Pinnacle Ramin 3+: tell me everything

[redefined_cycles]

I understand Stu likes his except that its not steel and that Dave (sweary) reported on his at Phased but that link is dead. I'm soon to be the proud owner of one. Mainly cos I like to check out the frames that everyone else says are legendary and make up my own mind. Doubt I'll love it more than my Sonder but you never know...

Does look (the Ramin +) rather gorgeous and JamesO obviously knows a thing or two about bikes. I'm hoping I'll be able to chuck it up and down without a dropper (just get that feeling that it'll allow me to get my weight back). I know it'll be heavy and that the front rack looks cute. I hope to find some mini panniers to go on it so I'm carrying my gear up front.

What else do you know or have heard about these beauties. Like why on earth are folks riding a 29er front with the rear still 650b cos the 29 won't fit. Why is Mactheknife after the front 29er wheel so badly... Will I wanna keep it. Are them Ragley bars any good.

Anything and everything. I'm all ears as the best thing about buying a shiby new bike is the afore-hype and excitement. I hope to give it a thrashing for winter over the Peaks100 to compare timings with Stan (the Sonder)...

What should I call it. Bumblebee is taken for the Boardman and it doesnt look like a 'fly like butterfly... sting like bee'...

Look forward to the comments

[benp1]

I think everyone likes the bike because it's A BIKE. I don't mean that facetiously, I mean that's its just a good bike. It's not a gravel/enduro/adventure/marketing term bike. Doesn't try too hard to be anything in particular, very well priced, handles well, does a bit of everything, came as a rigid bike, is fairly adaptable with wheels etc

I'm not a fan of naming bikes, although my kids have annoyingly called my cargo bike "Colin", but surely this has to be called Noodle?

[Cheeky Monkey]

Agent Orange

Mullet builds usually make use of the better angle of attack from bigger wheels and extra tyre volume.

Whether it's worth it or you can tell the difference ...... can be a bit of a princess-and-pea thing.

[ledburner]

Donald.

it orange and is hyped. ..

[jameso]

Donald, ha...




Here's mine. Ramin 3+ in blue. It's been upgraded with the Sharpie work of Nepalese kids and it's a keeper. If I go back to Nepal or make it towards Concordia (next year's hope) it's the bike I'm taking, to collect more signatures. Plus its a fun bike for this kind of thing and it's already trashed cosmetically from 2 12hr trips on a jeep roof along typical Nepal mountain 'roads'.

Shaf, I think you might be suprised by the weight - it's no flyweight XC race but it's pretty light for a budget 29er.
29+ front has a double-whammy effect on the front end handling, it adds steering trail since the front is higher/slacker and the wheel OD is larger. It'll feel a fair bit slacker/floppier/more stable with a 29 x 3" up front though I've not tried it. It's not the stiffest fork (intentionally) so how it feels with such a big wheel I'm not sure.
A 29 x 2.5 front and a 27.5 x 2.8 rear could be a fun combo. The Moto-Mullet. Having an EBB helps make adjustments that keep things in check - steeper effective seat angle, lower BB etc.

I hope to find some mini panniers to go on it so I'm carrying my gear up front.

Funnily enough I have a Tubus lowrider on mine at the mo, was wondering about that for the next trip.

[Bearlegged]

It's been upgraded with the Sharpie work of Nepalese kids

Love this bit!

[jameso]

It's been upgraded with the Sharpie work of Nepalese kids

Love this bit!

The dog by Pasang is a highlight : )
Wondered if we'd started a fun game for the kids there - people in future would park bikes or leave rucksacks outside a teahouse and come back to find them covered in drawings

[redefined_cycles]

Right... so... I'm beginning to like it even more already. Clink (I'd planned to move it on to him once my fun was over) and Mactheknife (wants the 29er front wheel which I had planned to sell on straight forth to save me some cash... I'm treating it like the 'bulldozer, minimal spent bike you see) might not be happy

New bikes - especially ones you can grafiti all over - getting (over) excited already. About the fork... I don't plan on swapping em out as that'd cost money. Glad you've not made em to be 'stiff' (what a stupid word for bikes and long distwnce teavelling) James as I thought I'd done my time on rigids. Five years across about 3 different forks just for that extra feel when I finally came back to suspension.

