The MRP Ribbon Has Landed

MRP have been hard at work on a unit to complement their Stage fork, which we saw a while back. Built around 35mm stanchions and a boosted 15x110mm axle, the most immediately noticeable feature of the Ribbon is the "backwards" arch, which should be handy when it comes to keeping the mud out. Get all the details including pricing after the break. 

For 2017, MRP set out with a seemingly impossible goal: to craft an all-mountain fork with the highest performance, most adjustability and features in its class, and deliver at jaw-dropping weight. The result is the Ribbon, the new benchmark for high-end suspension. Designed, tested, and built in one of the meccas of mountain biking: Colorado.

Inspiration

Among those, the namesake Ribbon trail offers riders a variety of terrain from slow, techy moves and near-vertical rollers to slickrock slabs where speeds can reach in excess of 50mph. The trail tests a rider's prowess while approaching the limits of traction, their confidence to let-off the brakes and "pin it" at eye-watering speeds, and their courage to drop into daunting, seemingly impossible chutes. The new fork was built to handle everything trails like the Ribbon can throw at you, and it became the de-facto test track, so it was only right to pay homage with the name.

Air Spring

MRP’s popular and critically acclaimed Ramp Control technology lets you isolate and tune your forks behavior when subjected to the most violent, demanding high-speed hits. It’s a robust and convenient package that simultaneously adds speed-sensitive ending-stroke and bottom-out force control on-the-fly; finely adjustable by a 16-position knob. You never have to install or remove tokens again, and you don’t have to sacrifice the initial and mid-stoke feel you want to get the bottom-out support you need.

Once you’ve found that perfect for you air-spring setup, you can keep it feeling that way courtesy of a helpful little addition that’s a first of its kind outside of dedicated downhill race fork. Experienced and discerning riders know that elevation and temperature changes can build up pressure in your lowers and radically alter the feel of your stroke. To mitigate this, PSST valves were added to the Ribbon’s castings allowing you to bleed it off quickly with the press of a button. You may still personally suffer at nosebleed-inducing elevations, but now your fork won’t.

Damper

“Twin-tube” has been a suspension buzzword for a few years, and with good reason. Despite it's notoriety among suspension aficionados, it's seldom been implemented in forks - until now. The Ribbon’s EssenTTial™ damper, twin-tube dampers offer advantages in performance, ride control, space-efficiency, and durability that open bath and mono-tube dampers can’t touch.  Furthermore, the EssenTTial™ damper utilizes an exclusive low-pressure IFP instead of a bladder - a stiction-free design that also provides more reliability and consistency over long-term use. And once service time finally does arrive, appreciable details like cassette-tool interfaces on the top caps and external bleed ports make the process stress free. On the rebound side, a speed-sensitive shim stack responds magnificently to trail events and obstacles of all varieties, shapes, and sizes.

Chassis Design

The redesigned Outcast™ arch is an instantly noticeable feature, implemented for both practical and artistic reasons - look no further for proof of our "outside of the box" approach to the project. On the practical side, the forward-facing weight reliefs mitigate mud build up in the arch, a feature that will be especially appreciated by those who aren't fair-weather only riders. With the weight reliefs no longer hidden from view, the engineering team at MRP was forced to carefully sculpt every non-essential bit of material from them and holistically blend that shaping into the fork. That attention to detail in the casting design went a long way to achieving the feathery weight of the Ribbon (Under 4.2lbs, with uncut steerer, for both 27.5” and 27.5+/29” models). On the artistic side, the Outcast™ design stands out in a sea of homogeny and complements both organic and contemporary frame designs with aplomb.

Custom Options

A bolt-on axle option is available for a weight savings of over 30 grams from the QR axle. Each fork comes with 35mm of spacers and simple instructions for adjusting its travel – and you’re not just limited to 10mm increments, 5mm adjustment is possible, unlike any other fork on the market. And finally, the Ribbon will be offered in 9 decal color options – chosen to match today’s most popular colorways – so that your bike can maintain a clean, uniform look.

Ribbon Details

• Contact: www.mrpbike.com