Road and Gravel Plus. These are the words that aren’t necessary a first connotation with NS Bikes. Nevertheless, there you have it - a dirt bike brand making a drop bar bike. It may seem strange but actually there is a reason. Most guys in our company ride bikes every day. All sorts of bikes. Not just mountain bikes but also road, CX and commuters. We felt the need to make a drop bar bike that would be in line with our MTB heritage and NS philosophy. Having spent thousands of hours on drop bar bikes we knew exactly what mountain bikers want from this kind of ride. Honestly we believe that we know how to make a gravel bike better than a traditional roadie brand would. For starters, dirt, offroad and heavy abuse are our daily bread. Things like 1X drivetrains and hydraulic disc brakes are simply the norm, not some kind of freaky contraption.
So you know why RAG, but why “plus”? Mostly because of wheels. You can ride it on 700C wheels equipped with 40C tires which makes it kind of road fat bike, or even with 27.5 MTB wheels with tires as big as 2.2, so you can take the bike even for a trip in a roughest terrain.
The dropped chainstay on the drive side eliminates the conflict between a fat mountain bike tires and a road size chainring - you can fit in anything up to 50T in the front - so there’s virtually unlimited range of wheels/drivetrain combinations that you can joggle, depending on where and how you want to ride. The geometry is aggressive, which makes you wanna push the pedals harder and corner faster, but at the same time comfortable enough to keep you smiling during a whole day trip.
The bike spec feature all the latest technologies implemented in drop bar world - 1x drivetrain with wide range cassette, hydraulic disc brakes, carbon gravel plus fork, thru-axles and a fat tire, tubeless ready wheelset. The RAG+ is perfect for anyone who wants to grind gravel roads, do CX races, commute (fast!), seek biking adventure. Despite it’s primarily an offroad bike, you easily can do classic road riding on it! Hell, if you're hard enough, take the bike for some jumping action. And let’s not forget - it looks like an absolute beast! This is first drop bar bike designed for core MTB riders.
RAG+ specification:
Frame: NS Bikes 6061 T6 custom formed and butted tubes, 142x12 dropouts, fat tire clearance
Fork: NS Gravel+ carbon fork, 15mm dropouts, NS thru axle
Headset: NS Bikes integrated tapered IS42/52, sealed
Stem: NS Bikes RAG+ stem, 90/110mm
Handlebar: Zipp Service Course 70-Ergo
Bartape: Fizik
Brakes: SRAM Apex hydraulic disc, 160mm rear & front
Shifter: SRAM Apex 11spd
Derailleur: SRAM Apex, 1x11spd
Bottom bracket: Truvativ GXP 73mm
Cranks: SRAM S350 1x X-SYNC™ 42t, 170/175mm
Chain: KMC, 11 spd
Cassette: SRAM PG-1130 11 speed 11-42t
Rims: Alex Draw 2.1P Asymmetrical, 32h, tubless ready
Hubs: NS Rotary 15 disc (sealed bearing), NS Rotary Cassette 142 (sealed bearings)
Spokes: double butted w/ 14mm nipples
Tires: Panaracer Gravel King SK 70x40c, brown side-walls
Seatpost: Kalloy 30.9
Saddle: Octane One Rocket w/hollow cromoly rails
Weight: ~9.9* kg (M size, w/o pedals)
For more details visit the RAG+ product page.
Photos: Piotr Staroń
Video: High Story Studio
