My initial research had me settled between the Ibis Ripley and the Rocky Mountain Element. Both shorter travel but very capable bikes. After the demos I found the Element to feel less substantial under me. It had a thinner frame and I could feel it. I demoed so many different bikes and the Ibis ones were super efficient and had an awesome suspension feel. The Ibis bikes also had a trait where they felt more capable than you initially thought. The Ripley could handle some serious chunk and the Exie could take plenty for being an XC bike. Turns out that most of my riding felt great even on the Ibis Exie, so I ended up buying one of those. It’s an absolute rocket ship. I’ve already set a few PRs on it. I think it’s really easy to over bike. Always consider the type of riding you primarily do and enjoy most. Ibis as a company has been awesome too. I’m surprised how much they get done with so few employees. The demo guy out here on the west coast (Curk) was amazing. Knew his stuff and was super helpful. Good video. I personally like a mix of on the bike commentary and off the bike. The intro was nice, but towards the end it may have benefited from an off the bike wrap up. Also, I’m heading over to Nashville pretty soon, so if anyone has any trail suggestions let them loose. If anyone has any questions about either of these bikes (or the buying/demoing process) let me know. I’ve gone through it all at this point.
So you went with the Exie......over the ripley. so interesting. I'm in the middle of a ripley and ripmo. my trails are very similiar to yours, but i ride real hard and weigh bout 190. i feel like the ripley will be the best choice. i didn't think about the exie really.
I think I'd lean towards an Exie over Ripley myself. Exie has a little higher bottom bracket to help prevent pedal strikes and 67.2° head angle is a perfect compromise for tougher XC trail riding. You could even run a 130mm fork if you want to handle more aggressive riding or a 110mm fork for more XC riding. How does the frame stiffness feel compared to the Ripley?
nice review. am currently trying to decide between these 2 but haven't been able to demo one since no shop near me has one. to throw a wrench into it, I was able to ride a pivot 429 and that brunch enduro package just might be the winner.
Nice man, thanks for the review and good luck w/ the youtube channel! Just bought an ibis rimpo v2s recently, wanted a ripley v4 but went for more suspension because of an old broken back/neck injury. Wonder what the weight difference was between the bikes you tested.
@@1Life2LiveMN It's awesome man! I have the carbon one and just got Spokex carbon wheels, so the Ripmo is actually lighter than my Salsa timberjack hardtail lol. Super plush coming off jumps and it's awesome for all the tree root trails we have in Alaska.
I have a ripmo af and it is extremely poppy and playful, I would bet it's more of the upsizing of the frame. It's a bigger bike to begin with and then you went from a medium to a large on the generally bigger bike. It would be more stable going downhills but take a lot more to muscle it around on the trail. Having said that, I've ridden a Ripley as well. They're much more efficient for basic trail riding. I do find myself over biked when in cross country territory, and it can take substantially more energy getting over chunky flat tech. Good video comparison regardless
Go to Ibis website. They have their demo tour dates listed. They do have 1 more in MN this summer. They are going to be at outer bike fest in Duluth in August. You do need tickets to the fest to demo!
Hope you get out and demo one. If you have a sec stop by my page and hit subscribe button. Just putting finishing touches on next video. Should be dropping in a day or 2
How different is the Ripley from Mojo 3? I also have the Mojo 3 and Ripmo v2 and have considered replacing Moio 3 with either Ripley or Transition Spur but don’t know if I can justify it.
The ripley is fairly similar to the mojo 3. Both lite and poppy off jumps. Biggest difference I noticed is the Ripley feels a little bigger and is faster. Probably due to the 29’ wheels vs. the 27.5+ on my mojo. I really want to try out a sour but haven’t been able to find one to demo
@@1Life2LiveMN would you say the Ripley is different enough (better) to justify replacing the Mojo 3? I will get a chance to ride friend’s Spur (unfortunately XL instead of L) tomorrow and an anxious to find out how it compares to Mojo3.
My Mojo is a Mojo 3. The Mojo was more like the ripley. It’s light and very poppy and playful. It’s also a 27.5 not a 29 which adds to the playfulness. The ripmo had better suspension and handed drops, and chunky fast stuff way better than my mojo. But the ripmo is more planted and stable and not as playful. I took them on another test ride in Colorado. Videos coming soon. The ripley one should drop tomorrow! Ripmo in next week.
My initial research had me settled between the Ibis Ripley and the Rocky Mountain Element. Both shorter travel but very capable bikes. After the demos I found the Element to feel less substantial under me. It had a thinner frame and I could feel it. I demoed so many different bikes and the Ibis ones were super efficient and had an awesome suspension feel. The Ibis bikes also had a trait where they felt more capable than you initially thought. The Ripley could handle some serious chunk and the Exie could take plenty for being an XC bike. Turns out that most of my riding felt great even on the Ibis Exie, so I ended up buying one of those. It’s an absolute rocket ship. I’ve already set a few PRs on it. I think it’s really easy to over bike. Always consider the type of riding you primarily do and enjoy most. Ibis as a company has been awesome too. I’m surprised how much they get done with so few employees. The demo guy out here on the west coast (Curk) was amazing. Knew his stuff and was super helpful.
Good video. I personally like a mix of on the bike commentary and off the bike. The intro was nice, but towards the end it may have benefited from an off the bike wrap up.
