Review: Ibis Ripmo AF Mountain Bike

When you look at the silhouette of the Ripmo AF it looks a lot like the carbon Ripmo, but upon further inspection, you’ll notice some welds around the frame. The bike is still a Ripmo, but it features a full aluminum frame. The days of Ibis bikes only being available as expensive carbon builds are over, The Ripmo AF is here, it’s inexpensive, and it’s ready to shred everything.

As with all Ibis bikes, the Ripmo AF features the DW-Link suspension designed. DW was designed by Dave Weagle who is arguably the most renowned mountain bike suspension designer in the world. The DW-link design uses anti-squat to eliminate suspension bob, which minimizes pedal feedback caused by suspension movement. The design balances the effects of acceleration and braking forces providing improved traction and efficiency. If you want a bike that climbs amazing and showcases great small bump sensitivity and tracking, a DW-Link bike should be at the top of your list.

The geometry of the Ripmo AF is slightly different than the Ripmo Carbon. The head-angle has slackened out to at 64.9 degrees with a short offset fork which keeps the wheelbase short to get around tight corners. Ibis kept the chainstays at 435mm which gives the bike proper stability at speed while retaining a playful nature. The seat-tube angle still sits at 76 degrees which puts your weight over the front giving you an efficient climbing position and the bottom bracket height remains at 341mm giving the bike a stable feeling without causing pedal strikes while climbing. The leverage ratio of the frame has also been made more progressive allowing the option to run a coil sprung rear shock.

SHOP THE IBIS RIPMO AF

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