Description
Contrary to the popular belief that mountain bikes should be as long and slack as possible we think that there’s a balance to be achieved especially in the trail-bike department. Though Ibis’ newest iteration of its Ripley Deore Mountain Bike does see a full redesign that does include the modern longer-slacker-steeper treatment we think it finds a moderate landing place that’s still capable of quick-rolling power and nimble control. That’s because the engineers at Ibis didn’t go too overboard. Instead they opt for just a one-degree shift in the head tube to slacken things out for improved stability lengthening the wheelbase just a touch and extending the reach in the cockpit 45mm to give you a little more room to move around. At the same time the seat tube shifts up 3-degrees for the perfect perch when you need to attack climbs. The Ripley 4 also features an all-new chassis taking queues from it’s beefier sibling the Ripmo offering more room for dropper posts shorter chainstays and the lively and reliable DW-link suspension. The Ripley 4’s major update meant that Ibis’ engineers could start from the ground up and they chose to start with the heart-and-center of the bike updating the dual-eccentrics used in the past to a new design based on the Ripmo which still holds DW-Link suspension tucked neatly in the front triangle but without as much weight and with a huge boost in stiffness. This change in the frame’s chassis allows massive weight savings of over a half-pound on the frame alone giving your all-mountain machine a little more pep in its step when you’re pushing up grueling climbs and a more nimble feel when you’re flicking it around tight switchbacks. Weight savings aside one of the biggest benefits we see with the drop of the double-eccentric design is extra room in the seat-tube which enables taller riders to run dropper posts up to 185mm. This long-dropper length lets Ibis’ engineers carry forward with even more geometry tweaks like…
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