Well it finally came in after a month on order! The new Ibis Ripley frame is mine! I wasn’t able to get to any of their demo rides, the closest one to me was about a 10 hr drive so I took a chance (a big chance) from all I read on the internet, video reviews I’ve watched, and my experience with my previous Ripley (V2). I figured it was worth a shot, if it didn’t work out I could just sell the frame since they are on back order for 2-3 months.
New Bike Day!
Since I didn’t have a dealer close by, I did a ton of research on the internet and found a new Ibis dealer that was highly recommended. He was able to get me a new fork, upgrade me to factory for free and since I was thinking of upgrading my crank set to a carbon one, he threw in an Eagle XX1 12 speed group set for $700 off the retail price! It included carbon cranks, a dub bottom bracket, rainbow chain, rainbow 10-50 cassette, AXS derailleur and shifter setup! It’s just beautiful!
The SRAM AXS electronic derailleur, it looks bulky and I am not sure how it will handle, mud, wet and abuse I’ll give it, but time will tell!
With a new fork, it comes full length and uncut! You will need to fit it into your steerer tube and measure to your desired height for cutting. It’s not hard at all, install your headset, put in spacers you want for your height, put on the stem and mark a line. Disassemble, pull out for and go to the garage for cutting it ~2-3 mm below the mark.
It went together without any issues, frame is super light, around 5lbs I believe. I will need to get a scale to weigh this bad boy.
Specs on my build
- Medium frame blue steel
- DVO Sapphire 34 140mm
- Fox Factory float with Evol
- SRAM dub BSA bottom bracket
- Sram AXS XX1 Eagle 12sp shifter/derailleur
- XG-1299 cassette 10-50
- 32T chainring SRAM SL
- SRAM Dub XX1 cranks 170mm
- TRP G-Spec brakes
- Ashima 160/160 rotors
- EIE carbon 24id wheels 15×110 front 12×148 rear
- DT Swiss 350 hubs 28 hole
- Raceface Next 35 R bar 780mm/20mm
- ENVE 35 M7 stem 50mm
- Carbon stem cap
- WTB Silverado titanium
- Maxxis DHF front, Maxxis Forecaster rear tires
- KS Lev CI 150mm dropper post
- Cane creek 40 headset
- Chunky grips
- Xpedo Spry pedals
We will see how this thing holds on on the trails, cannot wait to get it out! My initial test ride thru the neighborhood gave me a feeling that it’s shorter reach like the V2 Ripley, you are moved forward a bit in the cockpit, which makes the front end feel more planted to the ground, not in a bad way but wheelies are not as easy haha.
The AXS shifting is nice, the electronic motor sound is cool, but I am not sure it’s miles above the old X01 it replaced, that set was dialed in and perfect in my opinion. A test run on the trail will see how it goes. It is very precise though, the shifting is instant and so light to the touch. I will add in a review after some miles on it.
Technical Specs
Geometry 2019 Ibis Ripley
