Jun 17, 2013

Pickett's Charge Long course

Jun 10, 2013

Ibis Ripley

I bought a Ibis Ripley size large. The parts were mostly pull offs from my 2011 Breezer Cloud 9 LTD.
So the build is:
Large black green fame
120 mm stock Ripley fork(fox)
stock shock(fox)
xtr 2x10 drivetrain 28/40 chainrings and 11-36 cassette
2 ti bottle cages(king)
seatpost will be a easton ec70(was a thomson elite when bike was weighed)
stem is currently an oval 120mm carbon(will be something else)
Easton Haven handlebar
WTB silverado seat
xtr pedals
xtr brakes
xtr derailers
Easton Haven front wheel
Easton ec90 rear wheel
Scwalbe rocket ron front tire
Maxxis Ikon rear tire
Ergon grips
The bike weighed in at 24.5 pounds
I will add a heavier stem and a lighter seatpost so I think it will stay the same.
I see this build as a real solid XC build. You definitely could go lighter on almost all of the parts and get the bike around 23 pounds or so but I like the stiffness of most of these components. I may experiment with putting the EC90 wheel up front and/or running Havens front and rear. Right now I like the Haven in front for control and the ec90 in back for climbing. My last bike was a 29er hardtail and it has been probably 5 years since I have ridden a full susupension bike(and that was a 26 inch bike) so I really can't compare the Ripley to other modern full suspension bikes but I can compare it to my hardtail. So far I feel like the Ripley is going to be not just a super fun bike but I beleive I can race this thing. It feels real XCish. I know it will climb a little slower and go down a little faster. But also I think the cornering will be a little faster. All in all I don't really expect much time difference at the races but I sure will have more fun! I'll probably make another report after some races. I have only ridden this bike 4 days so far and have not really had a good leg day yet so the best is yet to come. I definitely expect to set some personal records on Strava. I have not had any real issues yet with the bike. The rear travel is so efficient that I am leaving it in the open position almost all of the time, same with the front. I have found flicking the levers to trail or lock out mode while riding is not very difficult, but the rear in particular seems to almost be a set it and forget it thing. I always ride with my headphones in so I have not heard to many noises from the bike but I a pretty sure I am hearing the cables slap around a bit in rough sections. basically after today's ride I would say hardtails are dead to me. Riding bikes needs to be fun and the ripley just tears around corners and fly so smoothly over rough sections.
I am sure my legs are about to come around and I'll get some fast rides in and report again.