Ibis Ripmo 3 Review

“It tickles me in a way no new bike has for a while.” That was my first impression of the new Ibis Ripmo two months ago. Not a particularly useful conclusion, I know, but sometimes we just take an intuitive liking to a bike. The question left unanswered was, of course, why did I like it? And would the tickling last beyond the first few rides? Here we are two months later to tell you everything about riding the new Ripmo.

The first impressions article has all the details like geometry and specs but here’s a recap of the key features:

• 160 mm front, 150 mm rear travel (DW-link)
• 29" wheels (MX-compatible via flip chip)
• Five sizes (S-M-XM-L-XL) with "size-specific everything"
• Internal frame storage

Digging a little deeper, size-specific bottom bracket heights (clearance increases going up in the size range) stand out as a unique feature. At the same time, the chainstays only grow 5 mm across the entire range. As a result, the size Large Ripmo tested here has a relatively high bottom bracket and relatively short chainstays. As it turns out, these play a big role in defining the bike’s character.

Before we dive in, I’ll add my usual disclaimer. I’m not an expert rider and I never tested the limits of the Ripmo. However, I found it an easy bike to understand and think I got a good grasp of its character on the trail and how it rides in different types of terrain.

Setup

Ibis suggests 25-30% sag for the rear shock and after some experimentation, I settled on 30%. Starting from the recommended damper settings, the Float X only needed a touch more rebound damping to feel spot on. The rear suspension is sensitive around the sag point but ramps up deeper in the travel, resulting in a smooth ride with plenty of support.

Getting the new Grip X damper in the Fox 36 fork where I wanted it took more time. I ended up with a relatively soft air spring (~28% sag, Ibis suggests 18-25%) and fast rebound. Compared to the outgoing Grip 2 damper I’m very familiar with, I found the low and high speed compression adjustment range on the Grip X more useful. However, the lack of high speed rebound adjustment was noticeable. We’ll get back to the fork’s performance in a bit.

The Large Ripmo fit my 187 cm (6’2”) frame well and immediately felt comfortable and familiar. With three of the five spacers under the 50 mm stem, and the saddle in a neutral position, the stock cockpit worked well for me.

Riding Impressions - Climbing

On the way up, the Ripmo feels very energetic, somehow combining an efficient pedalling platform with loads of traction. It seems to inject a little extra forward momentum into every pedal stroke.

Logging roads and smooth climb trails are dealt with efficiently and the Ripmo eats technical climbs for lunch. The rear suspension moves easily around the sag point and, together with the 2.5 inch Maxxis DHR2, provides impressive traction.

On complex technical climbing moves, I found it easier to distribute my weight over the bike compared to bikes with a similar front-centre but a longer rear-centre. The higher bottom bracket reduces the need to time pedal strokes with precision to clear obstacles.

Bottom line, the Ripmo is among the best climbing bikes I’ve ridden in this segment.

Cross country

Due to its efficient pedalling and snappy handling, the Ripmo does surprisingly well on rolling and meandering XC-style trails. I took it on a bunch of different XC-ish rides and had a lot of fun. The suspension handles rooty slow-tech trails well and the abundance of travel didn’t get in the way on the smoother trails.

Descending

Going down, I’d describe the Ripmo’s character as lively and engaging. I found its handling more intuitive than similar bikes I’ve ridden recently.

The Ripmo is a hoot on fast flow and light to medium tech. It’s easy to maneuver and make split-second direction changes. The short rear end takes very little effort to move around and loves to drift. It also makes unweighting the front end easy.

I was most surprised by how well the Ripmo tackles slow, steep B.C. gnar. The generous clearance and knowing I could pull off a split-second line change, noticeably increased my confidence on intimidating trail sections.

The Ripmo doesn’t feel as planted as many other bikes in this segment now do, and this is most apparent on fast, rough descents. The rear end feels a touch nervous and the suspension is supportive but not super forgiving. To be clear, I still found the Ripmo stable enough and riding it in fast chunky terrain was fun and arguably more exciting than on a super calm bike.

Personally, I’m finding many bikes too stable now and it seems I’m not alone. Even some enduro pros prefer a more agile bike, at least for some courses. In fact, Greg Callaghan chose the Ripmo over the HD6 to ride the World Cup in Loudenvielle and promptly ended up on the podium!

