SID fork with 35mm stanchions.

Weight

Ridley’s Research and Development department has developed the frame with a low frame weight in mind. The weight of an unpainted frame is 1750 grams in size medium. The weight of a Raft TR with an XX1 build kit is 11,5 kg in size L.

Raft in details

Mounting points

The Raft is specifically designed for racing and long rides. Therefore the frame features several mounting points to accommodate bottle and accessories placements. This allows you to ride pack free or carry more items on longer rides. The Raft has a total of nine mounting points (for sizes M,L,XL). There are five on the down tube (three in size small). The seat tube is equipped with two mounting points as well. This ensures that you can fit two bottle cages and a tool pack/spare tube inside the front triangle (sizes M, L, XL). On top of the top tube there are two more mounting points. These can be used for a top tube bag, a toolkit or for mounting other accessories, like a battery pack.

Internal cable routing

The Raft has internal cable routing, which gives the bike a clean look and keeps the cables and hoses out of harm’s way. This technology isn’t used to make the mountain bike more aero as it is done on Ridley road bikes. Instead, it’s used to protect the cables from dirt and to minimize friction. Moreover, they won’t get snagged when riding overgrown single tracks or rough and rugged trails.
Universal Derailleur Hanger (UDH)

No more hassle when trying to replace your derailleur hanger! You don’t need to worry if you have a broken derailleur hanger after a crash when you’re riding on different terrains and in different places in the world. With the Universal Derailleur Hanger (UDH), you’re assured to find a replacement effortlessly. Nearly every bike dealer has a UDH in stock nowadays, so you’ll be on your way again in an instant.

Customize your Raft

You can completely customize your Raft with Ridley’s online configurator. Use the configurator to build your dream mountain bike. Choose your preferred design, colors, group set, components, wheels, tires, saddle and accessories. The Raft will go live on our online configurator in January 2023.

Availability

The Raft will be available in spring 2023.

Raft XC

Raft XC

The lightweight Raft XC is a full suspension MTB with 100mm suspension travel. Its 100mm rear suspension is designed with performance in mind, a remote lock out lets you sprint with direct power transfer to the rear wheel. The agile handlebars and steep seat angle guarantee razor-sharp handling and power transfer. Thanks to the longer wheelbase and slacker headtube angle, you won't lose time on descents either.

Discover the Raft XC

Raft TR

Raft TR

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Discover the Raft TR
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