I'm all ears. Looking forward to hearing more. Whatever you like to share. Benp1, good point about 'it's a bike' and just does the job well. Why can't all these trashy (I'm thinking rubbish like Cervelo, OPEN up etc) companies take a leaf of that and stop charging extra 2 grands for a load of trash (sorry, I said that twice and I don't include the bike cooperatives/indy builders like IndyFab/Jones/MOOTS etc in that)...

Really excited and looking forward to stashing it at my mates cellar until I manage to make space at home...

[redefined_cycles]

NB... Dan, It's not a Donald... Nor is it a Noodle. Looks more like a 'I'm quiet but if you mess I'll punch yer face in... and oh, I can bench 95kg' type of bike... 'Stomper'(bit chavvy but you get my drift)... Maybe I should ask over at STw

[Bearbonesnorm]

Ben's right. There's something about it that just 'works'. There's no whistles, bells or fancy tech' but the whole is far greater than the sum of its parts.

[redefined_cycles]

Donald, ha...




Here's mine. Ramin 3+ in blue. It's been upgraded with the Sharpie work of Nepalese kids and it's a keeper. If I go back to Nepal or make it towards Concordia (next year's hope) it's the bike I'm taking, to collect more signatures. Plus its a fun bike for this kind of thing and it's already trashed cosmetically from 2 12hr trips on a jeep roof along typical Nepal mountain 'roads'.

Shaf, I think you might be suprised by the weight - it's no flyweight XC race but it's pretty light for a budget 29er.
29+ front has a double-whammy effect on the front end handling, it adds steering trail since the front is higher/slacker and the wheel OD is larger. It'll feel a fair bit slacker/floppier/more stable with a 29 x 3" up front though I've not tried it. It's not the stiffest fork (intentionally) so how it feels with such a big wheel I'm not sure.
A 29 x 2.5 front and a 27.5 x 2.8 rear could be a fun combo. The Moto-Mullet. Having an EBB helps make adjustments that keep things in check - steeper effective seat angle, lower BB etc.

I hope to find some mini panniers to go on it so I'm carrying my gear up front.

Funnily enough I have a Tubus lowrider on mine at the mo, was wondering about that for the next trip.

Is this some 29er wheels James. Looks nice and fast in that guise.

[Jurassic]

I went with the Ramin 1 (which is very similar afaik but came as a 29er and without the EBB). I already have a fat bike so couldn't see the point of b+ for my usage. It's been a great bike, I mainly use it for bikepacking and as an off-road commuter. I ditched the rigid fork fairly early on for a budget RS Gold 30 and have no regrets with that decision (YMMV) and it's gone from 1x9 to 2x9. I sometimes wish it was a bit slacker so it'd make a better trail bike but when you have miles to cover it works really well. I may sell it soon as I'm waiting for 29er wheels for my fat bike and hope that they will make that the all-rounder that the Ramin isn't quite (my fat bike has relatively progressive geometry) but it'll depend on how that experiment goes.

[jameso]

Is this some 29er wheels James. Looks nice and fast in that guise.

Yes, The 3Plus bike on WTB 29er wheels. I'm just happy on and well used to 29ers. In B+ format it was easier-rolling over rocky or hard-baked byways, just felt softer and a bit less accurate/agile than a 29er. It had me looking at my Jones spaceframe at 5x the price and realising all the spaceframe really did was give me the B+ comfort and 29er accuracy in the same package. Was never sure if I was happy with the Ramin for that for not

As Jurassic says, the Ramin was fairly nimble or XC in its geometry, like the Jones - about 69-70 deg HTA sort of handling.

[Dave Barter]

I understand Stu likes his except that its not steel and that Dave (sweary) reported on his at Phased but that link is dead. I'm soon to be the proud owner of one. Mainly cos I like to check out the frames that everyone else says are legendary and make up my own mind. Doubt I'll love it more than my Sonder but you never know...