Also, I’m heading over to Nashville pretty soon, so if anyone has any trail suggestions let them loose.
If anyone has any questions about either of these bikes (or the buying/demoing process) let me know. I’ve gone through it all at this point.
Same. I liked that ripley over the element for sure. Thanks for the feed back and suggestions on video too! Learning as I go!!
Hey thanks again. If you have a sec hit the subscribe button. Just putting finishing touches on next video. Should drop in the next day or 2! Ride on
So you went with the Exie......over the ripley. so interesting. I'm in the middle of a ripley and ripmo. my trails are very similiar to yours, but i ride real hard and weigh bout 190. i feel like the ripley will be the best choice. i didn't think about the exie really.
I think I'd lean towards an Exie over Ripley myself. Exie has a little higher bottom bracket to help prevent pedal strikes and 67.2° head angle is a perfect compromise for tougher XC trail riding. You could even run a 130mm fork if you want to handle more aggressive riding or a 110mm fork for more XC riding. How does the frame stiffness feel compared to the Ripley?
Yea I felt the same way on the Rocket Mountain
nice review. am currently trying to decide between these 2 but haven't been able to demo one since no shop near me has one. to throw a wrench into it, I was able to ride a pivot 429 and that brunch enduro package just might be the winner.
Nice man, thanks for the review and good luck w/ the youtube channel! Just bought an ibis rimpo v2s recently, wanted a ripley v4 but went for more suspension because of an old broken back/neck injury. Wonder what the weight difference was between the bikes you tested.
Nice. How do you like the ripmo? I wanna try that one again at a downhill park where I can give it a better shake!
@@1Life2LiveMN It's awesome man! I have the carbon one and just got Spokex carbon wheels, so the Ripmo is actually lighter than my Salsa timberjack hardtail lol. Super plush coming off jumps and it's awesome for all the tree root trails we have in Alaska.
Nice! Hey if you have a sec hit the subscribe button. Just finishing up next video! Should be out tomorrow!
I have a ripmo af and it is extremely poppy and playful, I would bet it's more of the upsizing of the frame. It's a bigger bike to begin with and then you went from a medium to a large on the generally bigger bike. It would be more stable going downhills but take a lot more to muscle it around on the trail.
Having said that, I've ridden a Ripley as well. They're much more efficient for basic trail riding. I do find myself over biked when in cross country territory, and it can take substantially more energy getting over chunky flat tech.
Good video comparison regardless
I demoed a medium ripmo last week in Colorado. Much happier on that size! But still not as poppy as the Ripley. Gonna put on videos on those soon!!
got a ripley af and bumped it to 140. true ripper!
I’ve head a lot of people bump the fork up! Wish they offered an enduro version like the Pivot Trail429 does!
@@1Life2LiveMN they do, it's called the ripmo
Thx for the video. How do you learn of the demo days around the Twin Cities? Any more Ibis demo’s coming up this summer?
Go to Ibis website. They have their demo tour dates listed. They do have 1 more in MN this summer. They are going to be at outer bike fest in Duluth in August. You do need tickets to the fest to demo!
Hope you get out and demo one. If you have a sec stop by my page and hit subscribe button. Just putting finishing touches on next video. Should be dropping in a day or 2
got the ripmo af its sick
Nice! I feel like I want to give the medium ripmo another go on a burlier trail!
How different is the Ripley from
Mojo 3? I also have the Mojo 3 and Ripmo v2 and have considered replacing Moio 3 with either Ripley or Transition Spur but don’t know if I can justify it.
The ripley is fairly similar to the mojo 3. Both lite and poppy off jumps. Biggest difference I noticed is the Ripley feels a little bigger and is faster. Probably due to the 29’ wheels vs. the 27.5+ on my mojo. I really want to try out a sour but haven’t been able to find one to demo
@@1Life2LiveMN would you say the Ripley is different enough (better) to justify replacing the Mojo 3? I will get a chance to ride friend’s Spur (unfortunately XL instead of L) tomorrow and an anxious to find out how it compares to Mojo3.
Demo’d the same bike here in the Bay Area, the way the Ibis guys setup the suspension is epic.
Yea agree. First drop o went off I was like landing at n a cloud! Glad you liked it!
Hey if you a second stop by page at hit subscribe button. Next video should be dropping in a day or 2!
great video--i am also a fan of ibis--i have the ibis ripmo af v2 and is it a beast!! destoroys downhills,
Thanks! Did another video on each bike in Fruita Colorado as well! The medium Ripmo was much better for me!!
Okay I'm not a mountain biking gal, but it made me nervous watching you bike over those rocks and stuff 😂😮
Ha! Thanks. You get use to it. I’m still learning on those sections!
What did you think of the Ripmo vs. your HD5?
My Mojo is a Mojo 3. The Mojo was more like the ripley. It’s light and very poppy and playful. It’s also a 27.5 not a 29 which adds to the playfulness. The ripmo had better suspension and handed drops, and chunky fast stuff way better than my mojo. But the ripmo is more planted and stable and not as playful. I took them on another test ride in Colorado. Videos coming soon. The ripley one should drop tomorrow! Ripmo in next week.
Do you know how much the weight of the Ripley was ?
I don’t as it was demo. I’d say pretty close to my medium mojo 3 which is 25lbs.
Hahaha
Gettn Sam baab.
Great video but you sound like kermit the frog