Technical report

I didn’t run into any major issues with the Ripmo over the duration of the test. The bike as a whole comes across as a high-quality, well-thought-out product. The threaded BB, cable routing with internal guides, 34.9 mm seatpost diameter, standard eyelet shocks, and UDH all point to a user-friendly and durable platform. I didn’t take the suspension linkage apart but it looks like a straightforward job.

In terms of stiffness, the Ripmo hits the sweet spot for me with a nice level of compliance without feeling flexy. Subjectively, I'd say it's a bit more compliant than the average bike.

The downtube storage is well designed. It’s easy to open and close and between the two Cotopaxi bags, you can easily fit a minipump, tire plug kit, small minitool, a small snack and maybe your keys. Personally, for most of my rides, I continue to sling on my minimalistic 1L Evoc bum bag which I find easier and it can fit a little more.

Components

Most of the Ripmo's components did their job as expected. The following stood out one way or another:

The Fox 36 Grip X fork didn’t have the same composure on fast chunky descents that I’m used to from my reference 36 Grip 2. On the latter, I would have reached for the HSR adjustment but that isn’t available on the Grip X. I’ve had other Fox forks in the past that weren’t great out of the box and took a long time to fully break in so that could be it. More time and perhaps a service would be needed to get to the bottom of this.

The 4-piston XT brakes performed well without any sign of the dreaded wandering brake point. I did run into some minor but annoying issues with the pads and rotors. Both Icetech rotors had a wobble out of the box, and due to their thick aluminum spider these are practically impossible to straighten. Also, the finned pads rattled in the calipers while riding rough terrain. I like simplicity and would prefer regular steel rotors and unfinned pads. For my riding, I'd upgrade the 180 mm rear rotor to a 200 too while we're at it.

I liked the traction and comfort provided by the 2.5 inch Maxxis Assegai and DHR2 combo on 35 mm aluminum Blackbird rims. This was my first experience with the 2.5 DHR2. Compared to my reference 2.4 DHR2 on a 30 mm rim, the 2.5 offered more traction but felt slightly more vague in loose corners. The 36 points of engagement of the Blackbird rear hub were sufficient for my needs.

Contact points are very personal but I found the Lizard Skin Charger grips and especially the WTB Silverado saddle very comfortable.

Value

While I like the Ripmo a lot, is it good value? I struggled with this question. Ibis is a premium brand and I'm a cheap bastard.

All the build kits offered by Ibis are pretty nice, with the XT build being my sweet spot. If money was no object, that’s the one I would get. 6,499 USD is a lot of money though. I'd be happy riding the SLX (5,699) or Deore (4,999) build, but still think that's a lot of dough.

If I was spending my own money, I'd probably hold out for an aluminum-framed version and hope for a mid-level build kit under 4,000 USD.

You may not be as frugal as I am though, and if the Ripmo is within your budget, you get a really nice premium product that is well designed and super fun, and could be a bike to hold on to for many years.

If you are a SRAM fan but prefer a mechanical drivetrain, you’re out of luck. Transmission only. Just get the XT build, it’s great!

If you've embraced consumerism and are looking to spend five figures, the X0 Transmission build with the carbon wheels option is for you!

Final words

I found the new Ripmo a refreshing take on the burly trail bike. Most bikes in this segment are pretty similar these days but Ibis did a great job giving the Ripmo a distinct character. The way it engaged me as a rider reminded me of the Spectral 125 I tested a few years ago. The Ripmo similarly encouraged me to get into trouble but, contrary to the shorter travel Canyon, it was always there to get me out of it too.

Who is this Bike for?

If you like a lively trail bike that is confidence-inspiring and engaging but is also there for you when you didn’t bring your A-game, the Ripmo could be for you. Especially if you like owning a single bike that can do it all from long pedally rides to the occasional day in the bike park, and everything in between.

For those times when you are having the N+1 jitters, you can even convert it to a mullet or to a 140/130 bike by installing the Ripley clevis and a different fork and shock.

If you prefer your trail bike to handle more like an enduro sled, you may want to look for something a little slacker up front and longer out back.

I had a blast riding the Ripmo and my early positive impression definitely held up. If this review provides enough clues for you to get an idea whether the Ripmo might work for you and it's within your budget, I highly recommend you check it out.

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Find more information about the Ripmo at ibiscycles.com.