Afraid I killed my Wordpress site with fire and have yet to reinstate the old articles.

In summary it was a real eye opener for me when living in Wiltshire. I loved the semi-fatness which allowed a lot more clag riding than on any other bike. Sadly mine will have to go soon as it lives at my Mum's house which has been sold. I don't have room down here.

Can I ask that you don't go drilling it ;-)

[redefined_cycles]

Drilling an alu frame ... who would do such an absurd thing

[firestarter]

I've got one though with being ill and then busy with covid I've not ridden for ages

I really like it , I like it plus and I also really like it as a 29er I've also just picked up a 29x3 front to try in it, ive swapped to jones bars and a bigger cassette but think that's it

I had a jones spaceframe and this and needed to sell a bike I kept this and sold the jones, the jones was lovely and comfortable and very precise, the truss fork is something else but it didn't do it that much more than than the ramin if I'm honest and it made sense to keep the ramin, plus it fitted my bike rack much better and was perhaps less nickable lol

Enjoy mate

[redefined_cycles]

So I'm gonna assume these are full quick release?? Reason why I ask is to review whether I can afford to let one of the front wheels go. Don't wanna faff about trying to replace a quick release front hub further down the line as I assume they'll slowly become obsolete...

[Bearbonesnorm]

I don't think QR hubs will vanish for quite some time Shaf - if at all.

I think Mick's right - when I was testing mine, I couldn't help but draw comparisons to other bikes. Many costing way more than the Ramin, yet they appeared to perform no better in most regards. Something else that made me realise how 'good' it is, was when Dee took it down the village to feed the neighbours cat. She struggles to ride these days due to knackered knees / hip but returned saying it was the easiest bike to ride that she'd ever ridden as it seemed to ride itself with very little input required ... or something like that but you'll see.

[redefined_cycles]

Compliments to the chef (our Jameso)... It's an interesting story trying to ethically collect a bike and bits, 200 miles away mid-lockdown... I'll do a special report on it which hipefully includes 2 rides without any gear of my own and possibly 1 borrowed bike

Thanks everyone for your input and who knows... I might just have found my '1 bike' which I previously thought was Stan...

I'm calling the bike Butcher btw...

[benp1]

You do know that Clint is not a good name right? That's the name you give someone who's a bit of a $&*£

[redefined_cycles]

Yes.. I had the feeling. I was thinking of Clink (sorry) who lead me to it or Clint (the Eastwood)... Anyway, just finished night shift and names already been reviewed and ammended. Butcher is the new Clint (if you know what I mean... )

[redefined_cycles]

Just took it for its first ride. Had some tyre inflation issues so the actual ride only lasted about 3 miles and the rest a walk back to start.

I think I understand why people love it so much. Needs a few tweaks and can see myself getting out on it instead of the Sonder (time will tell). Planning on running it 29er flavour if I can find the right wheelset on a decent budget.

Feels like its very chuckable too and definitely won't need a dropper post Thanks again Hoprocker. Really appreciated all the little gestures and donating me your helmet and gloves. The pump (though you got it for £1) is vaguely exciting and really saved the day....

If anyone has any apps or sites to optimise the EBB for my needs then I'm all ears...

[redefined_cycles]

Might have only ridden it for 3 miles but managed to (reluctantly) get some mud on it. Just how the engineer designed it to be...

[Bearbonesnorm]

If anyone has any apps or sites to optimise the EBB for my needs then I'm all ears...

Just play with the position and see what suits you Shaf. Remember that putting it with the BB at 6 o'clock will lower the C of G at the possible expense of pedal strikes. I tend to run them at 3 o'clock as I find my ebb equipped bikes provide more grip on loose techy climbs in that position ... others may not

[redefined_cycles]

Yes... 3 o clock was what had come to my mind naturally. From the POV of it providing most torque when pushibg the pedals (I'm assuming). Thanks Stu... Good (and honest) reviews as always btw