IT’S NEW BIKE DAY!!! The Ibis RIPMO 2

Check out the new Ripmo 2

I haven’t actually received any information about this bike from Ibis, so I’ll give you my own impressions before I get any influence from their official announcements.

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I first started riding my Ripmo Carbon in February of 2018. I rode that off and on until summer 2019, then during yet another injury, built up a Ripmo AF. I ended up getting really stoked on that AF! A big part of that has been the addition of my Trust shout fork, as that fork is 13mm taller than the fox 36. While I enjoyed riding with the Fox 36, the extra height of the Shout made the AF even more enjoyable for me. I do prefer the higher BB , higher bars, and slacker head angle of the bigger fork. As far as I’ve heard, the new Ripmo has the same geo and suspension as the AF, so I’m in no hot hurry to go back to a smaller fork.

Back in carbon-to-carbon comparisons, the geometry of the Ripmo 2 feels better than the old Ripmo Carbon. It feels better in just about every situation to me and if I had to be more precise, I would say the slacker head angle and more progressive rear suspension provided a more balanced feel than the original Ripmo. The most noticeable trait to me is that the bike is easier to change direction on the trail. It’s hard to pin point why that is, but I’ll bet it’s due to the weight, the shock I have on there, and the slightly torsionally stiffer frame feel.

Cornering is also much improved over the original Ripmo. The slacker head angle is great, and with the taller fork, it’s right in the sweet spot for me. While I did not try the bike with a stock 160 fork, I would hypothesize that a 1 degree slacker angleset could be a nice upgrade for anyone with an off-the-back rear steer style like me.

The rear suspension on the Ripmo AF feels good- it’s progressive, and the bike has a lot of traction. I rarely notice the rear suspension. However the Carbon Ripmo 2 feels better. I think it’s primarily from the DPX2 shock that I’m using, along with the .6 light blue volume reducer. I’m happier with this over the X2 on the AF. To me it almost feels as though there is more travel on tap with the Carbon V2 compared to the AF. I think that part of this is the more open tune of the DPX2 shock, as it feels noticeably less damped than the X2. Traction is improved with this set up, and with less high speed compression, I can compress the rear end more on my own when I need to- such as to power slide the back of the bike through a corner.

I’m stoked I’m able to fit a 200mm dropper on here, and also stoked about the full length dropper cable routing, which is an improvement over the Carbon V1 Ripmo. The ISCG tabs are great and I’m running an E13 chainguide and bash taco.

There’s so little to complain about with this bike. While the rear brake hose is routed internally, which is a hassle when you smash a lever while on a trip, it also means that you don’t need a single zip tie when building this bike up. Most folks don’t destroy parts as often as me, so that new routing is probably more of a positive than a negative for many, but hey, this is my article!

The bottom bracket is still on the low side, which helps a lot with handling, but it can also lead to more pedal strikes than slightly higher bikes. My filmer Logan is a great rider- he’s won enduro races in the expert class- and was following me when he clipped a pedal on a small rock and actually wrecked the XTR crank arm in the process. That was with 170mm cranks. I’m now running 165mm cranks. While I only have a few days on these cranks, they have been in rocky Sedona, Arizona, and I’ve enjoyed the additional clearance. The slightly lower foot speed per given cadence is nice as well. I’d recommend 165mm cranks going forwards.